Happy 4th of July! I rather like this holiday, if only for fireworks and an obligatory day off of work. This year, I think I have used my long weekend rather well.
Yesterday, I went to the Cedar Ridge Vinyard in Swisher, Iowa to try their newly released Iowa (100% corn) bourbon whiskey-- the first bourbon made in Iowa since prohibition. Along with a sip that was strong enough to give me a buzz, I tasted several of their award winning wines (from Iowa grapes-- practically unheard of) and got a tour of the distillery. It is a rather small scale production, and the bottles are all hand filled and hand labeled, but the staff was incredibly knowledgeable and friendly and everything I tasted was great. I love to support local business, and getting to drink some quality beverages while doing it made me feel even better! I'm no bourbon connoisseur, but I look forward to whipping up a batch of mint juleps and celebrating some Iowa spirits!
If wine and spirits weren't enough for one day, I also enjoyed Iowa City's Jazz Festival last night. It was a perfect evening for jazz on the lawn, beer on a warm breezy patio, and fresh kettle corn to munch on. Though today promises to be rainy, I am half tempted to head downtown if only to taste more of the treats offered by food vendors lined up and down the street.
This morning, I opted against anything so patriotic as a parade, and instead picked up the latest Sookie Stackhouse book, Dead in the Family. It is the tenth installment of Charlaine Harris's southern vampire (among other supernatural beings) mystery series.
For those of you who have not picked up this delightful, trashy, addicting fluff I beg you do so only if you have a few weeks of free evenings to pound out the ten book series. The books are just as engaging, exciting, and swoon inducing as the Twilight series (yes, I am as bad as a tween girl), but they have an added raunch factor to please more adult (and more gender neutral) audiences. I just finished the book and am already counting down the days til the next book is released. I just can't get enough Sookie! Thankfully, True Blood seasons 2 and 3 can tide me over. Though the series is not nearly as good as the books, it definitely provides some, ahem, titillating distractions from real life.
On that note, I hope your Independence Day is full of good eats, delicious drinks, and as many adventures (literary or not) that you can handle!
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