A Little Cheese with that Wine

I've recently made a discovery, a cheese discovery, that I'm compelled by all that is good to share with you.

Pecorino Romano.

A had a recipe for braciole that called for this specific type of cheese, so I set out to locate it. Luckily, the local Wally-World actually carried it. However, it is a tad bit expensive, so when the recipe took far less than I'd purchased, the Scot in me was determined to find other uses.

So first, I sprinkled it on some zuccini that I'd grilled with excellent results. Tonight, however, I grilled my world-famous steaks and decided that they might could benefit from a little extra zing. So just before I pulled them off the grill, I sprinkled just a touch of the Pecorino Romano on each steak.

Now my steaks, in my own humble opinion and the opinion of dozens of others that have been fortunate enough to sample them, are truly a work of art. I've spent years creating the perfect blend of herbs and spices and mastering the art of grilling. Anytime you can get another man's wife to tell him that your steak is better than his, then you've accomplished something.

So what did the Pecorino Romano do for the steak?

Oh.

My.

God.

It took a really good steak and created a masterpiece worthy of Rafael or Van Gogh or... or... or...

Wow, just wow!

So if you can find some Pecorino Romano, do yourself a huge favor and pick some up. It's worth every cent.

As far as the wine, the wife and I have been sampling a few that we though we should share. We tend to like our wines just a little on the sweet side, so if you don't, well... you might not like these. Here's a few of our faves:

1) Messina Hof Beau "Tribute to Beauty" - Tastes like fresh cherries dipped in dark chocolate. DO NOT chill, but serve at room temperature. Chilling kills the flavors and leaves this wine flat. This is our favorite, but we can't afford to drink it all the time. Around $9 at WM.

2) Llano Sweet Red - Another that is better at room temperature. Not as rich as the Beau, but still a good, rich, yet slightly sweet, red wine. Around $6 at WM.

3) St. Genevieve Sweet Red - A lot like the Llano, but at less cost. A good everyday, stand-by wine. Around $4 at WM.

4) Sutter Home Sweet Red - See #2 & #3. Around $5 at WM.

5) Twin Springs Sweet Red - This one benefits from being chilled. Very, very sweet, but without the tartness of a white zinfandel. Even people that proclaim they HATE wine love this one. Around $5.50 at WM.

Trying to please everyone...

... ends up pleasing no one.

Wednesday is Savannah's b-day, so Cas and I thought we'd treat her to a day at the mall with a friend, complete with shopping and a movie.

At least that was what we intended.

Somehow the other kids managed to get involved, to the point that we took Nate and Joe and Katie and one of her friends. This meant having to cut back on the time spent just with Vanna, as well as cutting back on the money spent.

So it ended up being a ho-hum day for everyone, instead of a very, very special day for just one...