Carlson Vineyards Wine Tasting May 16- May 19

I’m getting excited about the week after Mother’s Day. Why… well, first, I know I will be enjoying my new wonderful Mother’s Day gift. Second, Parker Carlson from Carlson Vineyards in Colorado will be visiting all of our stores

to sample his wine. Lucky for us, Parker and his wife Mary love Wisconsin and come here every spring for a vacation. They kindly stop and visit us on the way to their fishing destination, probably a top secret spot.

When not vacationing in Wisconsin, Parker is known for his award-winning Riesling and tasty fruit wines, including Peach, Plum, Cherry and his recently re-released Apricot  & Pear-Apple. In these parts, he’s quite famous for

his Sweet Baby Red,  Sweet Gewurztraminer and Unoaked Chardonnay.

I hope that you can stop in, meet Parker and try his wine . If you twist his arm, he may even tell you a few fishing tales. Cheers!

Spring’s Bounty…. Artichokes

Artichokes can be a bit daunting to even an experienced cook. Not to fear, here’s a video from our friends at Ocean Mist on how to prepare an artichoke for cooking.

For great recipes to make Artichokes in your crock pot, microwave, oven and more, visit our recipe tab.

Happy Artichoke Season!

Brennan’s Cheese Curd Days: April 26- April 28

*While supplies last. Excludes gas purchase in Monroe. Mixed curds only. In store purchase only. 1 per customer, per purchase.

We’ve Struck Gold… Gold Nuggets that is!

Named because of  its beautiful, bright and slightly bumpy rind,  the Gold Nugget was more than half a century in the making. It started with the very first cross in 1953 when UC Riverside, scientists and growers began seeking a mandarin that included the best properties of a seedless, easy-to-peel Satsuma in a larger size. And they wanted this to be a late-season mandarin so it didn’t compete in the market with the already popular Satsuma or Clementine. The result was the Gold Nugget.

In fact, some people consider them one of the best flavored citrus in the world. The Gold Nugget variety of mandarins is deliciously sweet with a bright orange, seedless interior. They are easy-to-peel and separate into segments. With their incredibly juicy taste, they brighten up salads and desserts, while also being a great lunchbox snack.

Happy Gold Nugget Season! Another great citrus experience brought to you by Brennan’s!

Holiday Weekend Hours

Would You Kiss My Shamrock! There’s Two Beers in My Bottle!

We just received our once-a-year shipment of Hale’s Ales Bottle-Conditioned Nut Brown Ale. You may be thinking, ” What’s so exciting about that?” So, here’s the  lowdown on one of my favorite pre-spring seasonals from
Corned Beef with Cabbage.

Sounds like a good reason to buy a six-pack and experiment for yourself!

Cheers!

Cheer Beer for the New Year!

Here are the beers I will be serving to my friends and family to ring in 2013!

Beer Number four will be a creamy Imperial Dunkelweiss known as Scuttlebutt 10 Below.  Slight milk chocolate flavors and a whiff of banana aroma will end the night on a cheery, beery, dessert note!

Cheers!

Comment on Obsessed with Lemon Curd by Thea

Leslie has changed her packaging, but it is the same great product. Yum!

Brennan’s Holiday Hours

We hope to see you this holiday season!  Here are our seasonal hours.

Friday December 21: 8am -9pm

Saturday December 22: 8am -9pm

Sunday December 23: 8am- 6pm

Monday December 24 (Christmas Eve): 8:00am – 5:00pm

Tuesday December 25 (Christmas Day): Closed

Wednesday- Saturday December 26- Dec 29: 8am-9pm

Sunday December 30: 8am – 6pm

Monday December 31 ( New Year’s Eve): 8:00am- 6:00pm

Tuesday January 1  (New Year’s Day): Closed 

 Have a safe and Happy Holiday Season from all of us at Brennan’s!

Holiday 2012 Gift Guide… Brennan’s Cheese Boxes and much more!

Our Holiday Gift Guide is available in stores or check it out here to see our fantastic selection of  

Comment on Wines for Your Thanksgiving! by Thea Miller

Nope, it was me. Beautiful, huh?

Comment on Wines for Your Thanksgiving! by Kathleen Coolman

Did Maggie Draw the Turkey for your Thanksgiving Blog? Kathleen at Brookfield.

Wines for Your Thanksgiving!

So I decided that is was time to write a blog about Thanksgiving. After about 10 minutes of struggling to come up with some new thoughts, I looked back on what I had written in the past. Have you ever done that? I usually dry wine fans.

Carlson Gewurztraminer (Colorado): The heady, captivating aroma notes are lime candy, spice and rose. The taste is tropical fruit, honey, and oriental spice. Wonderful with the chaos of a T-Day plate.

Villard Pinot Noir (Chile): Fresh berries such as strawberries and raspberries. Good complexity between fruit and a touch of oak, finishing with extremely good length.

Cooper Station Zinfandel (California): This Zin opens with luscious, concentrated blackberry aromas and has flavors of rhubarb, strawberry and vanilla with lingering hints of toast and smoke.

Perini Perini Malvasia Sweet Sparkling (Italy):  This sweet sparkling has a straw yellow color with hints of gold and aromas of peaches and apricots. Sweet, soft, fruity taste with a crisp, good structure.

Well, that was more wines than I had planned on listing, but I had a hard time narrowing them down. My point being, that no matter if you’re all about the turkey, side-dishes, or the desserts, there’s at least a wine or two for you.

Happy Thanksgiving from Brennan’s!

Celebrate the Season with Apples!

What better way to get everyone in the family fired up about the season than creating a meal with homegrown apples in every recipe/course?   If you’re like me, that meal might be apple pie, apple crisp and apple cake, but maybe Honeycrisp and Pear Crisp

So, there are just a few ideas to get you started. Let us know if you try this themed menu or any of the recipes. We’d love to hear about your favorite apple recipes, too!

Happy Apple Season!

How to Peel an IDAHO Chin Drippin’ Peach

We get lots of peach questions all summer long, but one of the most frequently asked questions is, “How do you peel a peach?” For those of us who baked pies with our grandmas, it’s a no brainer. As it turns out, for those that didn’t make peach pies with their grandma, it’s still a no- brainer. Check out my easy technique below.

1. Wash your peaches thoroughly under cold water.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil on high. While the water is coming to a boil, take a bowl and fill it with cold water and ice.
3. Gently place your peach in the pot and leave it in the boiling water for 45 seconds. Get the peach out of the water with a slotted spoon.
4. Immediately place the peach in the ice bath and let it sit for 10 to 20 seconds. This stops the fruit from cooking.
5. Take the peach out of the ice bath and gently peel with your fingers or a pairing knife.

Enjoy peeled peaches in pies, crisps, crumbles, cobblers, canned, and on top of ice cream and granola.

This technique also works with plums, nectarines and tomatoes.

Happy IDAHO Chin Drippin’ Peach Season!

10lb Michigan Blueberries are here, but the season is short!

Yikes. We’ve been getting a lot of calls for our 10 lb boxes Michigan Blueberries. It’s been a tough year in Michigan with the frosts in April after an unseasonably warm March and now all this heat.  Our main grower Fat Boys Peach Blueberry Pie

Would love to hear about your favorite blueberry recipes, too! Post comments or submit recipes to on our recipe contest page.  Happy Blueberry season!

Happy 4th of July!

July 3: 8am- 9pm

July 4th: 8am- 6pm

Have a safe, COOL and  Happy 4th of July everyone!

Obsessed with Lemon Curd

Every so often we get a request to stock lemon curd, so I have been keeping my eye out for one. Last year I found one, but sadly the packaging virtually guaranteed that it would not sell. So I kept on looking until I came across tasty mousse.

Just In… South Island Pinot Gris!

South Island wines from New Zealand’s South Island (shocker!) has been one of our best selling brands  for the past 7 years. Why? Fantastic quality and a terrific price- $9.99. South Island Pinot Noir is our top Pinot and the same goes for the Sauvignon Blanc. So, we are super excited to introduce a new wine to the collection- South Island Pinot Gris.

Pinot Gris/Grigio originated in France and is now planted pretty much any place that isn’t too hot in summer and that has long, cool autumns, like New Zealand’s South Island. Pinot Gris from Alsace, France, tends to be full-bodied and oily, full of spice notes and peach and apricot flavors; Northern Italian Pinot Grigios are bright, light and zippy, with white peach or nectarine flavors and tingly acidity. New World versions are essentially divided into these two styles, and the wines tend to be labeled Gris or Grigio accordingly.

South Island Pinot Gris is aptly named because it has hints of ginger spice and pear drop aromas and flavors long with peach. Fruity with zesty acidity, it has crisp, yet lingering finish. Pair it with Swiss cheese, Gouda, salmon, grilled pork, grilled chicken or enjoy in as an aperitif.

Cheers!

Farmer Cheese with Blueberries!

Master Cheesemaker Steve Stettler and Brennan’s owner Skip Brennan introduce the newest Dream Cheese Collaboration… Farmer Blueberry Cheese. This is another tasty combination following in the footsteps of our phenomenal Farmer Basil, Farmer Cranberry and Farmer cheese made with our Famous Sweet and Hot Relish.

Farmer Blueberry is a  nourishing cheese for the kids to snack on all summer, to take “up to the lake” for those picnics after a hike, and to cube and put in refreshing summer salads when out on your deck with guests. Stop in today to try a sample!