Tonight’s dinner: Valdeón blue cheese, Serrano ham and fresh bread. In my glass: 2010 Quinta de Gomariz Alvarinho, a Portuguese version of the Spanish Albariño wine. Rich, fresh, utterly delicious. When I first studied in Spain, I remember feeling somewhat perplexed with the idea of dinner at 10 pm. On top of that, “dinner” was almost nothing, no series of ... Read More »
If you have ever tiled an area, you are familiar with spacers. They hold the tiles in place until the cement sets. Spacers ensure your tiles stay evenly separated from the others, so your rows don’t go off kilter. We had the pleasure of sharing a great dinner last night with good friends, but these friends should come with a ... Read More »
The debate rages on in our house: on one side, we have the purist, with scrambled eggs only seeing healthy amounts of salt and pepper; on the other side, a bottle of Heinz ketchup awaits. When the kids were young enough where I had any semblance of control could say “you can’t do that”, the ketchup stayed in the refrigerator ... Read More »
I just got back from NYC and the 4th annual Paella Parade (hosted by Frederick Wildman), where I got to eat some amazing paella and drink some of my favorite wine from El Coto de Rioja. If you missed the Paella Parade this year, don’t worry: it will return in 2013 and you’ll have the opportunity to not only enjoy ... Read More »
A week or so ago, we were in Sacramento for a wedding and, after picking us up at the airport, Holly’s brother, Brian, drove us to a tapas bar downtown (inappropriately named Tapa the World, since the city is flat as a pancake) for some food and wine. Brian asked me to select a wine and handed me the list. The ... Read More »
Vino Volo opened the door. You have to give them credit for that. Before Vino Volo, your best option when traveling by air was to find an airport restaurant, and hope they had more than J Lohr on the wine list. Which wasn’t often. So maybe a Bloody Mary or a rum drink was a better option. Even worse was ... Read More »
I remember envoking my father’s wrath as a small child when I made repeated gagging sounds at the sight of him consuming a plate full of oysters. I think he employed the phrase “Young lady” as he explained that my facial expressions (coupled with the distasteful noises I was making) were inhibiting him from fully enjoying his meal. I think ... Read More »
My husband would say “Yes!” I would have to disagree. When a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of cumin, I use two. Okay, I lied. I use a tablespoon, and then add a bit more for good measure. Cilantro falls into this same category for me, as well as figuring into most of the same dishes that call for cumin. ... Read More »
“Mom, what were you thinking? Seriously!” Everything is seriously at 16. Each and every iota of knowledge in a 16 year old brain is ever so much more wise than, say, a parent? “Mom, it is a HUGE hunk of ham! What were you thinking?” Apologies to Granny and Grandad, the Irish grandparents. They just did not know good food. Ham ... Read More »
Sauced In New York Sometimes the food is in the sauce, sometimes we are