Wine by the Bay

In October 2007, Cellar360 opened at Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco with a goal of bringing the best of wine country to wine lovers who lack sufficient time to visit Napa or Sonoma. New owners stripped away modern construction to reveal brick, wood floors, ceilings, columns, and windows in the circa 1864 Woolen Mill Building, and then transformed the space with undulating architectural curves, loads of light and hundreds of beautifully displayed bottles.

But Cellar360 is more than a retail store - it's also a multi-brand tasting and wine education facility in which educators from COPIA/The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, teach classes. Their classroom is a glass-walled room that seats 40-50 people, attached to a full-service stainless steel kitchen with an expansive viewing window. Cellar360 also hosted a wine and chocolate class on February 16.

And tasting is an important part of a visit here. Sample a multi-brand flight of wines at the tasting bar, enjoy a pairing of cheeses and wine, or sip a glass of vino with one of 25 cheeses, soups of the day, salads and sandwiches or dishes such as truffled macaroni and cheeses or brussel sprouts with pancetta, that are available on-site. Then take one of your favorite bottles home to share with friends and family.

Luscious Lemon

I recently bought my first bottle of Limoncello Italian liqueur for use in a rather complicated recipe that required its lemon influence. Because I was anxious to try the liqueur immediately, I created a simpler recipe in time for my husband's birthday, several days later. It's loosely based on a recipe for Orange Twist Bread that I baked for a commercial client for nearly three years.

If you love lemon flavor, try Drunken Lemon Cupcakes - and sip some chilled Limoncello on the side. It's a fresh and refreshing treat on a hot summer day.

Cake batter

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup sour cream (may substitute plain yogurt)
1 jigger of Limoncello
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
grated rind of one lemon

cupcake papers

Frosting

2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 jigger of Limoncello
1-2 tablespoons grated lemon peel

Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake papers in 15-18 sections of cupcake pans, depending on how large you want your cupcakes. Squeeze juice from lemon and then place rind into a food processor, chopping into fine pieces. Set aside 1-2 tablespoons. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and stir until well combined. Add sour cream, Limoncello, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour and combine well. Stir in remaining lemon peel. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting: Cream together butter, cream cheese, and confectioner's sugar, add Limoncello and stir until thick and smooth. Stir in lemon peel and frost cupcakes.

Environmental Excellence

Since early 2008, the refurbished Q hotel + spa kansas city in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri's oldest entertainment district - Westport - has instituted more than 30 environmental initiatives. Environmentally sound cleaning supplies, organic wines in the bar, and bulk table condiments, ceramic plates and organic Fair Trade coffees in the breakfast room, are only the beginning.

There's a trashcan in each room for recyclable materials, a single cup coffee maker with ceramic mugs, and Earth-friendly body care products at sink and shower. Q uses compact fluorescent bulbs in every light fixture, recycled paper products throughout the property, and flow restrictors on everything that moves water – from toilets to laundry facilities. The hotel also offers free bicycle or shuttle transportation, to reduce the use of rental cars.

But Q hotel & spa offers luxury too. There are HDTVs in every room, comfortable, modern furnishings and decor in a soothing palette of chocolate brown, sea foam green, cream, and brushed chrome, a day spa with pedicure and manicure stations, and a room with two massage tables. If you appreciate environmental awareness while traveling, Q hotel & spa may fit the bill when you visit Kansas City.

Tea and Trade

It’s sometimes possible to ‘travel’ around the world without ever setting foot outside your hometown. Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit, fair trade organization that works with more than 100 artisan groups in 30+ developing countries. Artisans whose work reach the shelves of a Ten Thousand Villages store receive a living wage and full payment for their work, before shipment.

The local Ten Thousand Villages store currently displays a Nepalese tea set with hand-painted designs that originated from women’s wall paintings. The set reflects a thriving tea drinking culture. Located amidst the Himalayas – including Mt. Everest – Nepal grows aromatic teas that have become increasingly popular throughout the world, in recent years, because they are generally more flavorful.

But tea is more than a beverage in Nepal; it is a way of life. Sherpas awake mountain trekkers with tea, and ‘Have you had your tea?’ is a common question everywhere. When the Nepalese share tea, they are at their most hospitable. And, when foreigners return home, many suffer withdrawal from this gentle, pervasive practice.

Less is More

When your kids live halfway across the country, sending homemade baked goods that won't break in the mail can be a challenge. For my daughter's last birthday, I decided brownies might travel more successfully than cookies would. I took the best of two recipes and then made some additional adjustments.

Not only did my daughter and her friends go crazy for the 'birthday brownies,' but a friend's dad tried one and absolutely raved over it. "I consider myself a brownie expert," he said, "and these are the best brownies I've ever eaten."

Of course my daughter wanted the recipe and that's when I told her using less sugar, butter, and flour than in the original recipes had likely resulted in the very fudgy texture, and deep chocolate flavor. A few substitutions even made the brownies a bit healthier, including olive oil for some of the butter, and ground oatmeal for some of the flour.

For all you chocoholics out there, here are Ultra Fudge Brownies:

4 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup ground oatmeal
1 cup chopped nuts, optional
1 cup white chocolate chips

Microwave chocolate and butter in large bowl on HIGH, for two minutes or until the butter is melted; or you may use a double boiler. Stir the chocolate until it is melted and then stir in the olive oil.

Stir in the sugar and mix in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, oatmeal, white chocolate chips and nuts. Spread in a greased 9 x 13 pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Pour chocolate chips across the entire pan of batter. Bake and additional 15-20 minutes and do not overbake. Cool completely before cutting. Makes 24 brownies.

Eye of the Beholder

My traveling partner and I had arrived in Taos on the previous evening. This day began with a sumptuous breakfast buffet of scrambled eggs with hot sauce, spicy potatoes, fresh fruit, and strong coffee, in the kiva-shaped dining room at our hotel, the Best Western Kachina Lodge & Meetings Center.

We spent the next several hours viewing art, buying souvenirs and gifts, and sampling New Mexico wines around the quaint Taos Plaza. At mid-afternoon we enjoyed enormous salads and iced tea in the shady courtyard of Caffé Renato, where I also snapped almost a dozen architectural photographs. After we paid our bill, my friend drove our car back to the hotel, and I set out on foot looking for more architecture.

As always, in New Mexico, several ornate doors captured my lens. I snapped some views of one with a curved top, against warm adobe and a cobalt sky. But when I moved closer to better capture the carved details, I found that this door led nowhere. It was merely laid against the wall – an optical illusion visible only at close range.

Eating Emu

A friend and I attended a live broadcast of local chef, Jasper Mirabile’s, weekly radio show at Louisburg Cider Mill, on one very chilly Saturday. Hot cider warmed our cold hands and then, much to our surprise, we sampled emu meat and egg.

Mike Hursey, private chef, caterer, and a member of Slow Food Kansas City with Mirabile, sprinkled on fresh herbs as he stirred meat and veggies in a large frying pan over a portable burner. By the time he distributed samples the red meat had turned dark brown and slightly chewier than beef, which I would have assumed it was if I hadn’t been told otherwise.

But the emu egg was a revelation. Dark green, rounded, and at least six inches long, it looked like an over-sized avocado. Much less ‘white’ shared space with the two-inch-round, yellow-orange yolk than the proportions found in a chicken egg.

Mirabile added herbs and whisked the egg vigorously before pouring it into the pan. The scrambled eggs felt lighter and somewhat runnier on the tongue than scrambled eggs from a chicken. This time, it was difficult to mistake one for the other.