Food & Wine

I’m a foodie and beef is my comfort food. There. I said it. BUT, as a volunteer with the ASPCA and a HUGE animal advocate, I’ve learned so much about commercial farming practices that I’ve decided to eliminate, or seriously stem, animal products from my diet.  So I wanted to share some of my insights with you about raising animals for food and eliminating meat from your diet.  I’ll stop short of saying I’m going …

Do you love entertaining and want to really impress your friends with an impressive fully-stocked – and fun – home bar? When we moved into our new home with an entire room dedicated to drinking (my husband’s mancave), I really wanted to have a bar setup that looked more Hollywood than fraternity house. So I Googled, and pinned, and vision boarded, and envied all kinds of stories on how to set up a home bar. …

We live in one of those neighborhoods where there are a lot of impromptu happy hours and friends who just drop by. I live near the beach so making quick trips to the grocery store is a nightmare. I hit beach traffic and the store can be crowded with Millennials buying their White Claw and Doritos. So I try to plan ahead and keep my fridge and pantry stocked with a few items that let …

Making dinner. Every. Single. Night. Am I right? Who feels like cooking these days? I’ve been in a bit of a culinary funk because I have absolutely no dinner inspiration. So we usually end up gravitating to our old standby, pasta. But even I’m kind of tiring of that. So I’ve been trying to come up with ideas for how to make quick and healthy dinner ideas for two that fit our lifestyle. No thinking …

If wine tasting was an Olympic sport, I’d win gold. Seriously. I have this sport down to a science. I’ve done a number of wine tasting trips from Napa to Italy and I’ve learned a few things along the way. The key is having a plan and pacing yourself. Whether you’re new to wine tasting or an experienced oenophile, here are 10 tips to get the most out of your trip and really learn how …

Last fall, I convinced my husband that he really needed to experience all of the beauty that Umbria, the lush, scenic region that borders Tuscany,  had to offer — including the picturesque rolling vineyards and incredible wine tasting experiences. I had traveled throughout the region when we lived in Italy, but he had never seen the true Italian countryside. So we set off to tour a few wineries in the region and received the VIP …