The night before BlogHer Food, I was invited to a dinner at St Supéry Vineyards & Winery in Napa with Rocco DiSpirito, hosted by Bertolli. Here I am with Rocco. Wasn’t that nice of him to have dinner with me on my birthday?

Okay, it wasn’t just me at the dinner. A group of about 20 food bloggers attended. It was really fun meeting so many interesting and talented women. And, I got to hang out with some of my most favorite blogging friends. Here are my girls: Gina Von Esmarch (remember Gina?), Vanessa Druckman and Jennifer Perrillo.

The wine was flowing that evening. I mean FLOWING. (I don’t drink, but everyone seemed happy with the wine.) How pretty is this white?

And the glasses! So many glasses! We counted, St Supéry served NINE different wines over the course of the dinner. We could barely fit our plates on the table.

Bertolli was the sponsor of the dinner, so they served Bertolli frozen meals as the main course. While I wish they would have served a mix of food, I was surprised that the pastas were actually pretty good. The Shrimp Scampi (pictured) and the stuffed shells were my favorite. I’m not a frozen, prepared foods kind of girl, so it’s really only something I would serve in a pinch. But it’s definitely a good frozen dinner option.

The appetizers and dessert were Rocco’s creations. The appetizers were fantastic. The dessert was quite good…the lavender crème brûlée was everyone’s favorite. Apparently the little chocolate cakes were supposed to be lava cakes…sadly they had been overcooked (which, in case Rocco reads this, was not his fault!). But they still made for a beautiful photo subject!

Thanks to Bertolli and Rocco for a fun night!

The giveaway is over and we have a winner…

Congratulations to Pam, who said, “I’ve always wanted to go to the cape but have not had the opportunity. Would love a new cookbook from the area.” I hope you enjoy your copy of Morning Glory Farm, and I promise it’s going to make you want to get to the Cape and Islands as soon as possible, Pam! For the rest of you, I highly recommend you buy yourself a copy.

Here is the recipe I promised! It’s delicious…the sweetness of the fruit paired with the flavor of the shallots and the squash was really lovely. Oh, and I put a few pats of butter in the squash before I stuffed them with rice…mmmmm.

Baked Stuffed Winter Squash

 

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From Morning Glory Farm!

Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Side Dish, Vegetable

Ingredients

• 4 acorn squash, halved and seeded
• 2 cups cooked wild rice (I used 3 C of the the Trader Joe’s Brown Rice Medley (brown rice, black barley and daikon radish seeds) & it worked great)
• 1 cup cooked wheat berries (I didn’t have these, which is why I did 3 C of the TJ’s medley)
• 1cup roasted pears
• ¼ cup canola oil, divided
• 1 large shallot, diced
• ⅓ cup apple cider
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roast squash cut side down for 30-40 minutes. While squash is roasting, cook rice and wheat berries according to package directions (Jane note – I added salt to the water that the rice cooked in for flavor). One squash is soft, cut pears into large dice and toss with ⅛ C canola oil. Roast on sheet tray about 20 minutes. Saute shallot in rest of oil over medium heat. Pour apple cider in with shallots, cooking and stirring to deglaze the pan. Mix rice, berries, pears, and cranberries into shallot mix. Salt and pepper to taste. Stuff each squash with filling and serve.

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Thank you to Vineyard Stories for a lovely giveaway!