All the Newsletters, Finally

At long last, I am finally putting up links to all the newsletters that I write for the shop. These pages are what got me writing about food and wine in the first place, and thanks to my general discomfort writing on a blog, they hold the bulk of that writing still.

The first few issues are already up here, so this post will cover just, oh, the last year and a half or so. How's that for procrastination?

November 2006 - All sorts of Thanksgiving goodness. Turkey Pot Pie, Granny Smith Apple Tart, etc. Plus lots of wine, of course.

December 2006 - This month's rag gives a whole bunch of fantastic party recipes, for the holidays or not. Plus, the party that these dishes were designed for gave us many great things - the exchange of East African fertility dolls, among other absurd gifts, and the classic Robert-Coleman throwdown.

January 2007 - A low key issue highlighting easy, stress-free recipes. This also has the herb roasted and goat cheese pasta that I made the night I proposed to Janina. So if you're feeling romantic and you can dig up a bottle of Marylin Remark Rousanne then heck, you can almost recreate that night.

February 2007 - I love lamb. Just read this issue. Please.

March 2007 - A lot of these issues from last year were theme oriented. That is to say that I liked to write about lamb, or Spanish food, or in this case, risotto. Risotto is yummy, don't you think? Plus, there's nothing better in this world than the arancini in this issue.

April 2007 - I love North African food, and you should give it a try if you haven't yet.

May 2007 - Ah, springtime. Time for birds and flowers and turkey burgers on the grill. Kostas Greek Restaurant in Buffalo will always hold a special place in my heart for their having inspired one of these recipes.

July 2007 - You didn't read that wrong - I gave the newsletter a rest this last June because I really needed to get married and go to Italy. What emerged from that trip was a soul-infusing love of Tuscan and Umbrian food and a great urge to cook it constantly and write as much as I could about it. For those of you who read this blog, you'll no doubt notice a lopsided number of pasta recipes. Look to this issue as the culprit.

August 2007 - A treasure trove of great summertime recipes. Pop a beer and read away...

September 2007 - My dad is right: Timing is Everything. I couldn't have met a better couple of people, and right as I was about to start writing this issue, to boot. Sarah and Nat Delafield import fair trade organic Madagascar vanilla. Check out their website at From the Field Trading, and for god's sake - buy their vanilla!!!

October 2007 - More geographical themes: This time from Seattle, Washington, our visit with our friends Deepa and Erich, not to mention Bob and Carmen Betz, inspired a whole lot of thinking about what good and wine are really about. Salmon and pork, what more would you want?

November 2007 - Just kidding. Thanksgiving was just too crazy this year at the shop for me to get any writing done. Sorry about that, but I hope you like the link.

December 2007 - Consider this a make-up for no Thanksgiving issue. The brussels sprouts are so tasty. And who knew how popular they're getting these days, hm?

Fellowship News - I Got One!

Hello again. I'm getting all psyched up to go out to California in a few weeks and meet a whole bunch of other food and wine writers for a few days at the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers. My head's spinning a little bit since I was awarded a fellowship by Peju Province Winery to attend the symposium. I sent in a writing sample as a pipe dream, never realizing that they would choose someone who wasn't technically published yet. But to look at the list of fellowship recipients I am definitely the rookie, so there you go.
Though I have been very interested over the last year or so in pursuing this sort of writing as a potential career, I am usually so hung up selling wine to actually think about the writing end of things that I find so gratifying. This news has definitely put a little fire under me to get up and put more material on this blog and to get samples and articles out to magazines and publishers. We'll see what happens...