Cindy Pawlcyn's Valentine Day Dinner paired with Tobin James wines

Valentines Day Sunset

The shuttle launch was nice yesterday, but it was too cloudy to see the whole thing. I did get one or two decent pictures to post.

I was just catching up on Top Chef and saw that one of the awards was 6 nights at the Barbados Hilton!! I think Richard won that. Pretty cool.

I saved the menus from the two amazing dinners prepared by Cindy Pawlcyn of Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen and Mustards Grill. The first one was on Valentines Day.

Here is the menu:

I took pictures of the meal so I could have something to post on this blog and so I could remember what we had to eat. lol

Below is the Thai-style Fish cake. It was paired with the 2008 Paradise Syrah Rose

Below is the mini duck burger with shiitake mushroom ketchup. This was awesome!! Paired with the 2007 Fat Boy Zinfandel.

Below is the Quail...I know it does look alive. Paired with the 2006 Meritage Blend, Estate Private Stash

Below is the Fillet paired with the 2007 Blue Moon Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. AMAZING. I was so full by the time we got here, but WOW.

It was an awesome dinner filled with totally awesome wines. Thanks Cindy!!

Shuttle Launch

I had to put one brief post that is not about the Tobin James Cruise. Today is the second to last shuttle launch. :( Sad.

Walking over to the beach and hopefully will get a beautiful picture to post. It launches at 4:50 today.

Here is a picture of a launch last April that happened at 4am. That was a sight to behold. After the sun started to rise, the clouds from the shuttle turned cool colors.

Dominica

Our first island visit was to the nature island of Dominica. The island is still being formed by volcanic activity. While on the island we saw lush rainforests, tons of tropical plants, goats, and boiling springs. Dominica has been an independent nation since 1978. That isn't very long.

We met a nice tour guide names Alwin who took us on a 2-3 hour tour of the island. He took us up into the rainforest to see Trafalgar Falls and the natural springs. We also went up to an outlook point where you could see most of the island. Alwin was an excellent tour guide with a very nice tour bus. I would recommend anyone visiting this island to find Alwin. I will post his email later.

The picture below shows just how large the falls were. You can see how tiny the man looks.

The hot springs. You don't go swimming in this one. (you would be cooked)

Pretty picture of Roseau, Dominica.

Enjoying my Kubuli from a scenic spot. Those beers are awesome. Hope the World of Beer carries this in Viera.

Windsurf from a distance

A picture of trafalgar falls

Barbados part II

Here are some more pictures from the island of Barbados.

The pictures below are from the fish fry in Oistins.

Below is a picture of Penny, Sandy, chef Eric, and Debby. I am hiding behind Debby ;)

Barbados

I have my pictures uploaded from the Tobin James Food and Wine Cruise!

I am going day by day with my pictures. I'll start with our first three days in lovely Barbados. We stayed at the Hilton near Bridgetown with many other fellow cruisers. The Hilton grounds are gorgeous and located on an old fort which the hotel still maintains. The picture below was from our room of the beach. After this picture the beach was never this calm again. lol

The picture below is of downtown Bridgetown from our hotel.

The waves were pretty rough on our beach. Down the way a bit there were surfers riding these big waves.

Friday night we ventured over to the town of Oistin for the weekly fish fry. Everyone on the island seems to mingle here (tourists and locals). There are tons of local vendors cooking up different varieties of fish and meat. It was pretty good...but I am spoiled when it comes to seafood. (We have Grills seafood down the street from us)

We had fun drinking Banks and Caribs with our new friends Debby and Penny from California.

The fish is still looking preeetttyyyy good.

Here are some more pics from that fish fry.

The next night we had the pre-cruise Tobin James party at the Hilton. After this we took a cab to Tapas for dinner and then to St. Lawrence Gap to dance. I will never forget our dance time with the Ragin' Bajan.

Above is a picture of smoked Marlin paired with a Malbec. So Yummy.

My mom took some fun pictures of our time in Barbados as well. I will post those tomorrow as her memory card has some 1200 pictures from the past few years and it might take all night at Walgreens to make the pictures. hahaha I need to show her the wonder of Flickr.

TOBIN JAMES CRUISE with Fine Food and Wine.com

I am back from the BEST CRUISE EVA!!

I have tons of pictures to post from this past week. I don't think I have ever consumed so much great wine in one week. From the boat to the crew to the fellow passengers...it rocked.

I enjoyed all the different types of Tobin James wine along with some Carib beers and fruity boat drinks.

My body is a bit confused and still thinks it is on a ship. haha I found myself rocking back and forth this morning.

This afternoon will be dedicated to getting my pictures up and ready to start sharing with you!!

Cheers!

Hi everyone!

I am sorry I have neglected my posting duties for the past few days. I enjoyed the Pahlmeyer dinner the other night. I was a bit disappointed with the pours and attitude of the management/server. I was impressed with the wine...as I knew it was good. The food was also pretty good.

I have even larger news.....I will be leaving to go on a wine cruise with Tobin James Cellars!! I can't WAIT!! I will be posting many pictures from this trip.

So with all this great news....I will leave you with some current wine news. Click on the links below to be sent to that story.

1) How to read a wine bottle

2) Valentine's Day: Wine and chocolate day trips

3) Chile Wine Maker Concha Y Toro Adds Beer To Its Repertoire

4) Best Valentine's Day panic: Where to reserve for the best wine reserves

5) An elite class studies wine

6) Chris de Burgh sells wine collection

7) Regulators push for nutrition label on beer, wine, and spirits

8) Is Zinfandel a serious wine?

9) Super Wine Pairings for the Super Bowl

GOOOOO STEELERS!!!