CT Wine Trail: The Southeast Corner

A crisp and sunny fall Saturday just begged for a drive around Connecticut's wineries. So we grabbed our passports and headed to the southeast corner of the state to enjoy the scenery, sample a glass or two, and discover a place to grab a bite somewhere on the way home.

Our first stop was Holmberg Orchards and Winery. We made it the first stop so we could do some apple picking as well. The tasting room at Holmberg is quite small and it was crowded since everyone seemed to be copying our idea!!! They produce a few fruity wines, as well as some hard ciders, and for $5 (with a souvenir glass!) we got to taste three of each. Our favorite from the wines was the sweet-tart Apple Cranberry which had a beautfully dry cranberry finish. We also loved the zippy sparkling Cortland hard cider and took home a bottle of it to enjoy on our porch swing while we watch the leaves fall.

Next up was a stop at Dalice Elizabeth Winery, a small winery that imports grapes but do all the pressing, fermenting and aging here in CT. A tasting here costs $10 for 4 - the three wines they had available then a second tasting of your favorite. A glass is usually included, but unfortunately for us they had run out. Still, it was here that we enjoyed what may perhaps be the most unusual (in a good way!) wine we've ever had - a chardonnay with quite noticeable and long-lasting hints of almond flavor. Truly unique and delicious. They have cheese platters and other goodies for purchase, with cute little tables under a trellis and a pretty pond to view.

The third stop we made was to Stonington Vineyards. We had gotten a late start, so it was almost 4:30 when we arrived. They were having some live entertainment starting at 5 and had stopped their tastings, but offered us a glass of our choice of their wines and an invitation to stay for some music for $8 each. Amy went for the cabernet franc while Chris had the rose. Both were good enough but nothing we liked quite enough to buy more.

We had time for one more stop, only because one of the vineyards wisely stays open until 6, and that was our favorite of the day, Maugle Sierra Vineyards. The tasting room was warm and spacious, the server was gracious and welcoming, and the wines ($10 for a tasting of 6 wines - 3 whites, 3 reds - with souvenir glass) were fantastic. Several are made with the St. Croix grape, and the reds (particularly the Ledyard Sunset Red) went wonderfully with chocolate (yes, truffles are available for purchase).

Hungry now, we asked if there was an interesting restaurant nearby, and the fine folks at Maugle Sierra handed us a cork and pointed us in the direction of Valentino's, a casual Italian place that offered us a discount in exchange for the winery's cork - a nice little bonus, we thought! They seemed to specialize in pizza and grinders, but we went all out with a couple of pasta dishes. Satisfied and growing tired, we headed back home, having enjoyed a perfect fall outing.

 

Squared Cider Doughnuts: Secret Recipe Club

It's a beautiful fall weekend here in Connecticut and we are in apple mode. Unfortunately, we haven't had any free time to go apple picking ourselves, but bestie Joanne's industrious mother somehow managed to get a few bushels gratis and gave a dozen to Joanne to share with us. Thank you so much, Mrs. K! Chris is loving his annual apple pie!

Anyway, seeing all those apples made us hungry the cider doughnuts we missed by not going picking. But it just so happened that our assigned blog for this month's Secret Recipe Club had the perfect recipe for them. That blog is Veronica's Cornucopia! Veronica's blog is awesome - filled with all types of recipes from sweet to savory, as well as inspiring stories ("Thankful Thursdays") and interesting projects "The Postcard Project"). We very much enjoyed browsing Veronica's Cornucopia, but those "Easy Apple Cider Doughnuts" of hers really got us going. As promised, they were 1) easy, 2) tasty, and 3) the perfect fall treat!!! And we had plenty to share with the neighbors because we got 24 doughnuts (plus doughnut holes!) from following Veronica's recipe.

The most important ingredient

Make, knead and roll the dough

Cut out doughnuts and punch out the holes

We didn't adapt the recipe whatsoever except for making our doughnuts square because all we had on hand for cutting them was a square biscuit cutter. Here is a nice tip for cutting out the doughnut holes - use the top end of a baster (without the suction thingy)! It is just the right size and the doughy circles pop right out with a light tap.

Fry them up

Coat them in cinnamon sugar while they're hot

Squared Cider Doughnuts

"Easy Apple Cider Doughnuts"

recipe from Veronica's Cornucopia
Makes 24 doughnuts plus 24 doughnut holes

Ingredients:

canola oil for frying

1 egg

1 1/4 cup sugar, divided

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup apple cider
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
2 cups baking mix (we used Bisquick)

Preheat oil in a large pot, skillet or deep fryer to 375 degrees, checking the temperature often using a candy thermometer. Whisk together egg, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, cider and vanilla. Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour and baking mix. On floured surface, with floured hands, knead dough several times and roll to 1/2-inch thick.  Cut with a donut or biscuit cutter, and make holes in the center of each. Carefully drop into hot oil. Working in batches of six, cook until golden brown, flip, and cook other side until golden brown. Adjust the heat on the burner as necessary to keep the temperature steady at 375.  Drain on sheets of newspaper or paper towels. Mix together remaining 1 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon; while doughnuts are still hot, coat in cinnamon-sugar. Eat while still warm!