100 Perfect Pairings: Small Plates to Enjoy with Wines You Love – now at a store near you!

By Jill, May 19, 2010

Well, it finally happened.

The book that I spent much of 2008 writing and creating recipes for, that I spent much of 2009 shepherding through the edit process – not “100 Perfect Pairings: Entrees” mind you, which I wrote last year, but the first “100 Perfect Pairings” book that I initially proposed to a publisher back in 2007 – is a real, live, out-in-the-world cookbook!

It’s very strange to have this thing that’s been a mostly private phenomenon become a public one. Well, phenomenon, I don’t know. But it’s out there in public! And so far, to good reviews.

Photo Shoot in NYC, Part II

By Jill, April 3, 2010

I almost forgot one of the best parts of being in NYC! Linda, my editor at Wiley, brought a surprise for me to the photo shoot – my first actual real-live copy of book #1! Holding it in my hands was, and still is, both fabulous and weird. There’s a piece of me that’s so thrilled! But there’s also a piece that’s been living with it, in so many incarnations, for so long, that it seems familiar and therefore, like not that big of a deal.

Weird, huh?

100 Perfect Pairings: Entrees Photo Shoot in NYC

By Jill, March 30, 2010

I got back from Rancho La Puerta (see previous post) on a Saturday, spent one night at home, then left for New York on Sunday. After a 12-hour delay – ! – I arrived late Monday night, just in time to be at the studio on Tuesday and Wednesday.

NEW POST: An incredible week at Rancho La Puerta

By Jill, March 10, 2010

Three weeks ago, I had the amazingly good fortune to be the visiting cooking teacher at Rancho La Puerta, just over the border in Tecate, Mexico.

An apology to my handful of subscribers!

By Jill, March 3, 2010

Last week, someone pushed a button that accidentally deleted my entire web site, including all my blog posts (it wasn’t me, honest!). I’ve since rebuilt the site, but in reinstalling the blog, I unintentionally sent its default first post, titled “Hello world,” to my handful of subscribers. I apologize for any confusion it caused!

Lessons in Food and Wine Pairing: One that didn’t work.

By Jill, February 17, 2010

I thought it might be interesting to talk about a recipe that I cut from my book, “100 Perfect Pairings: Entrees to Enjoy with Wines You Love,” because I couldn’t make it, well, a perfect pairing!

More reason to love chocolate—as if you needed it.

By Jill, February 10, 2010

It wasn’t until I had the delicious fortune to visit the Guittard Chocolate Company factory in Burlingame, where I saw the journey with my own eyes, that I really got it in my gut: chocolate is an amazing, miraculous thing.

100 down! Plus a final message of love to my recipe testers!

By Jill, February 4, 2010

A month ago today, I hit “send” on the manuscript for my second “100 Perfect Pairings” cookbook. It took me a week or so to recover, then another couple of weeks to catch up with all I’d been putting off, and then, well, another week of procrastinating blogging and – here we are!

99 down, 1 to go! Plus thoughts on pairing with Cab

By Jill, December 10, 2009

I have spent the last couple of weeks cooking up a storm for the Cabernet Sauvignon chapter of my second “100 Perfect Pairings” book. On the docket last week: Peppered Prim Rib Roast with Crème Fraîche Horseradish Sauce, Lemon- and Olive-Stuffed Leg of Lamb, New York Steaks with Espresso Pan Sauce, Steak and Radicchio Caesar Salad, and Good Old-Fashioned Pot Roast! I couldn’t have done it all without my trusty kitchen assistant Judy. My freezer is stuffed with carnivoric leftovers.

Foods I’m thankful for

By Jill, November 23, 2009

Thanksgiving is here again, and my mind wanders to some of the culinary delights I’m most thankful for.