OK, so I like some pineapple juice added in to my screwdrivers. I’m sure there’s some name for the drink, but I don’t know it. I used to get the 6-packs of small cans at Fred Meyer’s. Recently, when it occurred to me to look for it again, it wasn’t there. I talked to two employees who pointed at the spot on the shelf where it was, then they both looked baffled that it had been replaced with cans of prune juice. Ummmm, not the same. I can get them at the liquor store for 50 cents each. I found near the boxed OJ a pre-mixed pineapple-orange juice, but it just doesn’t taste the same.

And Norm has always used shaving gel for tough beards. In two different brands, it was the orange can. He asked me to pick up a new can for him. Gillette Fusion in the orange can now has 4 or 5 varieties – none for tough beards. No other brand at Fred Meyers has a variety for tough beards now. What gives? I looked online, and the Gillette is still out there as available. Who makes these decisions.

LOL, OK, it just occurred to me to contact them about it.

In better news, LifeSource now has Yumm! Sauce from the Cafe Yumm! franchise in Eugene. I picked some up in original and roasted garlic. We had rice bowls for dinner last night – so good. Brown rice, Yumm! sauce, black beans, cheese, and freshly blended up H&H salsa. I think I’ll have that as leftovers tonight, after my screwdrivers!

So Mom gave us gift certificates for two adult brunches with only two Sundays remaining. Yesterday and next week, which is when we are getting together with the folks for Christmas before they head out to Denver. So I ran the idea by Norm on Saturday and he agreed to go. I called and made the recommended reservations for noon, figuring we could get ourselves up and around by then.

It was a short drive over to Rickreall, and the winery is right on Hwy 99. Parking was in the back, and it was really packed.

We were a bit early, so we checked in, gave them our certificates, and were given two vouchers each for glasses of wine. We started with Mimosa Sunrises – champagne, OJ, and a splash of raspberry dessert wine – yummy!

When a table became available in the back of the vast and crowded room, we were given a tour of the exhibition style food stations, as well as the serve yourself buffet options. We then parked our drinks and coats at our table and proceeded to try to decide where to start!

Norm got a small plate of fried oysters while we were waiting for our Seafood Benedicts. The “crab” was really krab, but in the sauce, it worked well.

I then went on to have a crepe with marionberry and cream cheese filling. They were out of the raspberry filling listed on the board, and said that since it was written in permanent marker, they couldn’t change it. At that station, they were also making mini-waffles which people could top with all sorts of fruit and sweet toppings.

Norm repeatedly visited the pork station, where you could get slices, or pork tacos. I think he went through about 10 slices in the hour we were there.

Oh yeah, for our second drink, we got chardonnays.

I finished with a bacon, sausage, and cheddar cheese omelet. I only made it through half. The variety of fillings for those was huge!

Also available, but stuff I didn’t have room for or interest in:
Green salad
Fresh fruit
rolls with butter
French onion soup
Biscuits and gravy
Italian Strada (sic)
Potatos of some sort
about 4 different kinds of dessert, from chocolate something to carrot cake

I may be missing a couple of items, but for $24.95 a person which included the two wines, I think it was a fantastic event. The winery brings in Simply Delish catering, which is professional and very friendly – each and every one of them. They also had a few staff on hand constantly circulating to pick up empty dishes and glasses.

On our way out, we picked up a couple of bottles of the Chardonnay, and it was very reasonably priced for how good it was!

We’d definitely go back!

OK, so I kinda want to put the upcoming Sony e-Reader Daily Edition on my Christmas list. I think it’d be great to drag around a huge library of books on a small device.

They’ve been touting Sony’s link with free Google books, so I thought I’d download the PC-side software to take a look at what was out there. On the software, there’s a search for books you already have, and a search in the Sony eBook Store. The Sony website says there should be a Google search box. It’s not there, so I submitted a question via their help site.
Reply 1: It isn’t available, and they gave me a link to supposedly explain it. The link was about how it IS available. So I e-mailed back to tell them that.
Reply 2: How to use Google’s advanced book search, with a link to a page about that. Ummm, if I don’t have the basic search, I can’t use the advanced search. So I e-mailed back to tell them that.
Reply 3: Any further help requires a phone call.

Not exactly a promising start. Now I’m sure the wireless connectivity will get me to Google books, but it’s been a frustrating experience so far.