The Undercover Divas on WINE!

Most people appreciate wine for its delicious and complex taste. Produced from grapes, fermented in cellars and sipped for its intricate flavors and food-pairing characteristics, puts wine in a league of its own. Everyone has a different palate and appreciates different tastes. Taste is the enjoyable part. Try more than one wine at a time for the sake of comparison. Take advantage of opportunities to taste a wine you've never heard of, it may prove to be delightful. Add a few friends to the mix for a truly festive time! Good wine is one of life's greatest pleasures.

Food and wine pairing work best when you understand the flavors of each type. A prime cut of steak tastes good with a Cabernet. The beef's protein and fat softens up the wine's mouth-drying tannins. This sets up the tongue for the wine's fruit and berries and forest flavors to complement the smoky, meaty flavor of the steak. Sparkling wines are a home run with salty, fried food. Salt is a principal flavor in seafood. With desserts, you must be certain the wine tastes sweeter than the dessert. Zinfandel can be quite wonderful.

Entertaining with a wine and a cheese plate can be impressive to your guests. It's fun to open a range of bottles to sample with your cheese assortment- but, if you only want one type of wine, try Riesling, especially off-dry. The wine is low in alcohol, but its acidity, sweetness, tropical fruits, and mineral backbone let it partner broadly. Sparkling wines, from dry to sweet, always work well. Their ample acidity and toasty, nutty flavors complement cheeses from fresh through aged. A mixed plate of cheeses is a great excuse to open a good bottle of Champagne (or the Spanish equivalent, Cava).

Glassware is an important part in appreciating wine. Each wine glass is specifically shaped to accentuate the defining characteristics of all the different types of wine. While wine can be savored in any glass, a glass designed for a specific wine type helps you to better experience its essence. If you plan on experiencing each type, it is a good idea to invest in a nice set of stemware, you will appreciate the rewards.

All wine can be stored at the same temperature, regardless of its color. But reds and whites are consumed at different temperatures. Too often, people drink white wines too cold and red wines too warm, limiting how much you can enjoy the wine. A white wine that is too cold will be flavorless and a red wine that is too warm is often flabby and alcoholic. A good rule is that white wines should be chilled before drinking and red wines should have time to rise in temperature. Reds should be somewhere between storage temperature and room temperature. The real enemy of wine is sunlight, so make sure to store away from light.

Preservation is important with leftover wine. As wine comes into contact with air, it quickly spoils. To slow down the deterioration process, use a quick vacuum pump to suck out the excess air. The less air in the bottle, the longer the wine's lifespan.

Researchers have found that those who drink 1 to 3 glasses of wine a day, regularly are healthier than those who drink none, and those who drink more. We should rejoice in the many fine benefits of wine that can be had by properly using wine as it was meant to be used – in moderation. Occasionally splurge on a truly great wine. It's an excellent way to reward yourself.

HomeTown Grill Restaurant in Clinton Township, Michigan - REVIEW

We stopped at a quiet little diner for lunch, and it was so good, we felt we must go again before writing a review to see if the food was always so right-on perfect. What a pleasant surprise to find out that it was. But just to make double sure, we went five more times to check. Always superb. The place is called HomeTown Grill and it is located in a strip mall on 15 Mile Rd. (next to Baker College at Little Mack) between Groesbeck and Gratiot. It's one of those places that you'd drive right by if someone hadn't told you about it.

Parking is conveniently right at the door. As we entered the restaurant, we noticed a chalk board with specials of the day and TEN different soup choices. They boast of at least eight fresh soups on the menu, daily. It's a small, busy place, and turnover seems to be brisk. We were given three menus. There was their regular menu that was huge, their “Specials” menu with their most popular breakfast, lunch and dinner choices, and then a one-sheet “Daily Specials” for that day. One of the other patrons sitting near us mentioned their excellent salmon with a lemon dill sauce as their personal favorite.

Each dinner comes with the option of soup, salad or coleslaw, and includes a home-baked bread basket, and a selection of homemade desserts. We Undercover Divas wanted to each order something different to compare. On this visit, Annod ordered the Sweet and Sour Chicken over Rice ($8.95) and Gini had the Turkey Dinner with Stuffing and Mashed Potatoes ($8.95).  I ordered the Stuffed Cabbage with Mashed Potatoes ($8.95)  I asked for extra sauce on the stuffed cabbage and the mashed potatoes and they were happy to comply and even brought me an  extra cup at no charge. Finally, I found a place that makes it "my way."

I had a side salad with homemade blue cheese dressing, and the other divas had a cup of Cheddar Broccoli soup. The food was spiced to perfection. Annod loved it and she is a spicy girl, I was very happy with my food and I'm not into spices, and Gini is into homemade, and she was very pleased. It was all amazing. Dessert choices were: Jello, ice cream, tapioca pudding and bread pudding with a vanilla sauce. The bread pudding was amazing, and homemade.

The owner of the HomeTown Grillhas been in the restaurant business for over 35 years. He is known for his family dining restaurants and his very successful catering business. He is the former owner of the Royal Cafe of Sterling Heights, HomeTown Grill of Warren and the Imperial House Banquet Hall of Clinton Township.

The HomeTown Grill serves breakfast anytime. Prices are very affordable (most dinners seem to cost around $8.95), and the food is definitely home style cooking. They welcome families as they do not serve any alcoholic beverages. Seating is all roomy, comfortable booths and counter service is available and very popular with customers. Servers are friendly and attentive. Even when they are extremely busy, food arrives without much of a wait, and piping hot.

The HomeTown Grill is busy at lunch and dinner times, but we have never had to wait.  Everything is cooked perfectly to order and there is enough food to take home for another meal. There are Polish meals, Italian selections, Mexican choices, Greek dishes, and lots of American favorites, all made fresh daily.

They are open seven days a week.  Breakfast starts each day at 7 am and they close at 9 pm. Their telephone number is (586) 791-4500.