Last night my boyfriend and I had promised each other we’d stay in for a quiet evening at home. We’ve had a busy couple of weeks (busy in a good way though, like going to parties and going out with friends!) We knew it would be really good for us to have some downtime, putter about the garden, play with the dogs, do a little laundry, and lounge around relaxing on our chaise lounge.
I felt like drinking this Ancestry Cellars red wine tonight, so planned my meal around it. (My boyfriend prefers to drink beer). Since Ancestry Cellars mostly has French wines (they do make an Italian style Sangiovese though!) I thought it would be fun to create a simple French style dinner for us.
I am a lifelong vegetarian but don’t want to inflict a meatless dinner on my boyfriend, so I picked up a rotisserie chicken for him. For myself, I was eager to try a couple of Private Selection Paniers. One was a Florentine (spinach) panier, the second was a Rustic Vegetable panier. (They’re available at Kroger stores, such as the Fred Meyer in Wenatchee). Do I normally throw a couple of frozen appetizers in the oven for my dinner? No, but after a very long workday, it seemed like an easy solution.
(Also, wanted to be sure to note that this is not a sponsored post; Private Selection and Kroger stores did not reach out to me to say nice things about their products!)
As I opened “La Soeur,” a 2015 Meritage blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, I found myself really hoping it was as good as I remembered from my last visit to the Ancestry Cellars Manson tasting room. I wasn’t disappointed!
I added a simple green salad and a cup of lentil soup for each of us (not pictured). I cheated a bit when I added this Spanish cheese from a grocery store Tapas package – well, not everything has to be French to be delicious, right?
Now, French people would likely end their meal with a simple dessert of fruit and cheese. I have to be honest though, Bob and I happened to have some Costco chocolate chip cookies sitting around and we dove into them like madmen!
-Carrie