Tasting notes: Grandioso, Opolo Wines, 2015
Get your Grill On! The season is turning warmer, which for many means warm up the grill. My husband grills year round. Like the mailman, neither rain nor snow nor dark of night keeps him from his grill. He has literally grilled in a snow storm. I know the weather is turning warmer in the Southern US, which for me means sourcing lighter reds with less spice and more fruit for my usual liquid enjoyment. But I have to give this big red a thumbs up any time you are throwing red meat on the grill. At the end of my carnivore’s delight, when I sipped the wine, closed my…
Tasting notes: Conundrum, White, 2016
This wine is a lively sip of a “Spring Day in the garden enjoying a cool breeze” in your glass. Some wines just do that to my taste buds. Transport them to a time or place or feeling. Conundrum white makes you want to sit in your back yard and enjoy the warm Spring air during the time just before Summer arrives. The weather is turning warmer and it makes my wine selections begin to turn to Roses, Whites and lighter bodied Reds. Time to let the jammy, spicy reds and heavy whites age for a bit in the rack. The change in seasons makes me want to experiment more…
The Raw Truth: Planning a Dinner Party
The Raw Truth about planning a dinner party is that things can, and probably will, go wrong. Raw! The truth of the matter is it was raw in the middle! There I was in the kitchen with my partially cooked lamb and a crowd of 8 waiting for the main course. How did this happen? I practiced the menu – cooked it all not one week ago and it came together just fine! I felt like a failure and now one in a panic. What had gone wrong? Here comes the Club. When it comes to our Gourmet Club Gatherings, I can research, plan and carefully prepare, but I know…
Post-Coronavirus Gathering – Cook at home with friends
Five reasons to cook for friends at home rather than dine out after restaurants reopen.
What the Hell – You can always order pizza!
You gotta have a “What the Hell” attitude in the kitchen because you can always order pizza! Have you ever tried something big or new and failed — with an audience? It’s one kind of failure when you and maybe your family know about it, but it is very different when your failure is exposed to others outside your realm of secret keepers. You can try something new in the kitchen in front of family and fail – no big deal. But inviting a group over and having a cooking fiasco in front of them? No Way! This is why many people don’t have dinner parties. Fear of failure in…
