Us Fighting Cancer Together

OK, I'm asking for something. But also being honest. As you all know, I think CANCER SUCKS. To FIGHT BACK I pledge some of my time and money to fight it. Can you help me? Here's my crazy pitch, I'd love it everyone would give me donations, but some folks don't feel like they can generously and the time spent to make small donations is too much. How about $5, but not just from you, but also from people you know? You might not have $20 personally, but if you ask a few people and 3 more say yes to $5, you do have $20. And I think that rocks, and that is you, me and all our friends making a difference! A HUGE difference.

Margot and I are participating in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event in Manchester, NH on October 21st. 

This is the first NH cancer event I participated in, in 2003. This is where my involvement in Relay For Life (in 2004) was hatched, and for many years I participated in and helped with logistics and setup for this very event. I'm back at that this year, as well as walking with Margot Cote Phelps and Melissa Woodside Prunier, after a few years making a difference with both of them and the Northeast Delta Dental Team in Concord. 

Online donations are the easiest way using the link below.

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/MakingStridesAgainstBreastCancer/MSABCFY13NE?px=1344507&pg=personal&fr_id=47478

For interested local folks, Margot and I are hosting a wine tasting to celebrate the 2011 Finger Lakes Riesling Launch on September 22nd. If you would like to receive the invite send me your address in a private message.

Cheers!

Jason

CANCER SUCKS SO FIGHT BACK!

Some of you may already know that I am a cancer survivor and participate in a Relay For Life each year in June. My team is gearing up to walk a track all night again this year and need your support to raise critical funds to keep the programs and services of the American Cancer Society available for the over 1.4 million new cancer survivors each year.

I am also participating in Frosting For A Cause (@Frosting4Cause) to help further raise awareness about the fight against cancer. June 5th is National Cancer Survivor Day and I will be posting my Frosting For A Cause entry that day in honor.

 I’m not sure what I am going to make yet so you will have to check back then to find out what pink frosted treats I make to celebrate cancer survivors everywhere and remember those brave souls we have lost to this terrible disease.

I do know how I am going to fulfill my obligations in participating in the event though, and that’s where you can help. One of the requirements is to donate my creation to a local organization that cares for cancer survivors and patients. I am going to put a twist on this and donate them to be served at the survivor celebration lunch at the Relay For Life my parents are participating in on June 4th.

My second commitment is donate money to the American Cancer Society, which is something I already do and am doing again this year. I can multiply that donation and its impact with your help.

My team is named Survivors Rule! and we are a potent example of what family and friends can do when we band together to fight.

Since 2003 we have

• Raised over $72,000 for The American Cancer Society and the Lance Armstrong Foundation!
• Walked hundreds and hundreds of miles proudly showing we are strong and can beat cancer
• Volunteered to help organize, setup, cleanup and host event activities for 750+ people nearly every year
• Placed as the top fund-raising team at our event 4 of the last 5 years, raising over $10,000 each of those years
• Involved dozens of cancer survivors in a celebration of their brave fight
• Educated hundreds of people of how and how much cancer affects all of us
• Had team members been recognized as individual fund-raising leaders, distance challengers and spirit makers
• Represented our cause to local politicians and business leaders who can see how their support helps from our first hand accounts of living with cancer and giving back
• Also participated in the annual Making Strides Against Cancer one-day events in 3 different locations
• Fought cancer like we meant it!

But we still need your help. Any sized donation is welcome and will do so much to contribute to the fight. Your support comes with a simple guarantee, my team and I will make it count as we come out again this year to give cancer an example of how hard we are going to FIGHT BACK!

Please use the link below to donate on-line.

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY11NE?px=1344507&pg=personal&fr_id=31248

I am going to enjoy my pink frosting challenge and can’t wait to share my creation with you all here and in person with a group of cancer survivors, the honored guests at the Relay For Life. Be sure and come back on or after June 5th to see more of the story.

Thank You

Jason

Chili Charities – Foodie Fun for a Cause

As Jay mentioned in our first Chili Cook Off post the International Chili Society (ICS) has raised close to $90 million dollars for charities since it began. This year the three charities that are benefiting from the cookoff are: The Greater Manchester YMCA, Families in Transition and the New Horizons Soup Kitchen. All of these organizations do wonderful work in the Manchester community and in this economy any opportunity to raise funds and awareness for a non-profit it very welcome.

On Saturday as we left the Welcome Center and headed for the front entrance we met Nancy Comai and Michelle Casale from New Horizons. As Michelle headed off to her volunteer post Nancy was more than happy to satisfy our interest in how the charity support aspect of the cookoff worked.

Charities in the area that the cookoff is being held responded to an RFP that is organized by the ICS. The charity must be willing to supply a minimum amount of volunteers to work the event for one of the days. Volunteers work in shifts between 7am and 8pm each day handling all manner of logisitcs tasks including ticket sales, trash collection, parking, information booths, etc. In return the charity receives $1 for each $5 ticket that is sold on that day. Based on the crowd that we saw on Saturday New Horizons had a very successful day.

Jay and I both agreed that it was fitting to have the proceeds from a fun food day go to an organization that supplies meals and shelter to those in need. Michelle was very happy to share information about New Horizons including the following:

• Out of the 900 school-children within walking distance of the New Horizons facility that receive free or reduced lunch, New Horizons would be feeding nearly 400 of them dinner per month by the end of they year.
• New Horizons typically serves approximately 200 meals per day.
• The food pantry provides pre-packaged food items to over 700 households each month.

As foodies we have the luxury of not only having enough to eat but also conveying our passions through our food. Not everyone is so lucky.

If you would like to donate to the New Horizons Soup Kitchen, Pantry and Shelter you can do so here:

http://www.newhorizonsfornh.org/donate/how_to_donate.php

Thank You

Margot and Jason

Tour de France Wrap-up – Live Yellow, LIVE STRONG

Reminder: The Boboli Grilled Pizza Recipe Challenge still running. Check out the challenge and entry information.


Three weeks in July. Twenty-one teams, 189 riders. Three thousand, six hundred and forty-two kilometers. Many different countries, several distinct disciplines, and lots of action. Beautiful scenery, history and regional foods, wines and cultures. That’s the Tour de France.

Last week in my roll-up of bloggers paying homage to the Tour we saw many different perspectives on the faces and places of Holland, France and Spain. Finishing up this weekend the tour rides to the town of Bordeaux. The Bordeaux region is on the Tour route each year, although the last time the tour rode finished in the town of Bordeaux was in 2003. The race will finish in Pauillac for the first time ever on Saturday. That route is the final time trial of the Tour and the results from the day will likely decide the victor for another tour. It is fitting that the race should wrap-up this way in Bordeaux, a location that sets the tone for much of the wine world year after year.

I’ve only enjoyed a couple of Bordeaux wines in my life and the best was a white from Graves in 2006. I met the winemaker and saw pictures of the family chateau where this wine had been made for years. I told him of my winemaking adventures and he offered words of encouragement for taking up a noble craft. Pretty cool!

As luck would have it my winemaking would present a Bordeaux friendly story for the last day of the tour. Earlier in the year we started a Petit Verdot wine from a kit. Traditionally used in Bordeaux style blends, this grape is full and dark with a solid earthiness to it, and a bit of pepper spice. We bottled ours today and the early taste bodes well for the future of this wine. I even used a small amount of this wine with some Cabernet I had available. I expect to be adding some Syrah and Malbec to create a complex blend with some a wonderful combination of aromas and flavors.

The scenery along the race course of the two days leading up to the finale was exceptional. Rolling hills of vines and little roads connecting clusters of weather worn buildings with the magnificent chateaus. A visit to Bordeaux is on my list, but a visit to some of their wines is shorter term!

Check out the Tour web site for all the results, video and stories from what the advertisements were calling "The most epic race ever!"

To start the final day Lance Armstrong and the Radio Shack Team caused a bit of a stir with unapproved jerseys emblazoned with a huge 28 on the back. 28, twenty-eight million people living with cancer world-wide. Conservative at best, the executives of the foundation and Lance will all say that. 28 million. That is a lot of people. I am one of them. Please live well and LIVESTRONG. Take care of yourself, get out and do stuff just because you can and be an example of living the one life we all get. Get involved with LIVESTRONG, the American Cancer Society or any number of other organizations battling cancer. Save a life, reduce someone’s suffering, FIGHT BACK!

Cheers!

Jason

Spring Is On The Way

Several themes are evolving for Ancient Fire’s activities this spring. While not everything we are hoping for is likely to come to pass, more on that to follow, we are nonetheless excited.

This past weekend a lineup of twelve Ancient Fire wines were used in a tasting to raise money for the Relay For Life. Some of the selections hadn’t been tasted in a few months which ended up being particularly exciting for some of our 2008 reds that are now drinking very well. The Cab Blend and Ruby Cabernet are both showing their individual character and Amarone #2 is developing and should continue to do so for another year or more. Margot’s Symphony was the star of the day and as our youngest wine it is sure making a statement. With nice floral notes on the nose, obvious fruit flavors from the first sip, and a balance seldom found in our wines we think we have a competition success in this wine. Everyone who tried it had something, and very positive somethings, to say about this wine where other very good wines didn’t attract nearly as much attention. We raised around $350 with this event which is a nice bump for our annual Relay For Life event.

The Sake experiment was a bust, I grew other fungi than I wanted so I threw it out and will focus my efforts where I am already successful, fruit and grape wines!

Our spring winemaking plan is partially tied to receiving a shipment of Chilean grapes, which after the earthquake is no sure thing. While our supplier is proceeding with optimism they have not yet confirmed what will be available and have extended the pre-order deadline so we must wait patiently and see. If the grapes do not work out we will acquire some frozen must (pressed grapes from last year’s fall harvest) and make some of the wines in our plan, but will reserve budget for the 2010 west coast harvest later in the year.

We have also begun receiving our WinExpert Special Edition kits including the Australian Petite Verdot and the hugely popular Pacific Quartet white blend. When these get started will depend on the outcome with the Chilean grapes. Obviously we will give an update when they get going.

Otherwise we are almost done with the ciders which have also been bringing smiles for all who have tried some. Summer here we come!

Cheers!

--Jason