A Free Wine Encyclopedia!This is P.K., Sr. writing this month. I just pulled rank on Rosemarie and asked her for the recipe portion of this column, requesting that I do the preamble. The reason: She is a creative food wizard, and her wizardry deserves this accolade. For my birthday, she decided to treat me, our daughter, and son-in-law, to… read more »
How does anything begin? Our lives roll along, and we partake of our environment, and every now and then ask ourselvest his question: Who started or created what I am eating? Time and again, I find religion has been a factor in this development. As we become more familiar with the shrinking world around, food history… read more »
To try and simplify one’s life today takes effort, concentration, careful evaluation, and a diagnosis of one’s status. I don’t mean to get too serious, but as one friend stated it, “Living is hard work!” Perhaps a good New Year’s resolution would be to cut through the layers of daily life, and selectively give simplifying… read more »
“Chorba” is a word reminiscent of my childhood and a strong reminder of my Armenian roots. Mother often related stories of her mother making a cauldron of “chorba” to feed the family of seven with a nutritious and economical meal. Soup is the closest translation I can give “chorba”. Yet it also connotes “hearty, satisfying,… read more »
How, when, and where the name and the food we call Fajita got its start is unknown to me. Even some verbal research in Mexican restaurants unearthed… nada. To further complicate the matter, I learned that a Fajita in Texas is different than what we call a Fajita in California. Nevertheless, we now can order sizzling… read more »
For several years in a row, usually during the Fourth of July weekend, Paul and I hold an annual garden party for 70-80 friends. We did not indulge in fancy waitresses preparing appetizers and walking around, tray in hand, while you balanced a glass of wine with one hand and tried to gracefully pop a morsel… read more »
I bring you a flavor from my childhood days this month. Every summer, my mother and father managed to find someone with a green olive tree. Friends would gather, and a large burlap sack full of freshly picked green olives would find itself in our backyard. A hammer, rubber gloves, and a chopping board was… read more »
Being a part of a family-owned business may have its mushy side, but then something like Weezie Mott happens to you. Ms. Mott is a teacher by profession and a coveted member of the Wine of the Month Club. Her background is in the biological sciences, but her love and expertise extends into running a… read more »
Imagine waking up each morning on 70 acres of fertile vineyard, bordered by the Napa River, one mile south of Oakville in Napa Valley. That is the place where Robert and Aurora Pepi call home. Their “home” is chateau-like, built in stone and oak to match their all stone winery next door. The Pepis purchased this… read more »