This smooth Mexican cheese dip made with Missouri white wine is sure to please a crowd. Made for dipping or serving over your favorite Mexican dishes, this queso will add some extra flavor to your next Taco Tuesday.

Serves 12

Total time 20 minutes

 

Ingredients

1 tbsp butter

4 oz can of green chili’s

¼ c jalapeño diced – 1-2 whole jalapeños depending on size

¼ c dry white wine – we used Seyval Blanc

½ pound white American cheese

4 oz Monterey Jack cheese

½ c heavy whipping cream

¼ tsp cumin

¼ tsp garlic salt

1 pinch cayenne pepper

Taco seasoning – to taste

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add chili’s and jalapenos and simmer until fragrant (about 3 minutes).
2. Add wine. Stirring occasionally, bring mixture to a low boil and cook for 2 minutes.
3. Stir in American cheese and Monterey Jack. Add heavy cream and stir until smooth.
4. Add cumin, garlic salt and cayenne pepper. Add taco seasoning to taste, if desired.
5. Serve as a dip or over your favorite dish and enjoy!

You will have a magnetic attraction to this quick, stylish and straightforward DI-Wine succulent planter. Recall your favorite bottles of Missouri wine and your fondest memories from sipping in the Show-Me State with family and friends as you create these tiny succulent planters from wine corks. We opted for faux succulents to enjoy all the up-cycled chicness without any upkeep, but you can use real plants if you prefer. 

This is genuinely a five-minute craft, which creators of all ages can enjoy — it takes longer to gather your supplies than it does to craft your first magnet. These petite planters make fantastic presents and would be the perfect Mother’s Day gift for the extraordinary ladies in your life. 

What You Will Need:

Corks from your favorite Missouri wine

Faux succulents (or live succulent cuttings or air plants)

Trimmings, such as soil, moss or twine

Magnets

Hot glue gun

Scissors

Drill

Step 1: Select a small succulent or trim a larger plant down to an appropriate size to sit on the cork. We found 1-inch plants seem to be a great size to start but using different size cuttings will bring interest and variety to your finished products. 

Step 2: Carefully drill a ¼-inch hole into the top or side of the cork where you’d like to place the plants. Don’t drill all the way through. For faux succulents, just a small hole to fasten the stem will suffice; for live plants, make the hole bigger to fill it with enough soil to sustain your succulents. (If you don’t have any power tools handy, you may carefully cut an opening in the cork using scissors, box cutter or a razor blade. Use caution as the scissors may slip.)

Step 3: Pick the trimmings you’d like to use around the hole you made in the cork. We found that twine, moss and soil all work great. By adding these trimmings to the top of your cork, you can cover any excess glue and make your faux succulents look more natural and life-like. For a quick, easy way to camouflage the top of the cork, hot glue around the pre-drilled hole and sprinkle soil or moss onto the glue or carefully twirl twine around the area. For living plants, fill the hole with soil. 

Step 4: Place your plant in your pre-drilled hole and use a dollop of hot glue to secure it. While live cuttings should be planted into the soil rather than glued into the hole, a tiny bit of glue may be used on the leaves to hold these hardy plants in place until they take root. 

Step 5: Glue a magnet to the back of your cork; be sure to put your craft’s best side forward. 

Step 6: Place your new succulent magnet on the fridge before uncorking another bottle of Missouri wine. Experiment with different placement, colors and textures of plants. We found that placing three succulents along the long side of a cork creates a unique look. 

Share your DI-wine with us on social media by tagging #missouriwine and @missouriwine.

New and exciting things in Missouri wine country kick off today. The new Missouri wines loyalty program, Rewards Uncorked, is officially launched and waiting for you to sign up. When you join this free, mobile based program, you will be rewarded for enjoying your time at participating wineries across the state. Users can sign up today and start earning immediately following account set up.

Start by completing the ‘Sign up’ form here. Next, you’ll receive a confirmation text message or email which will guide through the next steps. Once you’re all set with the link on your mobile device, you can save a shortcut to the site directly from your home screen. Finally, you can ‘check in’ at participating wineries and earn points. Each visit will earn 500 points, but there are limits to the number of visits. Read more about the limitations in the FAQs section. The location services on your phone must be turned on in order to successfully check in to a location. If internet service is limited in any given area, members can ask the winery’s staff for the unique 4-digit PIN code as an alternative to check in soon after their visit.

All participating wineries are listed on Rewards Uncorked and can be easily navigated with a map. Each winery has the option to feature a special offer or incentive for visiting their winery, so keep an eye out for specials and discounts once you have joined. There are exciting rewards included for members to redeem with their points. Some of these rewards are available now, and others will be launched periodically throughout the next few months. These rewards include wearable items like shirts and sweatshirts, wine tumblers, wine chilling bags and canisters, and more. Missouri Wines is also excited to present seasonal rewards like tickets to events such as festivals and dinners to get Rewards Uncorked members back out and about in wine country.

If these exciting features and benefits aren’t enough motivation to sign up, then consider this exciting giveaway. There will be a grand giveaway sent to one lucky winner (or more, depending on participation) who signs up by September 1, 2022.

With the launch of Rewards Uncorked, we will be concluding the current loyalty program, MVP. MVP members can continue collecting and entering tickets from participating wineries until June 30, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. After this point, no additional tickets can be entered to receive points. Point balances can be used to redeem current MVP rewards until 11:59 p.m. on September 1, 2022. Members are encouraged to sign up for Rewards Uncorked with the same name and email address as their MVP account. After September 1st, any unused point balances will be transitioned to Rewards Uncorked, given that the user successfully sign up with the same name and email address. New accounts with Rewards Uncorked will NOT be automatically created on behalf of current MVP members – new accounts must be created by each member with Rewards Uncorked.

Don’t wait to sign up! Start earning today and get registered here. Share this link with a friend to ensure they don’t miss out on this opportunity to get rewarded for their time spent in Missouri wine country.

 

Take advantage of beautiful spring days and warmer temperatures by exploring Missouri! Breathe in some fresh air by getting active on one of these trails or by enjoying one of their outdoor patios. Combine them for a perfect day date or just to unwind from your busy week. Venture to all corners of the state with this list and see how many you can do!

Northwest Missouri

1.West Ridge Trail & Weston Wine Company

• Hike length: 2.4 miles (up to 2.5 hours)
• Hike Difficulty: Moderate
• Driving distance: 10 minutes

North Central Missouri

2.Tall Oaks Trail to Black Silo Winery

• Hike length: 3.4 miles (about 1.5 hours)
• Hike Difficulty: Moderate
• Driving distance: 12 minutes

Northeast Missouri

3.Sodalis Nature Preserve to Cave Hollow West

• Hike length: 2.9 miles (1.15 hours)
• Hike Difficulty: Easy
• Driving distance: 10 minutes

Western Missouri

4.Opossum Hollow Trail to Montserrat Vineyard Winery

• Hike length: 5.6 mile (2.15 hours)
• Hike Difficulty: Moderate
• Driving distance: 10 minutes

Central Missouri

5.Rockbridge State Park Trail (Devil’s Icebox) to Les Bourgeois at The Blufftop

• Hike length: 2.2 miles (1 hour)
• Hike Difficulty: Easy
• Driving distance: 25 minutes

6. Ha Ha Tonka (Spring Trail) to Seven Springs Winery

• Hike length: 1.4 mile (45 minutes)
• Hike Difficulty: Moderate
• Driving distance: 25 minutes

Eastern Missouri

7. Sandstone Canyon Trail  and Persimmon Ridge Vineyards

• Hike length: 3.9 miles (2 hours)
• Hike Difficulty: Moderate
• Driving distance: 28 minutes

8. Weldon Spring Lewis & Clark Hiking Trail to Defiance Ridge Vineyards

• Hike length: 5.2 miles (2.5 hours)
• Hike Difficulty: Moderate
• Driving distance: 9 minutes

Southwest Missouri

9. Roark Creek Waterfall Trail to Bear Creek Winery & Brewery

• Hike length: 1.8 miles (45 minutes)
• Hike Difficulty: Moderate
• Driving distance: 20 minutes

10. Shawnee Trail to Keltoi Vineyard & Winery -

• Hike length: 2.4 miles (1 hour)
• Hike Difficulty: Easy
• Driving distance: 18 minutes

Southeast Missouri

11. Klaus Park Trail to Steele Crest Winery & Brewery

• Hike length: 3.9 miles (1.5 hours)
• Hike Difficulty: Moderate
• Driving distance: 12 minutes

We didn’t miss our obvious outdoor favorites like the Katy Trail and Chaumette, add those to your list if you haven’t explored them yet too!

Share the beautiful views in Missouri wine country with us by tagging #missouriwine and @missouriwine. Hang on to these beautiful snapshots to share with us in our photo contest this fall!