The dining scene in the Valley has experienced a major loss. By now, many of you have read the October 15 announcement that Cowboy Ciao would no longer open its doors to the public. On their Facebook page, it was posted: Unfortunately, an end of an era has come upon us. Tonight is the last night Cowboy Ciao will be open. Thank you to all …
As the temperatures have been in the triple digits here in Arizona, I wanted to turn my attention to what was hot at the 2018 Aspen Food & Wine Classic. It was my sixth year to attend, and each year is just as fun as the previous, if not more. While it is difficult to narrow it down to just 10 Hot Topics, I have …
The earliest record of grape domestication dates back to approximately 6000 B.C. in what is the present-day Republic of Georgia. A couple thousand years later, wine is cultivated in over 70 countries across the globe and is the 6th most consumed beverage after tea, coffee, beer, soft drinks and vodka. At the furthest point from the origin of the common grape vine known as Vitis …
I would be remiss if I let this summer float on by without sharing with you some of my experiences from the Aspen Food & Wine Classic held by Food & Wine Magazine in glamorous Aspen, Colorado. This was my 5th year to attend, and it is my absolute guilty pleasure of the summer. Frosé. We all know that rosé has exploded onto the culinary …
During our Harvest Dinner (https://www.texaztaste.com/harvest-dinner/), Aaron Chamberlin, chef and owner of St. Francis and Phoenix Public Market, and I hatched a plan to collaborate on a Sunday brunch. We called up a few friends, designed a menu, and on a beautiful Arizona fall Sunday, pulled a table out in the sun, lit a fire in the outdoor fire pit, and rolled up the sleeves on …
I am constantly amazed by the fact that I cannot remember where I placed my coffee mug, yet I can remember the exact details from a meal of ratatouille I had with my parents at Chez Georges in Paris in 1992. I used to say that running after kids has zapped all my memory cells, but now that they are approaching their teens, that excuse doesn’t …
While I am adding the finishing touches to some longer posts, I will share with you photos from a dinner party I hosted over the weekend. We were celebrating two milestone birthdays, one for 45 and the other for 90 years. I drew inspiration from a photo on my Pinterest page, and designed a Chinese table scape, for one because my mom, Frances, had oodles of Chinese …
Among the many things the Aspen Food & Wine Classic does well is to encourage the audience to “think outside of the box” when pairing food with wine. I have heard and read the standard line of pairing whites with seafood and reds with red meat, but what if you don’t necessarily want to tow that line? And what do you pair with “difficult” food, like …
I have been a bit of a vagabond since Memorial Day, floating between Arizona, California and Texas. While it has been great, the kids are growing a bit weary living out of a suitcase. I am happy to settle down for a month in California before the kids’ school starts to enjoy some cool weather and catch up on my posts. For the fourth year …
We kicked off March with a spring soirée at our home to celebrate a milestone anniversary. The more I dug into the planning, the bigger the party grew, and next thing I knew I was sitting around a beautifully candlelit table with 30 of our closest friends toasting Hubby and the last 20 years of my life. I felt it was fitting to “go big” …
