A post-holiday visit over a cup of tea

January 16, 2012

It’s been a while since we talked, and since then the holidays have come and gone. Whew. Can’t believe how fast that always happens.

In all the hubbub, I didn’t get a chance to wish you a merry Christmas, or Hanukkah or kwanza, or a happy New Year. Which is not so much a reflection on how much I wish you all those things as a reflection of how quickly they all got by me.

So how about the next best thing – a post-holiday visit over a cup of (virtual) tea?

A magical place

July 11, 2011

Some places are just special. Magical. Operating on another astral plane. Existing inside a harmonic convergence. Something.

Rancho La Puerta, in Tecate, Mexico, is also one of those places.

For Father’s Day, take a tip from Dad and grill

June 16, 2011

My dad is a master of the grill.

When I say that you might picture a funny-pages version of dad-as-griller, an only-on-weekends, back yard cook who humorously and consistently builds an unnecessarily huge fire, grills only the simplest of steaks, chops, and burgers, and serves them all just this side of incinerated. My dad, that is not.

What I learned at the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers

March 11, 2011

During the last week of February, I attended the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers at Meadowood Napa Valley. Before too much time goes by, I want to share a little of what I learned.

Looking back, looking forward

January 13, 2011

With 2010 barely visible in the rear-view mirror, I’m thinking about the year that was and the year I hope 2011 will be.

Cause a revolution with cranberry relish

November 18, 2010

Of the entire calendar year, there’s no meal that’s more traditional than Thanksgiving. And by “traditional” I mean constrained.

You have to have the turkey. You have to have the stuffing. And the cranberry sauce. And the pumpkin pie.

And you have to have potatoes. But what kind of potatoes? My husband comes from a must-have-mashed-potatoes family, while I love sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving. To make everyone happy, I have to make both. (What’s the emoticon for a frustrated grimace?)

Fall project: Homemade mozzarella

November 5, 2010

This week I had the opportunity to practice what I preach – that is, just because something doesn’t turn out the first time doesn’t mean you should give up and never try that again.

How to make sorbet without a recipe

August 4, 2010

At the sadly-now-closed COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts in Napa, where I worked as a culinary instructor, we did an every-Friday program called the Taste of COPIA Lunch. For several years, every lunch ended with sorbet, which means, over time, we made a lot of sorbet.

Sustainable seafood, sustainable seafood, sustainable seafood

July 20, 2010

According to my calendar, yesterday was Ocean Day in Japan. Why my calendar includes Japanese holidays, I don’t know. A little research reveals that there’s also a World Ocean Day and a mostly California Ocean Day (very cool photos of some aerial oceanside art here), both of which also happened already this year. But neither was in my calendar and so it is Japanese Ocean Day that inspires me this week.

And here’s what I’m inspired to say: sustainable seafood, sustainable seafood, sustainable seafood.

Sharing

June 22, 2010

A few cool things are happening that I wanted to share with you.

One is, “100 Perfect Pairings” continues to get good reviews. Here’s one from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, another in Carolyn Cope’s blog Umami Girl, and yet another in Napa Sonoma magazine.

Cool, huh?