You can can
Really want to know how to can the summer’s bounty for winter’s dark days? Wendy Rice and the Colorado State University Extension office are offering a series of how-to classes beginning next week.
Lecture classes on how to preserve fruit and vegetables will be held from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Aug. 21. Hands-on classes, where you learn how to can using a water bath and a pressure cooker, as well as dehydrating and freezing, will be conducted from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 25 and 27.
The classes teach you proper techniques to preserve food and how to make sure you kill illness-causing bacteria at high altitude, which requires different techniques – longer cooking times and different fill levels – for each product.
All classes will be held at the extension office’s fairgrounds location, 2500 Main Ave. Rice also will teach a hands-on class from 1:30-5:30 p.m. Sept. 3 and a lecture class from 3-5 p.m. Sept. 4 in Bayfield. Call 382-6463 to register.
Shop offers free wine tastings
If you’re looking for something a little less time consuming, Eric Allen, co-owner of the Wine Merchant, conducts wine tastings at his shop every Friday and Saturday.
You can learn how color, aroma and flavor interplay in a wine, creating a unique experience in each bottle. You also can learn how to identify which wines will go well with your dinner plans.
Friday afternoons from 3-6 p.m. are reserved for tasting a fine wine, usually in the $30 range. This week, Allen will showcase a 2010 Spanish Priorat from Mas Doix, a blend of grenache and carignan grapes, which he says should tickle the fancy of cabernet lovers.
“It’s big, rich and ripe with lots of dark fruits. It’s quite smooth and it fills up your mouth with flavor,” he said.
Saturday afternoons from 2-5 p.m. are reserved for tasting more affordable wines. This week, he’ll highlight wines for hot weather drinking, lighter in style. The whites are a Casal Garcia vinho verde from Portugal and Pasa a Paso, a verdejo from Spain, while the reds will be a Château le Rocher and Domaine de Cassan Ventoux, one from Bergerac and the other from Rhone in France. The wines range from $9-$15.
The tasting is free at the Wine Merchant, 1514 Main Ave., with 10 percent off all wines in the Saturday tasting.
No seasonal slowing of local coffee sales
Summer might not strike you as the busiest time for local coffee shops, but the favorite brew keeps us coming even in the hottest weather.
Iced drinks are the key – drop into Crossroads Coffee Shop in the Alpine Bank lobby and you’ll find a daily iced special. This day it’s a Sassy Polar Bear, with cinnamon and white chocolate for $3.50.
Or head down to Magpies Newsstand Cafe for an iced mocha, $3.55 for a small, or a frappe with espresso, ice cream and ice.
“We do fine because of our iced drinks,” said owner Geri Mulligan, to say nothing of the wonderful little outdoor patio where you can sip to your heart’s content.
But their best-selling iced drink isn’t coffee at all – it’s their homemade chai blend tea, served over ice.
Starbucks, that mega worldwide chain, possesses a drink list longer than most restaurant menus, with confections from a mocha cookie crumble frappacino to a simple iced coffee.
Durango’s favorite summertime cooler? The iced caramel macchiato, made with espresso, vanilla, milk, ice and a caramel drizzle.
Pamela Hasterok
