AHM Recommends: Eppa Sangria

November 24, 2014 by 14 Comments

eppa sangria partywith Melanie Wynne and Candice Kahn

Last week I attended an intimate party hosted by Romy Schorr of Romy Raves (disclosure, she is a dear friend, so I get to benefit from all the fabulous things she does) in honor of Eppa‘s red and white sangrias.

romy schorr and kim tracy princewith Romy Schorr

I’ve written here before about my love of tasty adult beverages. My favorites are the refreshing drinks you can pour and serve on a hot day on the patio in the backyard. After one sip of Eppa’s white sangria I was sold forever.

The bonus of these drinks is that they are pre-mixed and you can just pour them. Done and delicious. Plus, they are made with natural ingredients and infused with superfruit juices to include twice the antioxidants of a regular glass of red wine. So drinking this makes you healthier, right?

Built around the tasty beverage, Schorr’s party was held at West Hollywood’s Petit Ermitage Hotel, a tiny place you’d never notice otherwise tucked into a corner north of Santa Monica Boulevard. The good news – for me and for you, Agoura Hills – is that I was able to take Uber all the way there with my pal Lexi Rohner of Thirty Fingers and Thirty Toes. Yes, it took forever, but I didn’t have to drive! I’ve been wondering when the service is going to be available here and now I know. It’s now. It depends on the time of day – Agoura isn’t exactly a hub of city travel – but around 5:30 when I requested a driver, one was available with only 3 minutes to wait.

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The Hotel itself, once we arrived an hour and a half later, is a delight of custom decor, narrow hallways, friendly and helpful staff, and old-fashioned ambiance. Beautiful (but not unapproachably so) people lounged about in the public spaces, and the rooftop pool looked like a magic portal contrasting against the stormy sky. The party was held on the property’s Firedeck, a cozy nook of the rooftop with a fireplace.

Schorr had set up a few activity stations that went nicely with the theme of the party, which was #NamastEppa: the drink is good for you and helps you relax and de-stress. Amen. In one corner – Manly Handz, two lovely gentlemen who gave complimentary hand and foot massages to the ladies using KleanSpa‘s hand-mixed shea butter body butter, one of my favorite skin care products of all time.

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In another, Agoura Hills’ own Laureen Crisafulli of The Engraved Letter etched wine glasses, a pair for each guest with messages of their choices, by hand. (I had her engrave “Wine O’Clock” and “Wine-thirty” on mine!).

engraved letter

To the side, Schorr’s beauty vlogging partner Stacy Cox had set up a natural ingredient facial and body scrub bar. Guests were invited to create their own combinations using things like yogurt, blueberry puree, cornmeal, honey, and citrus juice, and bring it home in a pretty little canning jar.

body scrub barLaura Clark of LA Story suits up to make a scrub with me

True to form, Schorr gave each guest a stellar gift bag upon leaving the party, featuring the Eppa Sangria, a custom blend of KleanSpa body butter, gift vouchers for photo services by the wonderful photographer Lori Yohe of The Purple Tree (who took all the photos in this post), and a gorgeous handbag by Big Buddha.

eppa gift bags

Guests were treated to both the red and white sangrias by Eppa on this evening. I prefer the white because the taste is so refreshing and light, but the red is also delicious, not overpowering like some bottled red sangrias. I like fruitier sangrias more than spicy ones, and this red is perfect to serve on a more mild winter evening. Neither flavor was very strong, alcoholically speaking – it’s only 8.5% alcohol by volume. I drank at least three glasses and they didn’t knock me over, so it’s great for sipping without a heavy price to pay, if you know what I’m saying.

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Eppa Sangria
available at Sprouts and BevMo
$11.99 per bottle

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On Being a Stay at Home Mom

November 21, 2014 by Leave a Comment

I was thinking of posting a “flashback Friday” picture today, something from back when we first moved to Agoura Hills, and the blooms were still on the rose bushes, so to speak. I’m still so grateful to live here. I still look out my office window every morning over the rooftop of my neighbor’s house to see what the view is like. This morning it was shrouded in welcome mist, reminding me that it rained last night, and can we have some more of that rain, please?

But before I turned to this site I actually published a post on my other blog, and used a photo of my little boys jumping in the leaves a few years ago. The moment is frozen in time – they are perfectly happy, without a care in the world. And I’m glad, because that is the kind of life my husband and I dreamed about when we moved here. Not that we couldn’t rake up a pile of leaves in Northridge, but you know what I mean.

Here’s the photo.

little boys jumping in leaves

And this is the post, in case you want to read it (just click on the excerpt). It’s an essay in reaction to some of the articles floating around the internet lately about what stay at home moms do all day – partially from my point of view, and partially from a working dad’s.

I urge readers not to take the bait. Parenting is hard no matter how you do it. The only people who are lounging around in “luxury” are the children, because that’s the whole point.

 

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A Pot of Lunch: Quinoa and Red Beans Recipe

November 19, 2014 by 1 Comment

IMG_6676Early this year I went through a diet overhaul. I had to find out what was giving me stomachaches and adjust what I eat accordingly. After a 90-day elimination diet which eliminated just about everything that gives a person a reason for living, my loose conclusion is: gluten and dairy.

I KNOW.

During the diet the only grain I could eat was quinoa, so quinoa and I got to be very good friends (here is my Pinterest board devoted to it). I found this wonderful recipe on Food Network and I tried it, omitting the ingredients that were on my suspected food allergy list at the time: garlic, cayenne pepper, and cheese. I found it wonderfully filling, which was the best part about it because I was having trouble satisfying my hunger on such a strict diet. I would make a pot of this dish and it would last me several days.

Once the diet was done, I added back the omitted ingredients without incident (except the cheese), and then I started changing up what I put into it, and now I have my tried and true method. The only problem is that my husband likes it too, so sometimes the one big pot shrinks far faster than I would like!

Quinoa and Red Bean One Pot Lunch:

Ingredients
Olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 tbsp chopped onion (any kind)
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
pinch cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
1 cup quinoa (uncooked)
2 cups water
2 cans dark red kidney beans, rinsed
4 large kale leaves, chopped or torn into bite-sized pieces
1 cup chopped cooked chicken

Instructions
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add peppers, onions and celery and saute until vegetables soften. Add the mushrooms, garlic, tomato paste, cayenne and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until the tomato paste is evenly distributed and garlic and mushrooms cook a little bit. Stir in the quinoa, water and beans. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered but with the lid open a little tiny bit, stirring often, until the quinoa is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in kale. Cover and let sit for a few minutes until kale is wilted. Stir in chicken for more protein.

A note about tomato paste: I buy the tiny can, use 2 tbsp for one pot of this recipe, then measure out 1 tbsp of the leftover tomato paste into ice cube trays, one cube at a time until it’s gone. Then I freeze it, and pop the cubes of frozen paste out into a ziptop bag and keep it in the freezer. When I am ready to make another batch, I take out two cubes and let them defrost while I chop the vegetables. It takes a little longer to cook into the veggies when it’s cold like that but it still works just fine. This way I don’t waste a whole can of tomato paste for one meal.

You can eat this hot or cold, as a side dish or as your meal. When I have big containers of this dish in the fridge, I am more likely to eat healthy and skip the 3pm snack attack!

 

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I use kale because I have a lot of it.

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I have a lot of it because look at my garden! (This was in the summer. It looks different now but the kale is still growing!)

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