dish

Adventures in Eating: Leslie’s Roast Chicken

Louis L’Amour, the late writer of westerns, was a family friend. He had a library of books that would knock your socks off. One day as I was admiring his enor­mous “room of books”, he pointed to a section of about 20 paperbacks and said, “If you read every one of those books, you would… read more »

Domestic Selection: Chardonnay, 1989. Josu

The Joshua Hill Winery label is a proud premium brand offered by what is, actually, the ninth largest winery in the U.S., Delicato Vine­yards. A vintner’s vintner, Delica­to is a family owned Central Valley winery, now in its 56th successful year. It operates the second largest single-plant winery in the nation, with a storage capacity… read more »

Adventures in Eating: Penne Pasta with Chicken & Mushrooms

When I was a little girl, “pasta” meant spaghetti doused with taste­less bright red tomato sauce and sprinkled with some-kind-of-awful, artificial-tasting parmesan cheese. “Pasta” really wasn’t high on my list of childhood favorites. Years later, friends would rave about this fusilli or that pené, and I would simply tune them out. When I finally came… read more »

Domestic Selection: RS Reserve, 1989. William Wheeler

Bill and Ingrid Wheeler, own­ers of the William Wheeler Win­ery, met while Bill was posted in South America as a U.S. Foreign Service officer. In 1970 they bought a 175 acre Sonoma County ranch. They planted their first vineyard (Cabernet Sauvignon) during 1973-1974 and harvested their first grapes in 1975 (these they “sold off”). They… read more »

Import Selection: Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, 1989. Zonin

Founded in 1921, Zonin is Ita­ly’s largest privately-owned wine-making concern in operation to­day. Considering how far back many Italian wineries go, this makes the company a relative new­comer. In all fairness, it is impor­tant to state that prior to establish­ing the firm seventy years ago, the family had actually been active in the wine industry… read more »

Adventures in Eating: 12″ BBQ Chicken Pizzas

Before we had children, my husband and I thought nothing of hopping into the car and heading out to the latest “In” dining spot. We’d sit like critics for the local newspaper and scrutinize everything from the quality of the china to the selec­tions on the wine list. As one might ex­pect, we quite often… read more »

Adventures in Eating: Chicken Scrapple

This is my swan song. I can hardly believe I have been writing this column for 14 years. Son Paul surprised me by saying, “mom, I’m letting you off the hook. Cousin Leslie (my niece) agreed to be food editor.” This pleased me very much, as Leslie was a journalism major at UCLA and is… read more »

The Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa

Nestled into its own environ­ment off the main road through Sonoma (all two lanes of it), the Spa is a welcome destination for the person in need of self indul­gence. Encompassed by eight acres of eucalyptus shaded grounds, the Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa is situated right on top of sparkling mineral water springs (bottled… read more »

Adventures in Eating: Hot Lemon Sauce

The season is upon us, and one of my favorite no effort pastimes is to ask people if they arc to be the chef of the day. If the answer is affirmative, I then ask what they will be serving their guests. I never fail to get a big smile and a list of what… read more »

Domestic Selection: Sauvignon Blanc, 1988, Hacienda

The Hacienda Winery is a family business. In days of take­overs and large company buyouts, it is refreshing to find quality wines from a winery owned and operated by the family. In 1879 the Cooley family moved west from Ohio in search of their share of the Gold rush. And as luck would have it,… read more »

Sidebar