Botanical Gardens

Rancho La Puerta Cooking School

RLP Wooly thyme and Paving La Cocina Photo © Alice Joyce

La Cocina que Canta! The Kitchen that Sings: Cooking School & Culinary Center at Rancho La Puerta. Lush six-acre kitchen gardens of Tres Estrellas are located a bit north of the Rancho’s main landscape, with beautiful vistas of Mt. Kuchumaa

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California Wine Country

Napa Truffle Festival

logo Napa Truffle Festival

Handful of truffles….

Photo Courtesy Napa Truffle Festival

January 13 – 16th: The second annual Napa Truffle Festival begins Friday at the Westin Verasa, Napa, taking in seminars, winery tours & tastings, and memorable meals. (The sold out event already has dates in place for the 2013 event.) On Monday, however, tickets can be purchased that day for a food and wine event celebrating the fabulous fungi at the Oxbow Public Market.

The event’s keynote speaker

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California Wine Country

Sonoma .. Napa Holiday Wine Country

Sonoma Valley Inn BW

Lovely weather in December stirred a desire to spend the Christmas holiday in Napa Valley and Sonoma Wine Country. I never cease to wonder at the beauty of the landscape, where eye-catching vignettes emerge along roadways. Certainly the notion of enjoying fabulous food and wine made the brief getaway a very special holiday, indeed. Christmas Eve lunch at Bouchon .. quite simply a feast! To start: Endives au Roquefort salad with fuji apples, toasted walnuts & walnut vinagrette. T. and I shared satisfying Hors d’Oeuvres: a heaping serving of Rillettes aux Deux Saumons – prepared with fresh and smoked salmon, along with delectable cod beignets!

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