I have a confession to make.  I’m a Mac bundle addict.  Yup.  Whenever MacHeist or MacUpdate has a new bundle for sale I feel like I’ve one the lottery.  Okay, maybe not a huge lottery, but at least the payoff is guaranteed.  I think I’ve only passed on a bundle once, and that was because I already had all the programs included in it.  Sadly, there’s no support group for my addiction.

I’m not sure how many of my readers are Mac users, but that’s not going to stop me from telling you about the bundle MacUpdate has going right now.   13 apps for $49.99. That’s 11 apps plus 2 more if you’re one of the first 15,000 buyers.  Yay!  One of those apps, Parallels, is $79 by itself.

I was a big Parallels fan when I first made the switch from Mac to PC, because I wasn’t ready to give up all my Windows apps.  Eventually I stopped using it altogether…until yesterday when I had a sudden urge to play an old PC game.  My first thought was that I should upgrade Parallels to the latest version, but then I decided 3.0 was good enough for the amount of times I’ll actually use it.  So I was happy to see 4.0 included in the bundle released today.  (It’s like they read my mind!)

So, if you’re curious about what else is contained in the bundle, here’s a pretty, flashy image you can click on:

Gibbet Hill Grill is one of my favorite restaurants. The grounds are gorgeous, the food is out of this world, they have a fantastic wine collection, and the servers are beyond friendly. Every now and then they hold special wine events. Last night I went to my second of these, the Spring Wine Dinner. This was a smaller event than the Farm to Fork Wine Dinner they held last August, but it was just as enjoyable.  I just love the way they display the wines at these functions.

The evening started out on the deck of the barn where we served the first of the wines, the Basa Blanco.

Telmo Roderiguez Basa, Rueda, Spain 2007

“This blend of Verdejo, Viura and Sauvignon Blanc from Spain is the ultimate introduction to summer. The wine has bright aromas of steely citrus and fresh cut grass and flavors of pear, apple, and orchard fruit. Graceful throughout, Basa finishes clean and refreshing.”

Appetizers passed around included Spring Pea and Tarragon Soup, Pancetta on Brioche, and Deviled Eggs with Tuna Tartare and Chilis. I can’t decide which appetizer was better, the brioche or the deviled eggs. Thank goodness they came around again and again so I’d have a chance to decide! (Not that it helped any!)

We then moved on the the mezzanine level of the restaurant for the remainder of the evening.

The first course was Local Day Boat Scallops with Parisian gnocchi, Meyer lemon, frisée and smoked onion soubise. I love scallops, especially pan-seared as these were. They were served with a Chardonnay.

Alma Rosa Chardonnay, Santa Barbara County, California 2006

“This wine brings out the best in Chardonnay with expressive flavors of honey, apricots, apples and vanilla. Complemented with notes of almonds and smooth butter, the wine remains rich and fluid while still keeping a fresh structure.”

A “surprise” course was served at this point, but I don’t have a good description of it since it was not on the menu.  It was a pâté infused with black truffle oil and…yum!

On to the second course – Pastrami-Spiced Muscovy Duck en Roulade with napa cabbage, boudin noir, baby turnips and foie gras jus. Out. Of. This. World. This was accompanied by a Pinot Noir.

Alma Rosa Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills, California 2005

“This wine brings both the ripe flavors of berries, cherries, and plumbs along with the complexity of spice, smoke, and the rich earthiness that makes Pinot Noir so unique. More powerful than most Pinots, the Alma Rosa balances all that fruit and complexity with a smooth elegance.”

The third course was a Painted Hill Farms Sirloin with spring garlic, glazed carrots, and baby French horn mushrooms. Anything with mushrooms gets a vote from me. The wine for this course was a Shiraz.

Mitolo “Jester” Shiraz, McLaren Vale, Australia 2007

“Seductive and smoky, this wine has all the dark berries, pepper, licorice, and candied cherries that we love in Shiraz. The upfront fruit gives the Jester a forward personality, which continues on to layers of spice and a smooth, supple finish.”

And finally dessert – Bitter Chocolate Genoise with espress gelèe, candied kumquats, liquid almond sable and fumée de sel. Wow. I’m not much of a cake fan, but since the genoise was so thin and covered with all that delicious chocolate I enjoyed every bite! With dessert we were served a Cabernet Sauvignon.

Mitolo “Serpico” Cabernet Sauvignon, McLaren Vale, Australia 2007

“You’ve never had a Cabernet like this. Made from partially dried grapes (perfect for dessert), Serpico is full of black currant raspberries, chocolate, blackberries and coffee. This wine is crazy huge in flavor and structure and has been called “one of the finest Cabernet Sauvignons to ever emerge from South Australia.”

The folks at GHG are thinking of having another wine event in August, so you know I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed!

Woohoo!!! I’m so happy! I don’t watch a lot of shows, but I am addicted to both House and Fringe.  House has been around for a while now, so I don’t see it falling by the wayside any time soon.  Fringe, on the other hand, is a new series, so I was worried it wouldn’t make it to a second season.

Fringe

Yesterday FOX announced that Fringe was renewed for a second season.  Yippeeeee!!  I just can’t get enough crazy Denethor!  For those of you who don’t know, Dr. Walter Bishop is played by John Noble, the same actor who played Denethor in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Walter Bishop is crazy, but lovable in his own way; Denethor is crazy too, but also kind of a cranky-pants.

Denethor (left) and Walter Bishop (right)

Let me preface by saying that I have very little experience with gardening, unless you count the few years using my three Aerogardens.  Last year I branched out and bought some herbs, potted them, and managed not to kill them.  The rosemary and oregano even managed to survive the winter.

This year I decided I wanted to try growing some vegetables.  We have a 1.25-acre lot, so there’s plenty of room for a garden.  The former owner of the house even fenced off a large area where he did his gardening.  He was retired, and was therefore able to spend the time necessary to tend such a large garden.  It has since become overrun with raspberry bushes and weeds.  Al and I have been talking for a couple years now about ripping out the existing weed garden, cutting it in half so is more manageable for the employed.  This is the year we’ll finally do that.

I ran out a few weeks ago to pick up some books on gardening.  It turns out that planting a vegetable garden requires a lot of planning!  I was hoping we could just rip up the old one, throw down some seeds, maybe add fertilizer, and water it.  It takes more time than that to kill the weeds, test and prepare the soil, etc., etc.  So we’ll get some of the prep work done this year, but the planting will have to wait till next spring.

Meanwhile I’m getting my feet wet by doing some container gardening.  I bought a seed starter kit several weeks ago and planted peppers, tomatoes, green beans and strawberries.  Then I ran out looking for the appropriate containers.  Everywhere I look, it seems, people have these half-barrel things in their yard with plants growing out of them.  I love those!  I looked everywhere, but couldn’t find them.  It would have helped if I knew what they were called.

I finally found a place where the salesperson knew what I was talking about: whiskey barrels.  I still thought this was just a term.  I didn’t realize they were actual whisky barrels which have been cut in half. I grabbed a couple, loaded them in my SUV, and drove home with the smell of whiskey filling my vehicle.  Thank goodness I didn’t get pulled over!  Do whiskey barrels count as open containers?  When I got them home, I was amused to discover where the barrels came from:

So hopefully my veggies don’t end up tasting like JD.  Okay, okay, I know that’s unlikely.  No one gets a buzz from eating salad!  (Do they?)

We were fortunate to have some fantastic weather this past weekend.  It managed to get up to 94ºF on Saturday – not bad for April in New England.  I was excited to get outside and transplant my little seedlings.  I had no idea playing in the dirt could be so much fun!

Well, the weather is still beautiful, but it’s Monday.  So I’ll be sitting in my cubicle all day anxious to get home and play in the dirt some more.  Hopefully my little sprouts grow big and beautiful and produce some tasty treats one day!

So, for reasons I won’t get into, I was looking up Christopher Lee on IMDB.com today.  I neerly peed my pants when I saw that he’d be playing the Jabberwock in Tim Burton’s production of Alice in Wonderland (due out in 2010).

First let me say that Lewis Carroll’s Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There together make up one of my all-time favorite stories.  I’ve read both books innumerable times, as well as The Annotated Alice.  Needless to say, a Tim Burton take on this story is going to pique my interest.

As if that news isn’t exciting enough, Johnny Depp will be playing the Mad Hatter!

There are actually several of my favorite actors in the cast – Alan Rickman as the Catterpillar, Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter as the White and Red Queens, and Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts.  With a cast like this, hopefully this movie won’t disappoint!

Now if only I didn’t have to wait till 2010 to see it…