Today’s a quickie as I’m attending my first BlogHer Conference in San Francisco, CA. Upon arriving I felt a bit homesick for the Bay Area, fog and all. I actually had to change from my Capri pants and sandals to jeans and closed-toe shoes (with socks!!) in the Nordstrom ladies’ room. Brrrrr! Mark Twain was [...]

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I have a deep love for cheese. Actually, it borders on an addiction, but (so far) I am able to live my life normally.
Does flying to Argentina for cheese count as normal?
A couple of years ago Barnaby I went to Argentina to visit friends. Really, it was to visit friends, the cheese (and wine, meat, [...]

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It’s spring and I woke up with a sore throat. You shouldn’t be able to get sick in warm months. That’s what winter is for. We suffer the cold weather and the spreading of germs, then the sun comes out and we get a reprieve from carrying tissues and sucking on lozenges. Wouldn’t it be [...]

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Normally this time of year I’d be writing about wine spritzers or something refreshing. Certainly not hot chocolate. But it’s been so cold here in Seattle I would swear it’s winter. Mark Twain once said, “The coldest summer I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco” Well, I’m sure he’d say the same about [...]

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Doesn’t that sound wonderfully pretentious?!? Well that is what I was offered at a restaurant in Sausalito, which got me thinking I want to be able to do that at home. After a bit of research, I discovered the Soda Club machine. Unlike old home soda siphons that made a single bottle with a small [...]

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As part of our ongoing mission to share interesting facts, knowledge and people from the world of food, I recently interviewed Sam Spencer of Spencer Roloson Winery. Sam is an old friend who built his label from scratch over the past 10 years in California’s Napa Valley. We love his wines and celebrate his success [...]

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The older I get, the more I prize predictable quality over the occasional excellence. Give me the ninety-ninth percentile nine over the ninety-fifth percentile nine point five any day of the week.
[In this week's installment of On Eating at the Bar, Mr. Arsenic offers some advice to all the aspiring chefs, brewers, distillers, and vintners [...]

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Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Do you really know why we celebrate this day? Most Americans do not. Here’s why: because it gives Americans just one more day to get their drink on. Or so it appears that way.
Actually it’s a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. But, I bet if you interview people on the street [...]

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No, that’s not vinegar you’re drinking, it’s kombucha. If you’ve never heard of kombucha it’s a tea that has been fermented from what’s known as a “kombucha colony.” Now, here’s the not-so-appealing part: a kombucha colony is a solid mass of microorganisms, primarily acidic bacteria and yeast cultures. It looks not unlike what you might [...]

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After a long hard move  from San Francisco to Seattle, nothing soothed the soul more than a fine bottle of champagne and some good aged goat’s milk cheese.  Our dear friend provided the champagne and we plated the cheese. Now, I use the term “plate” loosely since the only thing I could find that resembled [...]

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