recipe: peach sangria

This sangria recipe, which I made most recently for brunch after the marathon, is phenomenal. The recipe is simple: wine, peach schnapps, frozen lemonade concentrate and fruit. The frozen lemonade makes the drink sweet, and the schnapps gives it good fruit flavor. Your early-morning alcohol shouldn't be overwhelmingly booze-tasting, right?

I got this recipe from Camille a couple of years ago, and it's never failed to impress. It's the best sangria I've ever had, for sure.

Peach Sangria

• 1 bottle dry white wine
• 3/4 cup peach schnapps
• 6 tablespoons frozen lemonade concentrate
• peaches, apples, grapes, strawberries or other fruit of your choice

In a large pitcher, combine wine, schnapps and lemonade concentrate. Add fruit. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight to blend flavors.

things to do: virginia apple picking

Tony and I woke up on the Columbus Day holiday, hopped in the car, stopped to pick up Camille and Matt, and headed out on I-66 West for a day of apple picking and wine tasting. We got to Stribling's Orchard in Markham, Va., around lunchtime and grabbed a picnic table at the top of a hill, which had this spectacular mountain view:

What a view to see when eating a picnic lunch. (The food, by the way, was delicious. Camille and Matt packed falafel and hummus wraps with feta, tomatoes and cucumbers. And a baguette with cheese and grapes. And pumpkin bread. And there may or may not have been a little wine in red plastic cups.)

Once our bellies were full, we started roaming the orchard, scouting trees that were still picking. We're well into apple season, so some of the trees were already all gone. But there were still plenty of apples left, especially York, Rome and Golden Delicious.

The picking technique required the use of a contraption on a long stick that's capable of reaching the tops of the trees. Which was fun to use, clearly.

(Yes, I am wearing my awesome jean jacket in that photo. I finally broke it out -- it's officially fall.) 

You know what else is awesome? Hot apple cider.

So once we had our fill of apples, the four of us got back in the car and drove just down the street to a winery called Chateau O'Brien. We had our wine on the patio in front of a fire, again overlooking the mountains. It was a good daylong escape from the city and a nice way to spend the holiday.

Apples cost $1.50 a pound at Stribling Orchard, and it's about an hour and 15 minutes from D.C.

<3

From the archives:

things to do: maryland berry picking

dining out: the wine kitchen

On Saturday, the guys embarked on a camping trip for Mike's bachelor party. They stayed in a primitive cabin somewhere near Middletown, Md., along the Appalachian Trail, and they met three solo hikers who were making the great trek from Georgia to Maine. The whole thing sounded very manly. No indoor bathroom. No electricity. Campfire. Whiskey. Humidity. And Tony said there were wolf spiders.

The women, meanwhile, embarked on a classy day of pampering for Jen's bachelorette festivities. First stop: pedicures. I somehow got to be 29 years old without ever having had a pedicure. And while it was happening, all I could think about was the poor woman who was going to town down there. This is so weird, lady. So, so weird. But on the bright side, my feet are looking fabulous.

Next stop: shopping. We made our way west and had some retail success at the Leesburg outlets. I came home with two Banana Republic blouses ($12 each!), Nine West sandals, an Old Navy dress, and an OshKosh outfit for Baby O.

And then: dinner and wine. Jen had scoped out a wine bar and restaurant called the Wine Kitchen. It's a few miles from the outlets in historic downtown Leesburg, which is all kinds of cute.

The restaurant is small, and I felt as if I could have been eating in someone's home. The waiter was really talking up the local food on the menu. By all accounts, the wine and the food were terrific.

I especially enjoyed my herbed Parisian gnocchi, which is like Italian gnocchi, but it's made with flour instead of potatoes. I may have to dig up a recipe for this dish and try it at home sometime.