Morgan Creek - Looking for July 4th Plans?

By Rhoda

One of our favorite discoveries here in the Birmingham area is Morgan Creek Winery out in Harpersville. I told you about it last year here and each summer Morgan Creek hosts an outdoor concert with fireworks once a month, from May through September. We’ve been several times over the last couple of years and always enjoy it. A nice way to spend a summer evening, under the stars, with a picnic dinner and fireworks top off the finale. So, on a recent June evening, we once again headed to the winery, picnic basket and chairs in hand.

They have a nice open field that is perfect for gathering and a stage for the live music.

Each month, there’s a different performer taking the stage.

And the wine tasting tent is ready for tasters.

We love to sample the muscadine wines that they are known for. Sweet and delicious, we already know our favorite is Carlos. I've mentioned before that we are not big drinkers at all and don't keep it at home, but when we come here, we enjoy sipping the muscadine wines.

This is a family owned business and they live right on the property. Oakleaf hydrangeas are blooming prolifically right now and make a great flower arrangement.

Check out the use of burlap on their tables.

Muscadine wines waiting to be poured. They have mostly sweeter wines, but a few of them are on the dry side. They also do a couple of blueberry wines.

More burlap. We enjoyed the tasting and got our favorite, Carlos, to enjoy with dinner. Light and refreshing.

Penne pasta with roasted red peppers and chicken. I’ll share the recipe on both of these in case anyone would like them:

Chicken Pasta Salad with Basil Dressing

Basil Dressing:

1 large clove minced garlic

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 cup red-wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1 TBL minced basil of 1 TSP dried

2 –3 cups cooked/chopped chicken

1 box penne pasta

1 cup roasted red pepper strips

1/2 cup black olives (or Kalamata)

Mix garlic, salt, pepper & vinegar in salad bowl until salt dissolves; whisk in oil and basil. Add chicken, pasta, peppers & olives. Toss to coat. Cover and marinate at room temp 1 hour or chill overnight. Serve at room temp.

Hubby chilling out.

Broccoli Salad

1 bag of broccoli crowns

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup diced onion

Dressing:

1/2 cup mayo

1 TBL Balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

I didn’t use quite a 1/2 cup on the mayo or sugar for one bag but you might need that much if you use more, don’t like a lot of mayo on salads like this. I just spooned it out & added some sugar and the TBL vinegar. Mix well with a whisk and toss to coat & mix.

The band.

And this little sweetie was SO cute. She was 3 years old and was having a ball running around with all the other little kids playing on the lawn. She came over and talked to us a few times. It’s a great place to bring kids too and there were many families there enjoying the evening.

Around 9:00, the fireworks start and they put on a nice little show.

A fun summer evening. You can check their website for all the information, but the events are from 6-9 pm every month. Next one will be THIS UPCOMING SATURDAY, July 4th.

This post was originally published on June 20, 2009 at Southern Hospitality.