Pomegranate martinis make the ultimate holiday libation!
Drinks & Wine
The Music Of Food
Music and cooking both have a beat, a pulse, a flow of notes and a sequence of ingredients. Listening to music while cooking brings out the best in my recipes and in me. My spirit is light as I dance around the kitchen swaying to the tunes, singing along and feeling totally in the groove…
Breakfast in Florence
Hidden in the quaint neighborhood of Santa Croce sits Ditta Artigianale, a gem of a cafe that serves up creative and beautiful food in the tiniest of kitchens. We stumbled upon this cozy and comfortable eatery by mistake, no one recommended it, it just showed up. The two large open front doors invite you in,…
Brunello di Montalcino
Brunello, where have you been my entire life? I’ve finally found you tucked away in the rolling hills of Tuscany in an exclusive neighborhood of vineyards reserved only for the Sangiovese clan. Under the shadow of Montalcino lies acres of grapes destined to become one of Italy’s most prized wines. Tasting a beautiful Brunello was…
La Vendemmia
Every day in Lucca gets better and better. Mattia’s family invited me to partake in La Vendemmia, an annual event, in late September and early October, to harvest grapes for wine. I feel privileged, and lucky, to share in this day long celebration of family, food and friends. The vineyards are on Frederico and Simonetta’s…
Summer’s Arrival
Every summer has a story. ♥ What is it that is so romantic about summer? Is it the long hours of sunlight, its warm breezes persuading us to linger a little longer to drink in the day? Is it the fond memory and sentimentality stirred up of childhood vacations and days out of school spelled…
A Drink of Nature
“The gin kept my heart alive but bemazed my brain”― Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita “We’re having adult drinks tonight,” stated my sister-in-law, Mirna. My curiosity was aroused. Mirna, offering me a cocktail? I knew this must be something special. She is a creative genius with food, plants and now drinks. I was visiting my brother, sister-in-law…
Wine and company
Bonjour! Did you know that the Languedoc is France’s largest grape-producing region and it has been since Roman times? In fact, the vineyards flooded the landscape on just about every drive we took. According to Angela Murrills, author of Hot Sun Cool Shadow in which she writes about the region, it is the world’s most…