Recently I stopped by Goose Ridge’s tasting room here in Woodinville, eager to check out their highly anticipated canned wine. (By the way, this post is not sponsored by them and I paid for my wine myself!)
I’ve been holding onto my six pack in case we went to the beach or a picnic, but we haven’t. So instead, I thought I’d serve it on my Friday night backyard cookout as we headed into a leisurely Memorial Day weekend.
I wanted to show you the cute six-pack of wines – but of course we wouldn’t leave our wine very long to get hot in front of the fire. After taking this photo I quickly whisked the wine away to another part of my yard!
A can equals two glasses of wine, so a six pack represents three full bottles of wine. A six pack runs you about $30, so think of it as two $15 bottles of wine.
I started our meal off by serving a hearty salad (with chicken and bacon for my boyfriend, meat-free with a couple of extra hard-boiled egg slices for me) and pairing it with the Cascadian Outfitters Chardonnay. I also set dinner rolls to warm by the fire, and we lavished them with pats of melting butter.
I boiled potatoes on the stove and cooked Costco chicken skewers in the oven, but we also could have made our outdoor meal more of an adventure by cooking the potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil right there in the fire pit, and by cooking the skewers over the fire as well.
I also have to admit that after a busy workday, I didn’t have time to make homemade baked beans or homemade potato salad. Sadly, I opened a can of baked beans (maple with bacon for my boyfriend, and a vegetarian can for myself) and served a storebought potato salad from the Cottage Lake Safeway. Maybe next time I’ll serve this sort of meal on a Saturday so I’ll have more time during the day to cook up more of a from-scratch homemade meal for us.
We would have enjoyed roasting the corn, tightly wrapped in foil, in the ashes of the fire, and cooking hot dogs on sticks held over the fire. But I knew my boyfriend would be arriving soon, starving after a long day on his feet at work. I worried about the time, so I simply boiled them on the stove. I whisked the asparagus (drizzled with lemon and salt and sprinkled with chopped garlic) into the oven and took it out just before the asparagus got mushy (whew).
I served our meal on melamine plates from Melange, “The Gardens of Italy” collection. Love how I can just throw them into the dishwasher after our dinner.
I paired the Cascadian Outfitters Red Blend with this portion of the meal and found it a perfect accompaniment. (My boyfriend drank his beer instead.. more wine for me then!)
If you’re the outdoorsy type, I recommend picking up a mixed pack of this wine for your camping trips, backpacking, beach adventures, apartment building poolside, barbecues or people-watching at Kirkland’s Marina Park!
-Carrie
RESOURCES:
Cascadian Outfitters Wine Website
Cascadian Outfitters Wine on Facebook
Cascadian Outfitters Wine on Instagram
Goose Ridge Estate Vineyard Website
Goose Ridge Woodinville Tasting Room on Facebook
