If your oven at home is too small to hold a tom turkey and several casserole dishes, if you find no pleasure in peeling potatoes, if you dread doing the dishes, or all of the above, consider letting someone else do the cooking this Thanksgiving. Several local chefs are more than willing to do the […]
WENDY THIES SELL
Posted inFood & Drink
Put a cork in it?
There’s a new twist in the battle of the bottle stoppers
A billboard along the east side of Highway 101 in Nipomo reads “Better for wine. Better for the planet. Cork is the natural choice.” And with those words, a 400-year-old, billion-dollar industry fights back after years of losing market share to the humble screw cap. Many Americans still wrongly associate the easy-to-use and re-use screw-cap […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Chasing velvet
Winemaker Sanford is selected to the Vintners Hall of Fame
Four decades ago, he was a young Vietnam veteran with a vision: to plant Pinot Noir vines where there were only bean fields. His grape gamble paid off, and now, decades later, his peers are celebrating his contribution to the state’s wine industry. Buellton wine producer Richard Sanford is the first Central Coast resident chosen […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Wine and spirits
Check out Halloween happenings at local wineries
One of the world’s oldest holidays—dating back 2,000 years—Halloween still delights children and adults alike. Whether you go all out decorating your home with cobwebs, tombstones, and flying witches, or just take the annual trip to the pumpkin patch and dole out Butterfingers to trick-or-treaters, Halloween is America’s second-most popular holiday, after Christmas. Here on […]
Posted inNews
Local winemaker inducted into California Vintners Hall of Fame
Buellton winemaker Richard Sanford is the first Central Coast resident ever named to the California Vintners Hall of Fame. The Culinary Institute of America has announced it will induct six top wine industry leaders at the sixth annual hall of fame ceremony in February 2012. Sanford founded Sanford Winery and Alma Rosa Winery and planted […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Restaurant raves
Familiar faces pick their favorites
From a very early age, I loved to eat and lingered over every meal. My mom has marveled that she’s never seen a child savor her food as much as “little Wendy Lou!” Living in rural Wisconsin, surrounded by cornfields and dairy farms, I grew up on casseroles, cheese curds, and the freezer full of […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Grapes rock
A local winemaker pairs with a longtime drummer to have fun with wine
The 200-plus wineries in Santa Barbara County have names as diverse as the wine and the people who make it. There’s the winery that shares the name of a world-renowned tire company, the label founded by the beloved actor who portrayed American frontiersmen, and now a winery named after a British blues-rock band with multi-platinum […]