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Banana Muffins
This recipe was a test of substitute ingredients. (I know, scary when it comes to baking.) But, I think we can call the Banana Muffins a success by how quickly they disappeared. [caption id="attachment_1142" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Buttermilk Substitute for Banana Muffins"][/caption] My favorite swap out was the buttermilk. I do not know about you, but I never have buttermilk on hand. There just are not that many uses for buttermilk in my cooking repertoire. That said, this recipe looked delicious and I had all the ingredients on hand to make it...well, most of them. The... [Read more...]
The Importance of Sponsors at #EDFW12
In these final days before Earth Day Food and Wine Festival it’s important to think about all that goes into such an event. As someone that has gone to many wine events as a wine lover and “blogger”, I very rarely have been able to look deeper into the effort that goes into pulling an event of this size together. I’ve been very fortunate to be working with the Central Coast Vineyard Team (CCVT) recently and have seen and heard about so much of the stuff that this team does year round to prepare for... [Read more...]
Sustainable Wines Tolosa, Pomar and More at Vons | SIP Spotting
[caption id="attachment_1000" align="alignright" width="150"] Tolosa Winery Pinot Noir[/caption] I made a quick trip to Vons the other day for some groceries, and of course, I had to cruise the wine aisle. But not just the wine aisle, they had a significant promotion on wines so there were displays all over the place! End caps. Islands. Aisles. Wines. Wines Wines. And LOTS of our SIP Certified Sustainable Wines - more wines at one major retail store than I could count - Ancient Peaks, Tolosa, Baileyana, Halter Ranch, Robert Hall, Terra Robles, Pomar Junction. Reds, whites, roses....... [Read more...]
Earth Day Food & Wine Festival: Don’t Forget About the Food!
As the Central Coast has evolved into a recognized wine region another pretty awesome thing started to happen…an amazing and creative food scene showed up and has evolved right alongside the wine. With that, pairing phenomenal wines with incredible food has become an art form and where better to display that art than at Earth Day Food and Wine Festival! Here are just a few of those pairings: -Luna Red Restaurant will serve spiced beef tartar on a crispy rice paper paired with Chamisal Vineyard wines -Fig Good Food will prepare fig chutney paired with... [Read more...]
Wineries To Receive SIP Sustainability Seal of Approval
Hot off the press: Sustainability efforts of wineries to be independently verified with expansion of the already popular SIP Certification program. Since 2008, Sustainability in Practice (SIP)™ Certification has provided independent, third-party verification of sustainability practices in 27,000 acres of California vineyards, so “taking it to the winery level was the logical next step,” said Kris Beal, Executive Director of the Central Coast Vineyard Team (CCVT), the non-profit group which developed SIP Certification. [caption id="attachment_1086" align="alignright" width="200" caption="SIP Certified Seal"][/caption] Though still in the planning stages, the winery process certification will rigorously review a number... [Read more...]
SIP, EDFW, and CCVT Oh My!
[caption id="attachment_1105" align="alignright" width="138" caption="EDFW2012"][/caption] Yep, lots of letters but lots of great meaning behind those letters. Kris introduced me to you in a very kind post last week and I wanted to start by giving you my story on how I found out about all the letters in the title. CCVT is THE group, the Central Coast Vineyard team, which puts on the Earth Day Food and Wine (EDFW) Festival and also runs the SIP Certification program (Sustainability in Practice) for vineyards and wineries. My original interactions were with SIP on Twitter (@SIPtheGoodLife) and... [Read more...]
A Little Chat With Baker and Brain
[caption id="attachment_965" align="alignright" width="300"] L to R: Matt Brain and Josh Baker of Baker & Brain[/caption] We recently chatted with Matt Brain & Josh Baker of Baker and Brain for our quarterly newsletter and thought we would share their thoughts here. They are fun, and what's not to love about the bold use of the ampersand? Since we don't have the proper sarcasm font installed here, they've provided a helpful key for your reading interpretation. Baker and Brain Interpretive Key * kidding ** not kidding *** kidding about all of that, seriously Josh it never... [Read more...]
Tolosa, Pomar and More at Vons | SIP Spotting
[caption id="attachment_1000" align="alignright" width="300"] Tolosa Winery Pinot Noir[/caption] I made a quick trip to Vons the other day for some groceries, and of course, I had to cruise the wine aisle. But not just the wine aisle, they had a significant promotion on wines so there were displays all over the place! End caps. Islands. Aisles. Wines. Wines Wines. And LOTS of our SIP Certified wines - more wines at one major retail store than I could count - Ancient Peaks, Tolosa, Baileyana, Halter Ranch, Robert Hall, Terra Robles, Pomar Junction. Reds, whites, roses.... Different... [Read more...]
Matt Browne Joins the Team
[caption id="attachment_900" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Matt and Annie - Of Hoot and Annie Blog"][/caption] It really amazes me how much work we do with our small, but efficient staff. We reach over 1,000 people with our tailgates, workshops & Sustainable Ag Expo. We speak, table, and participate in about 50 events every year throughout the country. We sit on committees and advisory boards on water, the environment, and sustainable ag. We put on this really cool Earth Day Food & Wine Festival. And of course we manage and administer the SIP Certification program, which involves over... [Read more...]
Cabbage Soup | The Luck of the Irish
I have a group of friends who get together every week of so for an informal potluck . We loosely assign who will prepare the main, sides, dessert, etc. and always come up with a fabulous feast (and as the primary cook in the house I LOVE the ease of making a fraction of the meal!). Naturally, we had to theme our most recent gathering around St. Patty's. There were corned beef sandwiches, herbed potatoes, sauerkraut dip, soda bread, and Bailey's and stout cupcakes on the menu but what was I to bring? I did... [Read more...]