No movie has been overlooked by us.  We watch gore, action, 'chic flicks', romance, cartoon, science fiction, autobiographies', psycho thrillers, teen, comedy, documentary, sports and fitness, special interest, kids movies, foreign (my husband translates German, Ukrainian and Russian), war, western, mystery, music and performing arts – You name it, we watch it (now if only the titles were as easy to remember as the plots!)!

One Really great movie that we watch over and over again is Avatar.  For us, it is a melting pot of brand new themes every single time we sit down to watch it.  Our discussions go on about our movie choices, often into the wee hours of the night and we often fall asleep before the next movie gets a chance to finish.

Truly, the list of movies we watch is endless, but if you are looking for a way to just forget everything, spend some quality time with your family, or just your spouse and, "Go to The Movies!  Then plan on talking about what you missed in the movie on the first time around.  You will NOT be sorry you took the time to have a 'mind meld'  with your family – especially at a time when the economy delegates that you cut corners.  Get back to family time!  Watch a movie and crack open your favorite bottle of wine to savor the moment with!  And, if the kids are asleep then get 2 bottles! Now go start the, "ACTION!"

Do you have a favorite movie you'd like to share with us that you've watched twice and changed your opinion about after you saw it a second time?

We'd love to hear about it!

Stemware is drink-ware that stands on stems above a base.  Stemware is most often made from glass, but may also consist of ceramics or metals materials.

Stemware includes these glasses and their often decorated styles or variations:

• Brandy Snifters
• Chalices and Goblets
• Champagne flutes
• Cocktail glasses-Including martini glasses and margarita glasses
• Cordial glasses
• Wine glasses

For the sake of simplicity and relevance we are focusing this post on stemware related to the consumption of wine and champagne.

1 - Brandy Snifters are primarily used for after dinner drinks.  Brandy can be defined as Pomace brandy, Fruit Brandy, or Grape Brandy.  The brandy glass is also good for brandy, scotch and cognac.  Serve your Brandy without ice (neat)  or on the rocks .

When you are looking for a Brandy Snifter keep these points in mind:

• While resting in your hand it has excellent balance
• It has a large surface area for enhanced aroma and flavor
• The glass is crystal clear and silky smooth
• Durability for years of enjoyment

2 - A champagne coupe (or saucer) is a stemmed glass that is shaped like a saucer and is used for serving champagne.  It's not used so much now for serving champagne.  For awhile now it has lost its champagne serving appeal because the more broad surface of the rim allows the champagne to lose the bubbles (carbonation) too fast, unless you are the kind of person who doesn't need a glass and prefers the bottle anyway (use a glass bowl if this is you), this is more an appropriate choice for a daiquiris style of drink. If you prefer, you have the option of a white wine tulip glass, which has the shape of a tulip in that the rim is more narrow than the middle and it is closer to a champagne flute, but it is still considered a champagne coupe – without the disadvantage of a flute of ripping your back out from tipping the glass back for the last of your champagne.  Interesting enough, this glass is preferred for sparkling beers.

2a - A Champagne Flute is also a stem glass but the bowl is tall and narrow instead.  The design was created to play up the bubbles, aroma and flavour.  Weddings are symbolic celebrations for this glass style.

Keep these things in mind with a champagne flute or saucer:

• You can hold the glass stem without touching the beverage, this allows for zero fluctuation of your beverage temperatures.
• There is such a thing as too small a stem diameter.  Your goal is to carry the champagne glasses on a tray easily.
• Smoother surfaces let you enjoy the bubbles in your mouth, instead of in the glass.

Wine glasses:

3 - Red wine glasses have a wider, more round bowl.  The rounder bowl lets oxygen mingle with the wine to alter the flavour and aroma.  Yes, that is good – for oxidation to occur, because it allows you to appreciate your red wine experience more.  Red wine glasses can be either a Bordeaux glass, which has a broader bowl for the fuller bodied reds, or a Burgundy glass with an even more broad and larger bowl yet.

• Pick a Bordeaux glass that is tall, so that the wine travels down the slope of your glass and goes immediately to the back of your mouth and the base of your tongue. Generally speaking, you will want a glass large enough for the wine to breathe and for the fragrant aromas to mingle. Some people like a glass that is large enough for their nose to fit in while they sip their wine. For those people it is simply a matter of comfort.

• Pick a Burgundy glass that is also large as well, but has a shape more like a bowl. The cup will be more 'squat' and the wine has to travel a faster changing slope before arriving into your mouth and being deposited on the tip and sides of your tongue. This Burgundy bowl lets you appreciate the strong aromas while also focusing on the flavours of the brighter and lighter components of the wine.

3a – White Wine Glasses are as varied as butterflies.  They come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  You'll notice that they are a designed with a smaller size and a bit of a closed shape so that the wine stays cool longer.  The surface area and volume ratio helps to minimize the contact of air between wine, making it cooler-longer.  The glass shape allows you to taste the wine on the sides and front of your mouth – where you'll experience the sweet or dryness of the wine.  Crisper wines are the result of a good white wine glass.  The wide mouth glasses promote a faster oxidization which alters the flavor of the wine.  A smaller mouthed glass reduces the surface area and therefore, the oxidation rate.  And for those sparkling wines, an yet smaller mouthed glass is used so that the wine is sparkling longer.  Now THAT'S A CELEBRATION!

If you really want to get into the swing of things, try to collect one set of each glassware that is relevant to your wine choices so that you can fully experience the exquisites tastes that accompany good stemware choices.

Now that you know what you are doing, can you identify these glasses?

May you never lie, steal, cheat or drink.
But if you must lie, lie in each other's arms.
If you must steal, steal kisses.
If you must cheat, cheat death.
And if you must drink, drink with us, your friends.

- Not attributed

My only regret in life is that I didn't drink enough Champagne.”
- John Maynard Keynes

There comes a time in every woman's life when the only thing that helps is a glass of Champagne.”
- Bette Davis

In victory, you deserve Champagne, in defeat, you need it.”
- Napoleon Bonaparte

I only drink Champagne when I'm happy, and when I'm sad. sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. when I have company, I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am. otherwise I never touch it – unless I'm thirsty.”
- Lily Bollinger

Three be the things I shall never attain: envy, content, and sufficient Champagne.”
- Dorothy Parker

Meeting Franklin Roosevelt was like opening your first bottle of Champagne; knowing him was like drinking it. “
- Winston Churchill

Remember gentlemen, it's not just France we are fighting for, it's Champagne!”
- Winston Churchill

Gentlemen, in the little moment that remains to us between the crisis and the catastrophe, we may as well drink a glass of Champagne.”
- Paul Claudel

In a perfect world, everyone would have a glass of Champagne every evening.
- Willie Gluckstern

Why do I drink Champagne for breakfast? doesn't everyone?”
- Noel Coward

Too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right.
- Mark Twain

I had taken two finger-bowls of Champagne, and the scene had changed before my eyes into something significant, elemental and profound.
- F. Scott Fitzgerald

The brewery is the best drugstore

- Proverb

He is believed to have liked port, but to have said of claret that, "it would be port if it could!"

- Richard Bentley

A cask of wine works more miracles than a church full of saints.

- Italian Proverb

Claret is liquor for boys; port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy.

- Samuel Johnson

I've made it a rule never to drink by daylight and never to refuse a drink after dark

- H.L. Mencken

Even though a number of people have tried, no one has yet found a way to drink for a living.

- Jean Kerr

Frenchmen drink just like we used to drink water before Prohibition.

- Ring Lardner Jr.

Truth comes out in wine

- Pliny the Elder

I am sparkling; you are unusually talkative; he is drunk

- Not attributed

What contemptible scoundrel stole the cork from my lunch?

- W.C. Fields

In water one sees one's own face;
But in wine one beholds the heart of another.
- French Proverb

There were so many to choose from that we wrote our speech around these quotes and really had a crowd pleaser when it was finished.  OK, the honored guest was us at our wedding and the speech was by us, for our friends at the ceremony who were there and the friends who could not be there.  Let us know if you have a favorite quote or special speech that you really like!