114 of you stopped into the Middle Sister Wines Facebook page to vote on my Halloween Costume this year. I was deciding between 7 different costumes, but YOU voted me and the results are in: with 34 votes, I will be sporting my Witch costume this year!

How'd the other costumes measure up? Well…

And while we're on the subject of costumes, some super sisters out there dressed up as ME for Halloween! I'm so flattered, I might even smile :|

There's certainly some Middle Sister in her!

Look! I'm in the MIDDLE with the rest of the Liquor Cabinet!

The Paris Wife: A Novel
Author: Paula McLain

Did you know Ernest Hemingway was married 4 times? And at the end of his memoir, A Moveable Feast, he wrote of his first wife “I wish I had died before I loved anyone but her.” 

The Paris Wife: A Novel is the story of Hadley Hemingway, first wife of Ernest Hemingway, and the woman that loved him before he was famous. It is a tale of love, fame, betrayal and scandal set amid 1920’s Paris.

Did I get your attention? I hope so. It’s quite a good read. Discuss The Paris Wife with your book club, and share these tasty treats.

THE HEMINGWAY COCKTAIL

Ingredients:
• red grapes
• 1 part Pernod Absinthe
• 1 dash sweet vermouth
• squeeze of lime
• 1 dash simple syrup
• orange juice
Preparation:
• Muddle six or seven grapes.
• Add ice and spirits.
• Shake and strain into an ice-filled highball glass
• Top with orange juice and garnish with fresh grapes

FRENCH ONION SOUP

Ingredients
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 4 onions, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup red wine, about 1/2 bottle
• 3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 quarts beef broth
• 1 baguette, sliced
• 1/2 pound grated Gruyere
Directions
Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn't burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Now add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
 

OK sisters and misters. Sweet & Sassy here, letting you know about an amazing contest from the darlings at The Wine Sisterhood. Enter and you could win a trip to Napa Valley!

Join the Wine Sisterhood and Christine Trice, founder and brand ambassador for OMG I so need a glass of wine or I’m gonna sell my kids for the First Ever Wine Sisterhood Gathering!

Here's How To Enter:

1) Like Wine Sisterhood on Facebook!

2) Like OMG on Facebook!

3) Fill out the contest form here! Just tell us why (in 250 words or less) you want to win a trip to Napa!

You must be 21 years of age or older to enter. Contest ends October 31, 2011 at 11:59pm PSD, so get clicking! Want more info? Read the Official Rules!

We will select one Grand Prize Winner at random from your entries, and fly you them to Napa from February 26-29th 2012! We'll take care of everything while you attend — ground transfers, hotel accommodations, meals, activities, programs, and of course wine (approximate retail value: $2000)! 

We will also award three First Prizes (selected at random). These winners will receive a gift basket of Wine Sisterhood and OMG goodies (approximate retail value: $250).

Winners will be announced on Thursday, November 17.

We  will be announcing more information about the Wine Sisterhood Gathering shortly – including the cost of the trip (in case you don’t win but would still like to join us)! Our goal is to make this the most amazing Napa Valley trip ever—there will be special guests, wine and food personalities, tasting activities and delicious wine country culinary events. So be sure to save the date and stay tuned.

Cheers!

(via The Wine Sisterhood)

It’s free. So stop your whining. “Waa Waa Waah! It looks different. I don’t like the news feed! I don’t like the new lists.” Blah, blah, blah. People just don’t like change. Well I’m down with the changes. Mostly because I have no control over them and REMEMBER – It’s flippin’ FREE!

Admit it, you don’t even remember what it is you don’t like. You can’t even remember what Facebook used to look like – and that was less than a month ago!

Don’t you like the way pictures are now gigunda on your news feed? Don’t you like how you can see how many people shared your post (and who they are)? And don’t you like how your friend’s entire post is revealed when you mouse over the live mini feed in your sidebar – including pictures?! You can even like or comment from there! Come on, you know you like it.

Being the social media maven that I am, I watched the F8 Facebook Developers Conference (well some of it – til I fell asleep). I like the cool new words like “open graph” and “timelines.” No, I don’t know what they are – but they must be cool.

Some might try to argue that Facebook isn’t really free because you are inundated with advertising. That’s like saying watching tv isn’t free (oh, except for cable). Do you even notice the ads, anyway? I don’t pay any attention to them at all!

Moral of the story: Shut up. It’s free.

I know that I shouldn’t have a favorite…that all pies are created equally. But, there is something to be said about good old apple pie – sweet, tart, and sprinkled with cinnamon. My sisters (of course) have other opinions, but I don’t care. To me apple pie is the first thing I want to bake as the colors start to change and the weather starts to cool. Which means, it is apple pie season in my house! So get excited, because I am sharing one of my favorite apple pie recipes. From me to you, with lots of sugar on top!
XOXO – Sweetie Pie

PS. This following apple pie recipe is only for the pie filling. My world famous pastry pie crust recipe is TOP secret…sorry! You can try making a pie crust from scratch, or purchase a ready-made pie crust from your local grocery store…it’s up to you!

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Mom and Dad’s Brown Sugar Apple Pie
(from Apple Pie: 100 Delicious and Decidedly Different Recipes for America’s Favorite Pie, by Ken Haedrich)

Ingredients:
8 C McIntosh apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
½ C firmly packaged light brown sugar
1 T fresh lemon juice
½ t ground cinnamon
¼ t ground nutmeg
2 T cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 Pie Pastry Shells (either purchased or homemade)
Milk
Granulated Sugar

Bake Away:

Fit pie shell into pie plate (with overhang), and refrigerate. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. While the pie shell chills, combine the apples, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl; toss well. Set aside.
Pour the apple mixture into the refrigerated pie shell, smoothing the apples with your hands. Dot the pie with butter, scattering pieces over the apples.

Lightly moisten the rim of the pie shell with a wet finger or pastry brush. Invert the top pastry over the filling and center it. Press the top and bottom pastries together along the dampened edge. Trim the pastry with scissors or a paring knife, leaving ½” overhang all around, then sculpt the overhang into an upstanding ridge. Make 2” long slits in the top pastry at the 12, 3, 6, 9 o’clock positions; the bottom of each slit should just reach the edge of the pie. Lightly brush the top pastry with milk and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the pie and place it on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Reduce the oven to 375 degrees. Put the pie on the baking sheet and back in the oven and bake for an additional 30 minutes. When the pie is done, you should be able to see the juices bubbling up onto the crust.

Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and let cool for at least an hour. Share with friends!!!

Note: I like mine served with a big slice of cheddar cheese. Of course, a scoop of vanilla ice cream isn’t bad either! Enjoy!