The day was beautiful, the setting magnificent and before us stretched all the beer, wine and spirits you can consume in a day. We attended the 2^nd annual Newport, RI Winefest, held August 19-21^st, and what an event it was! Last year’s event drew over 10,000 people and I am sure they surpassed that this year.  The event kicked off with Newport Uncorked, in the spectacular Harborview tent, overlooking Newport’s iconic harbor. The event featured dishes prepared by the Celebrity and Regional Chefs, select premium wines and spirits, on-board access to the a ultra-luxurious Azimut yacht, music and more.

The Grand Wine tastings began on Saturday and grand they were. Three full tents of wine, beer, and spirit vendors, along with regional foods and of course all types of seafood.    Check out this incredible list of wines http://www.newportwinefest.com/tasting-events.html

The celebrity chefs provided demonstrations which were fabulous.  I attended Peter Kelly’s Demonstration and his watermelon tomato salad was quick, light, and delicious. Peter is definitely a culinary superstar in the New York Hudson Valley and beyond.  I had a chance to speak with Peter and this was his second year at the Winefest, he enjoys doing the demonstrations, and hoped everyone tried his recipes.  He generously shares some of his favorite recipes on his website Xaviars.

Dave Martin, who rose to national attention as a finalist on Bravo’s Top Chef competition, was both entertaining and informative. He provided tips and tricks for cooking as well as stressed keeping it easy, light, and delicious. My favorite demonstration however was from Patricia Yeo who made a quick and easy chicken stir-fry that took less than 15 minutes. Patricia will be opening a new restaurant, MOKSA featuring Japanese street fare in a casual izakaya setting located in Cambridge, MA this fall. Currently Patricia is at OM Restaurant and Lounge in Cambridge, MA.  I finished the evening with an amazing demonstration of a cold Lobster soup, by Brooke Vosika, Four Seasons Hotel, Boston. Of course, he made it look simple, but it was a highlight of the day.

Sunday ended with the The Celebrity Chef and Prosecco Brunch, and Newport Oyster Cup Challenge - a gala weekend not to be missed!  here are some recommendations for some wonderful Spirits and Wines we sampled:

·     Double Cross Vodka – From Slovakia, very smooth andfresh.  Noted for being 7 times filtered and 7 times distilled

·     Crop Organic Vodka and Framer’s Organic Vodka – Wonderful with intriguing flavors like cucumber and tomato!

·     Spasso Pinot Grigio – Clean, crisp, delicious

·     IL Castelvecchio – A deep, robust Tuscan wine

·     Ramona Singer Pinot Grigio – Soft and light

·     MionettO Proscecco - Floral, bubbly and fun – perfect to dress up a summer’s day.

The Winefest is what brought us to Newport , but you can visit anytime. A stroll down America’s Cup Avenue will take you past wonderful shops and boutiques crammed with unique crafts.  Of course, a lunch or dinner at the Black Pearl is worth the trip alone .  We made a wonderful discovery of the Newport Mansions gift shop which features replications of mansion heirlooms. There we met Diane Perry Gardner, author of “What’s Cooking in New England”.  She graciously signed two cookbooks for us and I highly suggest making the Crab Cakes and the Broccoli Cheese Squares which were big hits in my house.  The Ginger White Chocolate Chunk Cookies were also gobbled up – take a look at my plate of cookies and recipe under Taste of our Travels.

Our best Wicked Good Tip is to book your rooms for next year’s Newport Winefest event NOW.  It will take place from  August 17-19, 2012.  We can’t think of a better way to spend a few days beside the sea in August.

Harvest Italia 2011 by Spirit of Italy Tours – 11/1-8
This one week tour treats a small group of 12 participants to life on a lovely agriturissmo farm in the heart of Tuscany.  There will be olive picking at a 10 acre olive farm, followed by a visit to an olive oil pressing facility where the olives you have harvested will be turned into your own bottle of oil that you can take home.  There will be lots of lovely meals, cooking classes, wine tasting and local sightseeing.

Culture Discovery Vacations - 11/5-12
This lively tour combines olive harvesting and milling in Umbria, wine tasting, three half-day cooking classes, a morning soak in the hot springs once frequented by Michelangelo, visit to famed Deruta Ceramics factory, and of course lot of wine tastings and excursions.

Olive Harvest in Italy by Cook in Umbria – 11/1-15
This company offers four day packages with accommodations in a lovely country farmhouse apartment.  The tour in celebration of the fruits of Umbria includes a morning of olive harvesting, 3 cooking classes, area wines and excursion to Assisi.

The Passionate Olive – 11/3-10, 11/10-17
These aficionados of everything EVOO are inviting you to be Italian for a week leading two tours to Umbria.  Your week will be filled with olive harvesting and processing, visits to ceramic and textile makers,  cooking classes, and you’ll attend a truffle festival in Citta di Castello (Tour #1) or a chestnut and wine festival in San Martino (Tour #2), as well as a Spa day at world famous Fonteverde Thermal Spa.

Olive Oil Harvest by A Taste of Spain, on request Nov – Jan
This 5 night, 6 day tour is centered in the Andalusian cities of Seville, Ubeda and Cordova in 4-star hotels.  An English speaking olive oil expert will be your personal guide, leading you on a total olive oil immersion with visits to the areas most prestigious oil producers.

Picking Olives in Sicily by Italian Visits, on request
This tour set in the neo-classical 17th Century Villa Ravida in the town of Menfi and hosts small groups from 2 to 8 people.  The Ravida family is known far and wide for both their cultivation of olives and production of olive oil as well as cookery classes with many recipes coming from their cookbook The Seasons of Sicily.  The area is rich with Greek temples and shrines, including an Acropolis and Hellenic Temples at Selinute.  You’ll also visit Marsala to see the Salt Road, Salt Pans and then the Donnafagata Winery.

Anyone want to plan a picking party??

Or you can access a large print version, bookmark the book, or purchase a full color copy here.

Be sure to bookmark this page so these glamorous cocktail recipes are always at hand.

Cheers from Susan and Linda,
Have a wonderful Holiday season!

Feel free to share these wonderful recipes with all your friends.

What’s even more exciting, is that Wendy offers culinary tours and walks for travelers who are interested in gaining  a deeper understanding of Parisians and their incomparable cuisine. These insider tours will have you nibbling and sipping your way through Wendy’s little black book of French culinary excellence.  Offered for individuals or groups up to 6 people, Wendy’s tours include a Left Bank Food & Wine Crawl, Chocolate & Pastry Tasting Walk, Champagne Tasting and Appreciation, French Market Walks and more.  What could be more ‘delicious’ than getting a personal introduction to the best food vendors, chefs, wine and cheese shops, and world renowned bakers of Paris?  A walk with Wendy will surely give you insights into French life and customs that will enable you to shop and dine with renewed appreciation wherever you travel in France.

Not interested in the process – just want to dig into a  sublime meal at a buzz worthy Paris restaurant?  Sign on for an outing with Wendy’s inventive Paris Supper Club!  This is a twice monthly series of hosted all-inclusive prix-fixe dinners for six at the hottest eateries around the city.  The summer schedule has just been released and is filling up quickly.  Check your travel calendar and sign up immediately if you’ll be lucky enough to be in Paris on one of their dinner evenings!

So whether you’re heading to Paris soon, or just yearning to do so, enjoy the enthusiastic insights Wendy has to offer in her TheParisKitchen.com website.

Who would imagine attending the Stonewall Kitchen cooking school would be such fun! Gather your foodie friends and head to York Maine where you’ll find the home base for Stonewall Kitchen and it’s remarkable cooking school that offers bite-size cooking classes at lunch and dinnertime most every day.  You’ll laugh, you’ll nibble, you’ll sip a glass of wine, and come away thoroughly entertained!

Quick… what’s the perfect hostess gift? A sampling from Stonewall Kitchens of course.  Their tasty offerings have won a place in American kitchens as the perfect little splurge.  If you’re like me, you’ve mastered the Sesame Ginger Teriyaki Sauce, but are clueless about imaginative ways to use offerings like the Bourbon Molasses Mustard and Artichoke & Caper Relish. We clearly need a visit to the newly opened Stonewall Kitchen Cooking School in York Maine.  This has the makings of a perfect getaway day….Cooking, Eating, Laughs and Shopping!

Located just past the Kittery Outlet Shopping Malls, you’ll find Stonewall Kitchen in York Maine – a lovely seaside village perched on the coast a little more than an  hour north of Boston.  The new cooking school is equipped with state-of-the-art cooking classroom facilities and presents classes, demonstrations and visits with guest chefs for book signing opportunities.  Best of all the classes are offered in conjunction with delectable meals!  You can experience “Learn and Lunch” most days of the week, or “Learn and Brunch” on Sundays.  A slightly longer session takes place on Saturdays with “Skills Classes” taking place from 12:00 – 2pm, and then of course there are festive dinner preparations all week long.  The prices are very reasonable, starting at $30 per person for most lunch time lessons.  Here’s the current schedule of classes.  Seems to me this would make the perfect holiday gift – a sampling of sauces, a cooking class outing – and don’t forget the outlet shopping along the way!

If you’d like to relax a bit and spend the night in the York area, I can highly recommend the Apple Blossom Bed and Breakfast run by our friends MaryLou and Bob Erickson.  They’ll treat you like long lost friends and you’ll simply love the relaxed atmosphere of their historic country inn.

Sounds like a perfect excursion to me!!!

Take Note – this isn’t just any ordinary pie destination! -  In 2007 Rockland was named Pie Town USA by the Food Network when the pie baking moms of Rockland beat out famed chef Bobby Flay in a pie throwdown challenge.  Now you can sample from over 40 varieties of Rockland’s celebrated pies including apple, cherry, blueberry, raspberry cheese, sundried tomato and goat cheese breakfast pie – can a seafood pie or whoopie pie be far away?  Pies On Parade is “an extravaganza of pie samplings and demonstrations”, which coincides with National Pie Day on January 23rd.  Even better, tour participants receive a collection of pie recipes to take home.

The pie tour winds it’s way between 4 lovely historic inns in the heart of Rockland, a vibrant seaside community in mid-coast Maine.  Pie tasters stop at inns and local businesses that are all within walking distance of each other.  The All Aboard Trolley will be on hand to transport ticket holders along the route for those who want to stay out of the elements.

Tickets benefit the local Outreach Food Pantry and are $25 for adults and $10 for children ten and under and are available from participating inns only.  Tickets can be orderd in advance by phoning  1-877-ROC-INNS (877-762-4667) – which is advised as the event often sells out.  Imagine, by treating yourself to delectable fresh New England pies in lovely historic inns, you’ll in fact be helping to feed local needy families – what a pleasure!

Be sure to check out the  “Inndulgences” packages offered by the inns which  include 2 nights lodging, a pie of your own, daily breakfast, $50 Rockland certificate, a commenorative pie poster, private wine and pie tasting, and exclusive tours of the Puffin Project and Lighthouse Museum.

Americas
New York - Chelsea Market, a hub of foodie activity
San Francisco - Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, large Organics Markets, operates 3 times per week
New Orleans – Crescent City Farmers Market, Uptown and Downtown fabulous fruits
Seattle – Freemont Sunday Market – more than fruits & veggies – treasures of all description
Hawaii – Hawaii Farmers Markets Online, several gorgeous markets on every island
Vancouver – Granville Island Public Market, The ethnic diversity of Vancouver makes this market a sensory explosion
Mexico City - Mercado de la Merced, nirvana for chili pepper lovers – every color of the rainbow!

Europe
Rome – Campo de Fiori – on every tourist map and well worth the visit
Paris – Wonderful markets in almost every neighborhood – Gayot List and descriptions. And don’t miss a visit to Fauchon, considered “the Tiffany’s of food purveyors”.
Provence – lavendar and sunflowers in every town! Don’t miss the huge market in Carpentas, with 350 stalls – operating since 1155!  French Entre full list of markets.
London – Borough Market – London’s oldest market, and don’t miss the food halls at Harrods and Selfridges
Barcelona – La Boqueria - take a virtual tour!
Stockholm – Ostermalm Saluhall – closed food market with a smorgasboard of delights!
Vienna – Naschmarkt, since the 16th century – anyone for a torte?
Jerusalem – Mahane Yahuda Market – highly recommended by good friend  and avid traveler, Deanna

Far East
China – In every city, don’t miss this experience, it will redefine your definition of food! Shop at the Red Bridge Market in Beijing
Hong Kong – A kaleidoscope of sensory encounters In every neighborhood – Virtual Tourist List
Tokyo – Tsukiji Market – it’s all about the fish – largest fish market in the world! Visit the Tokyo Food Page
Singapore – Kreta Ayer Wet Market – named for the water carts (not the food), you’ll find every kind of food, spice, and ware – be sure to visit Food Street and the Chinatown Night Market.

To find a farmers market experience wherever you travel in the USA, visit LocalHarvest.org

What sets these delightful properties apart from the mainstream hotel scene, is their devotion to Joi de Vivre. Each charming inn is set in a serene location, adorned with stylish furnishings, and boast “highly creative kitchens with gastronomic menus”.  They pride themselves in cooking with local ingredients and presenting memorable dining experiences.  They delight in asking, “Do you love food?”  Now I ask you…. What could be more wonderful than a beautiful inn with fabulous food?

Many of the inns are set along side Sweden’s beautiful crystal-clear lakes, offering opportunities for boating,  to play golf and of course,  indulge in magnificent spa treatments.  Each hotel adheres to “stringent and ambitious quality and environmental policies”.  These properties are ideal for touring, as most member inns are located a pleasant day trip from one to another.  You’ll appreciate that Petit Hotels have designed 10 different pre-planned tours of Sweden and Finland based on different interests and regions.  Each tour guides you from inn to inn, while describing interesting sightseeing stops along the way.

Treat yourself to a virtual getaway to the most unique inns in Scandinavia by leafing through Petit Hotel’s online brochure.  Give it a minute or two to load all the wonderful information, and browse through the pages of delightful properties and fabulous cuisine.  I don’t know about you, but Scandinavia just moved up a few notches on my ‘must do’ list!!!

Each summer renown back country chef, LeRee Hensen hosts several 4 day sessions to teach guides, outfitters and just plain outdoor enthusiasts how to turn out a five course meal in the wilderness.  The camp cooking school is tucked into a 10,000 acre cattle ranch in the “high mountain wilderness” of Montana where Royal Tine runs a Guide and Packer school as well.  Perhaps it’s time to check out of your urban existence and learn how to cook like a cave man – well with a few handy 19th century implements (like a dutch oven and camp stove) to make your job a bit easier.

The school welcomes students for sessions that run from 4 days to 2 weeks.  Many participants are students training to be outfitter guides for adventure companies.  A typical day will run from 5:30 am until 6pm with lots of cooking, outdoor adventures and horsemanship in between.  Accommodations are in tents with sleeping bags, no electricity or running water – but there are shower facilities (don’t expect pressure!).  So if you’ve had it with the day to day grind and are nostalgic for a cowboy campfire experience – where you’ll be serving up the grub – check out Camp Cook School in Montana.

Belgium reigns supreme as masters of the cocoa bean.  Since the days of colonization in The Belgian Congo in the late 1800′s, cocoa has been shipped to Belgium to be crafted into dark creamy delights.  Today Belgium has over a dozen major chocolate factories producing  172,000 TONS of chocolate per year.  You’ll find chocolate shops to tempt you around most every corner, as the country now sports over 2,000 confectionery shops!  Visit the Musee due Cocao et du Chocolate in Brussels or The Chocolate Story in Bruges.  And for a full chocolate immersion, don’t miss the Chocolate Festival that takes place each year in early May in Bruges.

Switzerland is famous for their three top tier chocolate producers, Lindt, Sprungli and Teuscher.  For a very sweet ride, hop aboard The Chocolate Train – a delicious 8 hour full day excursion.  Departing from Montreux (east of Geneve on “the Swiss Riviera”), the train travels to Gruyeres, famous for their cheese, vineyards and stunning views.  After a stop to sample the best of Gruyeres, it’s off to Broc, home of world famous Nestle, the chance to tour their factory and gorge yourself on their milk chocolate yummies.  You’ll be ‘rolling’ back into Montreux for sure!! Visit MySwitzerland.com and enter their contest to win an assortment of Swiss Chocolates!

France enters the contest with chef’s favorite Valrhona.  Their School of Grand Chocolate welcomes pastry chefs from across the globe to tune up their chocolate rendering skills.  Novices like us are welcomed to the Tain l’Hermitage for non-professional classes during March, July and August.

London rounds out the scene across the pond with Chocolate Ecstasy Tours.  Step off on a four hour guided  walking tour of the finest chocolate boutiques of London.

AND, the USA in no slouch in chocolate offerings, just have a peak:

Boston, where a thriving Faneuil Hall Marketplace has offered chocolate confections for centuries, today offers a fun loving Chocolate Trolley Tour.  Visitors learn about the origin of (my favorite) – the Toll House cookie, the hot fudge sundae (I’m thinking Brighams here), the first chocolate factory in America, and who could miss the ever yummy Boston Cream Pie!  This is a 3 hour tour of chocolate decadence.

Chicago has one of the best chocolate officianados around,  Chicago Chocolate Tours.com.  Valerie Beck, Chief Chocolate Lover, knows where all the chocolate delicacies are hidden from pralines to fudge topped cup cakes.  All you gals will want to sign up for the Friday February 13th Chocolate and Champagne Girls Night out and couples can enjoy three days of Valentine Day celebration tours.  Gotta love those flavonoids!

You’ve just got to love a city that dedicates itself to the eternal love of chocolate – as Hershey Pennsylvania has done for over 100 years, calling itself “The Sweetest Place on Earth”.  Can there be any doubt that fountains overflow with sweet dark creamy goodness and the air is heavy with scent of chocolate baking?  January ’09 will see the debute of the Hershey Museum chronicling the journey of Milton S. Hershey from rags to riches as he introduced great innovation to the production of chocolate.  There’s great entertainment in Hershey for all ages, from the Hershey Amusement Park, to Chocolate World, to the 4 diamond Hotel Hershey Resort and it’s sumptuous Chocolate Spa.  Be pampered with a whipped cocoa bath, a chocolate bean polish or a cocoa oil message.  Not only will dine on wonderful chocolate concoctions, but you can immerse your entire being in chocolaty goodness – WOW.

Then there’s the all time best display of chocolate in every form conceivable at the New York Chocolate Show.   Dazzling the city for three straight days each year in late October/early November, you’ll see chocolate sculpted into jewelry, couture fashions, and incorporated into every food group imaginable.  This show has become so popular that there are now chocolate shows in Tokyo, Paris, Beijing, Moscow and Madrid.  Or you can find hidden troves of chocolate all week long with NYC chocolate walking tours with Sweet Walks.com.

We all know that money makes the world go round, but certainly chocolate can’t be far behind!