Carolyn Tillie

My philosophy on Beer and Coffee: If you can see light shining through it, it ain't worth drinking!

Okay, real quick: Weirdness -- "e" before "i" - not "wierdness" Heavily - needs an "i" - you have it "heavly" Olivera -- needs an "i" - Not OLVERA Don't capitalize "downtown" "Boulevard" is abbreviated "blvd." not "bl" Last word on front page: "clubs." -- put the period on the inside of the quotation marks. (Actually same on all exclamation marks and punctuation marks on linking pages.) On the Bodhi Tree link, "All things spiritual" - make your "thing" plural. I didn't go to all the links though...

Ummmm... have someone proof your site -- lots of misspelled words ("encluded" and "Olvera" street popped up immediately - there may be more, but I'm busy proofing eGCI classes). Also, under Stuff, the Getty is pretty darn cheap ($5.00 bucks to park or something?) and most of the museums have free days that vary.

I don't think so - the more malo the more butter, as far as I know.

Ah, it must be the Russian peasant in me that adores Borscht. I will go out of my way for a good bowl of it and it is on the definite must-make-soup list every winter as it positively warms the cockles... Caspian Cuisine, a Russian restaurant in Santa Monica, makes an exquisite borscht and I tried desperately when I lived there to get their secret (never did find out what it is). For me the chunkier the better, lots of cabbage and hunks of beef. Oh yeah, and it MUST be served with dark, Russian-style pumpernickle bread, spread thickly with creamy sweet butter. Dah!

That was totally my thought! Not that it was fluctuating, but that he actually looks PUDGY! And I'm totally hooked, loving every darn second of it.

Our vine is going to go really fast now -- we'll be harvesting before you know it! And the close-up shows even more grape clusters!

Save your large glass jars - you know, the kind that pasta sauce comes in (oh, come on! Sometimes you just gotta break down and BUY sauce...) Grate fresh beats with large-sized grate. Add your favorite vinegar and a few teaspoons of sugar. A few tablespoons to a half-a-cup - whatever you like. For me, sometimes it is a mixture of red wine vinegar and balsamic. Once I tried it with Champagne vinegar (fabulous). Give it a few days -- voila! Amazing condiment a la pickle that adds a dash of color and taste to any plate, makes a lovely side dish for spring and summer platters, and tastes pretty good on burgers as well. I've known die-hard beet haters that will eat my grated beet pickles!

The truly best quote from the NYTimes article:

Here in the west, it is salted. I use it in my terrines, but blanch it first to remove *some* of the salt.

I have images of a Doré woodcut from Dante's Inferno of the giant monster, ingesting sinners with no care or thought while those being chewed and swallowed try and wrest themselves from his clutches and mouth, writhing in pain... Trinchero Family Estates vice-chairman and CEO Roger Trinchero announced that Trinchero Family Estates, the Napa Valley wine company which owns Trinchero, Montevina, Sutter Home, Trinity Oaks, Fre and imports Reynolds Vineyards wines of Australia, is in negotiation to purchase Folie à Deux Winery in St. Helena. I used to really like Folie à Deux's zinfandel selections. At one point, they made a lovely late-harvest Gewurztraminer that got a little too sweet in the past few years. It will still be a shame...

That's what I thought it was...

Wow. Wanna adopt me? I'll bring lots more books, can mix a pretty decent cocktail, and will clean up after myself. I don't speak very good French, though...

Yes, driving up valley this morning, everyone's blowers were running. I walked into the winery and asked Gabriel how his evening was, expecting to find him groggy from a night of battling frost. Seems the cold in the valley didn't reach us here on the mountain - no frost for us, at least not last night. Will let you know how the weekend went...

Why yes he did, didn't he? He PMd me some info and am thrilled that I've got someone to help out on all this technical stuff... I know Gabriel and Karen don't mind answering questions, but I also know that I'm bad about getting all the information exactly correct. Now we've got someone that will be able to explain things much more clearly and correctly! Whooopeeee!

Mmmmmmm.... Long Pig.... "'Nice. Nubbly, but nice,' said the little 'Stute Fish." EDIT because I just can't resist piling quotation upon Ossa: "Choo-a Choo-a Choo-Tooth, Muntch, Muntch, Nicey!" and of course: "Roast leg of insurance salesman! A chorus of yums ran round the table." followed closely by: "If the Juju had meant us NOT to eat people, He wouldn't have made us of meat!" OK, I'll be good now... maybe... and try to stay on topic from now on. I'd offer a prize to the first person who can name the sources of all four (no Googling!), only I haven't thought of a prize to offer. But it's negotiable, if anyone would care to try.... I only know the Rudyard Kipling and the Florence & Sanders... But remember, I'm the sick puppy that HAS cannibalistic cookbooks as well as several bumpersticks (although not on my car): If I wanted your opinion, I'd read your entrails and Everything I know I learned by killing smart people and eating their brains or the classic: Support Cannibalism - Eat Me! and for the not-religiously offended: Braise the Lord! 450° for 60 minutes - serve with vegetables.

I guess talking about one's recent surgery, open festering wounds, and other carnage would be about it for me... Coincidentally, I was having dinner one evening with a Los Angeles food critic in a rather swanky restaurant. I asked him (as an adventurous eater) that if he were served a very well-prepared, sauced "leg of man," would he try it? The neighboring diners were horrified by the subsequent cannibalistic conversation that ensued...

I've asked Bombdog to jump in and help contribute... seems he's got a degree in Viticulture and knows way more than I ever will! I'm just a photographer and wanna-be aficiando... Hopefully the two of us together can get your questions answered! Edited to fix the spelling of my co-conspirator's name...

We (Ladera) also make a buttery Chard (which is not my cup-o-tea, but who cares) under the Chateau Woltner name. If you are red wine drinkers, you may like our hefty Cabs. I've been known to give a tour or two if you want to PM me. You shouldn't be paying $75 for a buttery Chard, BTW. That is an acceptable price for a decent Cab, but not for a white. Alternately, if you are considering Sonoma, I moonlight at Gundlach Bundschu as their tour guide on Sundays. They make two Chards, one buttery (the Sangiacomo) and one more crisp and fruit-forward (the Rhinefarm). PM me for info on either winery -- GunBun is open to the public 7 days a week with a formal tasting room. Ladera is an appointment-only winery and we don't make enough to taste out of bottles unless we get a slew of people here in one day (then we pull barrel samples!) Edited to add -- I don't think there isn't a winery in Napa that DOESN'T make a butter Chardonnay (except maybe Prager Port Works), much to my chagrin...

You're right, genetically modified food, sprayed with conventional presticides and picked by Chinese laborers (in China!) is more "real" than practising sustainable ag in Northern California!!!!!! I know the ferry building market can be "precious" and even a little smug, and I'm sure there are Civic Center growers doing a great job, but one is not more "real" than the other. I'm sure you don't want to hear my ag politics. Well said, Gordo!

You indicated a desire to go to the Ferry Building, but the caveat is to go on Saturday morning, when it coincides with the Farmer's Market. Plan on breakfast there as strolling and munching on everything from Hog Island Oysters to Cow Girl Creamery cheese will fill you up just fine...

BTW, if you choose to bike on Sunday, I'm now at GunBun consistently on Sundays as their cave-tourguide. Stop by and say, "Hi!" I'll give you extra pours - even if are on a bike!

That is very funny... However, someone hearing you call your dog might think you named him Percy... Maybe you are just a huge Shelley fan or a frequent watcher of The Scarlet Pimpernel...

When you arrive, you will find several tourist magazines around (they are at almost every winery, in every hotel, and at a lot of restaurants). They will be able to refer you to bike rental companies. Working in both valleys, I would HEARTILY recommend you bike Sonoma. Most of the biking tourist firms operate out of there because the wineries are a bit closer together and are easier bike routes. While we often see bikers in and around Napa, they tend to be die-hard bicyclists who are bringing their own bikes and do a lot of competition biking. The Napa wineries are just plain too far apart to make it very enjoyable. Sorry I can't recommend any particular service, but at GunBun, we tend to see several different tour guides bringing in bicyclists over any weekend. Lastly, a word of warning (and I apologize for this, but it is the way of the industry)... Be prepared for the fact that you may not receive as good-a-reception from the tasting rooms as you would were you to drive in. They know that bikers rarely buy because of the limited amount that can be carried on a bike and because of the limited number of wineries that can be visited. Inasmuch, the standard John-Q-Tourist operates on an instant-gratification tendancy of buying immediately where they are when they know it can go in a car. We know that hot-and-sweaty bikers need to replenish their lost bodily fluids and show up needing to drink tons of water. The wine does not taste as good and we rarely bowl over a bicyclist with a taste of wine to the point where they want to come back and buy. Every now and then, a biker will like a wine enough to make a large purchase and drive back to pick it up, but that is rare. Consequently, even though we may have ten different bottles open to taste, we will limit the bikers to only three or four tastes. Sorry. I guess what I'm saying is, if you have specific wineries you want to visit because you love their wine or even are anticipating loving their wine, don't bike there. Biking the wine country is a beautiful experience - it just isn't a great wine-enjoying experience for most...