My Morning Oatmeal with Cayenne, Ginger, and Cinnamon

Posted on:February 1st, 2022by
bowl of spicy oatmeal with beries

I have strong feelings about the spicy oatmeal recipe I’ve deployed every morning for at least the past two years. The makings of this habit started when I was a contractor at Google’s Chelsea (NYC) office in the old Port Authority Building. I eventually found my way (not easy at first in this enormous building…)[More]

Around The Year in 80 Books

Posted on:December 23rd, 2021by
Picture of bookshelves to accompany a story about best books 2021.

I didn’t intend to read 80 books in 2021 to make for a nice little headline. It just turned out that way. Thanks to a(nother) year of isolation* both willful and ongoing pandemic-induced, my days are highlighted by three daily bibliotivities: Early morning walk accompanied by an audiobook. Early evening (shorter) walk accompanied by an[More]

Botanically Delicious Soda

Posted on:May 31st, 2021by
Casamara Club Amaro Soda

Ready to step it up from flavored fizzy water? Eschewing alcohol but still craving that bittersweet pucker of a spritz or negroni? Chill down a bottle of Casamara Club Amaro Soda. Delicious and very food-friendly. Four flavors are available; I found the differences quite subtle. (Naturally I got the variety case to sample the quartet.)[More]

3 Extremely Non-Boring Booze-Free Fizzy Waters

Posted on:May 11th, 2021by
Sanzo Non-Alcoholic Sparkling Waters

Nothing wrong with plain-old fizzy H2O. But when flavor calls, you are duty-bound to answer with any of these three non-alcoholic sparkling waters. Here variety is the spice of life, imbued into every can of of clear, fruity, subtly savory, low- or no-sugar fizz bev. Sanzo Paraphrasing its website, Sanzo is an Asian-inspired sparkling water[More]

Overlooked/Underrated: Godello

Posted on:May 9th, 2020by
Monastery at Bodegas Godeval, a notable producer of Godello.

My latest missive for VinePair takes a look at a white wine grape, Godello. Its home is Galicia, on the northwest coast of Spain. I’ve got the story behind the grape’s preservation, its more familiar friend, and five bottles to check out. Have a look: Why Chardonnay Fans Should Consider Godello You’ve probably heard of[More]

BBQ Beyond Beer

Posted on:May 4th, 2020by
Fire and Wine is a cookbook for wine lovers.

I would never turn down a beer beside my brisket, but there’s a lot to be said for paring wine with your grilled and/or smoked meats. So I was excited to get my copy of of Fire and Wine: 75 Smoke-Infused Recipes from the Grill with Perfect Wine Pairings. Even better, my friends Mary Cressler[More]

Open That Bottle of Local Wine Night Recap

Posted on:2020年3月29日,by
Macari Vineyards on Long Island

I received a message from Frank “Drink What You Like” Morgan about Saturday’s (March 28th) Open That Bottle of Virginia Wine Night. I thought this would be a good opportunity to lurk a bit on social media and learn (from home) more about Virginia Wine. (Take a look back via #VaWineNight.) Since we’re not going out[More]

Break Out The Oysters and…Red Wine?!?

Posted on:March 6th, 2020by
Oysters and red wine?!? Say it ain't so.

I know. Oysters and red wine. It sounds so…unappealing. That is, to my particularly persnickety preferences. I do love white wine and steak. But that doesn’t seem as radical. Hey, I’m a drink-what-you-like kind of person, but bivalves and big reds are one of the very few things I can’t get behind. So I was[More]