Apron Adventures at Spicewood Vineyards

This afternoon I went to Spicewood Vineyards about 40 minutes outside of Austin with some Austin foodies and what a lovely afternoon it was! I brought my friend Megan and we really enjoyed the drive out into the hill country, listening to the Twilight soundtrack :)

Organized by the Austin American-Statesman food editor Addie Broyles, about 20 foodies gathered on the porch to chat and get to know one another. Then the owner, Ron Yates, gave us tastings of all their regular wines, along with some of the signature wines. My favorites were the Chardonnay and Claret, both of which I purchased.

I wanted to make a wine-friendly snack to share with the group, so I wanted to include dried fruit and nuts. I thought about incorporating chocolate as well, but I didn't want to get too sweet. Check out my recipe for trail mix snack bars.

Trail Mix Snack Bars

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup pecans

1/2 cup pistachios

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Spray a glass baking dish with cooking spray and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter in an electric mixer, then add sugar, flour, baking soda and vanilla. Place pecans in a large plasic bag and crush until in small pieces. Add to flour mixture along with pistachios and cranberries. Press into the baking dish and bake 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is lightly browned.