Relatives, King Cake, and a Wine Tasting

A few of my relatives were in town from New Orleans last weekend, which is great because I hardly ever get a chance to see them. We see each other every other year or so at weddings, but thats about it because of the distance. I used to live in New Orleans when I was younger, and one of the things I always miss this time of year are the delicious king cakes! King cakes are a Mardi Gras tradition from New Orleans, and although they are sold here in Austin, they are NOT the same at all. Well imagine my delight when I see 2 authentic king cakes sitting on the table! :o

This one was bavarian cream and cherry.

This one is the original flavor. Basically king cakes taste like an incredibly sweet cinnamon roll.

They are delicious, but so sweet you can only really eat a little at a time. There is a hidden plastic baby inside, and if you find the baby in your piece, you are considered lucky and are supposed to buy the next king cake.

My mom had bought some wines for my family to all taste, so we ended up having a bit of a wine tasting with our cakes. First we had the Castello del Poggio, which everyone liked (of course).

Then, we had a sparkling sweet red she tried at an HEB tasting. I've never had a sparkling sweet red before, so was intrigued. It turned out that I didn't really like it very much... for one thing it smelled like rubbing alcohol, and didn't have too much of a flavor. My mom said it was better the next day though, I guess after it had opened up a bit.

The final one we tried was one that I had recommended, a Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc/Viognier. This is the wine I tasted on my birthday, and had with my friend Kris when he came to visit. Its delicious! Well most people ended up not liking it, except my uncle, who is a somewhat regular wine drinker. Oh well, I took it home with me, and it too was better the next day.

Im seeing a big theme as I write more about wine and cheese - wines need to be opened and cheese needs to be set out a while before you eat/drink them!

The day was really fun, and we ended up playing Apples to Apples and 20 questions until it got late and they had to go back to their hotel. We also had some delicious goat cheese, that my mom bought plain and mixed with honey and orange peel! I need to take pictures the next time she does that.