Napa Valley Wine Blending, and A Pinterest Idea That Actually Works

 This past weekend we went to a surprise party in the Napa Valley. It was a private wine blending party actually (here). After you blended the wines in a combination that you liked, you got to bottle it and take it home.

 The birthday boy was very surprised! He saw me first, and was wondering why I was there, and it took him a few minutes to realize the room was filled with his friends. He thought he was going to be there with his wife and parents. Love when surprises go off without a hitch.

Now for the Pinterest  idea. You know how you see something on Pinterest, and you think it is such a great idea that you must try it?  I wondered about this trick with making hashbrowns with your waffle iron. It just seemed so simple that I thought I would give it a try. I used a russet potato, although next time I'm going to try a sweet potato. I shredded them in my food processor, then squeezed the excess water out of them in a tea towel. I seasoned them and tossed them with some olive oil.

 In they went, in the highest setting that my iron has, which is a number 7. My waffle iron is an All Clad.

 Ta da! This was a little less than fifteen min. I suggest that you start the timer at 15 mi. and keep checking. I also ignored the alarm that rings when the machine thinks it is done. I used it instead as a chance to check on the progress.

 This is the other side of it.

I topped it with swiss chard and two lovely organic eggs! Nice light dinner. I see endless flavor options. Try it, it works!  The lighting in the kitchen was terrible at the time, so these aren't beautiful food styled photos, hahaha so please forgive these weirdly lit photos!