A winter stroll through Athens is a joy. The cool, breezy air is filled with an exquisitely heady perfume from the hundreds of citrus trees shading the city’s squares, gardens and boulevards. Dusty, heat-wilted summer foliage is long gone. In its place are lush, deep-green
I almost skipped my first chance to visit Valley Malt, New England’s first malthouse in a century. Although I love learning about people who are using grains, I don’t drink anymore, and I never made beer. What use could I possibly have for barley malt? [aside] Lucky
Sun, Sea & Olives: Thumbs up yet again for the Mediterranean diet. Those tireless researchers in Spain who brought us the good news a year ago about positive effects on heart disease and stroke from following a Mediterranean-style diet have added to their pitch: It
Of all the people who would have exulted — and permitted themselves a wry smile — at the recent rehabilitation of butter, Julia Child would surely have been the first. Child was my hero. I was living in the wrong part of the world when her
Christmas trees are littering the curb. Bing Crosby’s croon has vanished from the radio. No more chestnuts roasting or sleigh bells ringing. Finally, that gluttonous interval between Thanksgiving and New Year’s that we term “the holidays” has run its merry course. And I have to
The last time I made tamales, I also made a delicious discovery: pork stock. My tamale recipe calls for simmering pork shoulder in a pot with water, an onion and a couple other simple ingredients until the meat is fall-apart tender. Some of the resulting
Red wine blends are booming in popularity in the U.S., and I predict that in 2014 white blends will follow suit. The floral and citrus-scented 2012 Tenuta Sant’Antonio Scaia Garganega/Chardonnay is a bargain Italian example: dry, fresh, fruity, tangy and perfect as an apéritif or
California wine is finally getting interesting, and wine lovers can dare to hope that America’s premier wine region will produce more wines of higher quality. What? Those $200 Napa Valley Cabernets aren’t great wines? Sorry to say, most are not. The good news is a group