Pug Hollow

Some of my favorite place names are ones that have the word hollow in them: Sleepy Hollow, the charming town in New York next to the town where I used to live, and Stars Hollow, the fictional Connecticut town out of my formerly favorite TV show Gilmore Girls. Of course, sometimes cute place names can be deceiving, like Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh, PA. Perhaps it would have been more charming (and less dangerous) had it been named Squirrel Hollow. Or, if it had been located anywhere other than Pittsburgh. Anyway, when I saw this wine called Toad Hollow, with a toad on the label resembling Mr. Toad out of The Wind and the Willows, I had to try it.



Verdict: sort of a smoky, fizzy wine. I like smokiness in cheese and BBQ meats and occasionally in red wine, but here, not so much. But it's okay because the label's cute! I mean, isn't it adorable he's wearing a yellow vest? And that he has a cane? That is one debonair toad. I've decided that if I'm ever lucky enough to have my own vineyard, I'm going to call it Pug Hollow.



As luck would have it, at about the time I found Toad Hollow wine, I also happened across Frog Hollow Farm preserves. They're out of Brentwood, California and make a variety fruit conserves and chutneys. I chose this peach conserve, partly because it's peach, and partly because of the cute tiny frog on the label.



I enjoyed it for breakfast on some toast with butter.



Pug's verdict on the peach conserve: very tasty.



And I guess when Husband sees this, he'll know that Pug was sitting in his seat for breakfast... For now, it's Pug's little secret.