Hello again. A friend of mine brought me to a Farm and Craft Market yesterday. I wasn't looking to find too much that interested me, but alas, I did. The first place that I found something interesting was "Spice Harbor." Now my friend said that I would like it there, and she was right. They had a lot of different kinds of fresh spices that you just can't get around town here. Most of the spices were pretty cheap also, 1/4 ounce of Spanish saffron was only $8. That's not too shabby. Then while looking at some Emu Oil products, I get tackled by the owner to try some Ostrich meat "beef" sticks. I was a little leary, but I tried it, and it was actually really good. No, it didn't taste like chicken. Then he had my try the summer sausage, and it was really good too. Too bad I didn't have any money with me or I would have bought some. My friend did buy some hand lotion that she tried there and said it worked great. The final thing that I found that interested me was Ice Wine. I've only heard of ice wine once before on the Food Network on the show "The Best Of." I knew this wine was very unique and I just had to try a sample. I went up to the guy at the stand, Michael Burkland, and asked if I could try a sample. Now, I am 25 years old and I am always told that I look older than I am. He looked at me oddly when I asked and pulled the bottle out of the cooler. He poured a little bit into a plastic cup and asked me how old I was. I was a little shocked by this and I almost blanked on my age, but I told him that I was 25. He made a little joke, then gave me the sample. I am not a big fan of wine, I just don't care for the taste or the mouth feel of it, but this wine was VERY good. Michael went on to tell me that it is a desert wine and the way it is processed makes it very very sweet. It was the clear cut best wine I've ever had. It was very sweet, the taste was intense, the after taste was actually a good one. This small bottle that he had at the stand, which resembled a extra virgin olive oil bottle, was in the price range of $24 US. I'm not one to spend much on alcohol but I thought that I have to get some of that. I asked him where I can purchase it other than the show there and he told me that it was at all the local liquor stores in my town and handed me his card. I am going over to my sisters for Christmas morning and I hope to bring a bottle of this outstanding wine with me. You can go to their website at www.merrittestatewinery.com I had a good time on that little trip, it was very nice to get out of the house for once.

Until next time,
DAN