Category Archives: Blog

For years I've struggled to make a good burger at home. I get a good burger at a restaurant and it always sends me back to the drawing board. Breadcrumbs, panko, egg, different seasonings, different fat content. I’ve tried them all and then some. I knew what I should do. Take total control of the…

In my last blog entry I looked into what wines pair well with spicy food.  This time I’m taking a different approach. I’m going to describe a meal I made recently and let Carolyn pick the wines. The Meal: I went to our local great fish shop in search of a simple nice piece of salmon.…

Even though the weather is quite warm, that does not stop my desire for spicy food.  In fact, there’s a real pleasure to eating a spicy dish on a warm night. And what to drink with a spicy dish...  well, the easy answer immediately comes to mind... a cold beer of course. But wait, don’t…

A month ago it was raining. The irrigation ditches you dug in September washed out and long webs of water the color of chocolate milk criss-cross your driveway, which is two miles long. Almost to the road, one of your property’s oldest oaks is downed. There are long white scars where the upper half canted…

There is a lot of commentary out about “corked” wine.  Some of that commentary seems designed to create mystery or intimidation. This post is not that.  The goals are simple:  Explain what corked wine is, how to tell if wine is corked and what to do if you discover your bottle of wine is corked.…

Have you ever made vinegar?  I haven’t but I love cooking and experiments.  And, vinegar is all the rage right now as a seasoning for many dishes.  Never let it be said that I am not one to get caught up in trends!  So, I’ve done (a little) research and feel up for the effort.…

We are often told that enjoying wine involves all the multiple senses; taste, smell, appearance, temperature.  But you might not be aware of how critical the senses are to the wine drinking experience.  One way to get an idea of the importance of all the senses to our perception of a wine is to take…

You're deep in your reverie. What a find! You're sipping some of the best wines you've tasted in ages. Free tastes!!!!!!! Over seventy bottles from ten amazing small production winemakers. Looking up you see one of the coolest curated selection of shoes, yes shoes, you've seen in a long time, along with other carefully selected…

This Blog entry is one of a series exploring some of the more common questions I get asked by visitors to Locals.  We will also delve a little bit into how the questions relate to the Russian River Valley wines and Locals’ wines in particular.  Today we are exploring the world of GSM wines. GSM…

The nature of self is fickle, prone to temper tantrums, runs of bad behavior, and can easily be abraded when brushing up against the ideals and ideas of others. But without the reflections seen in the shining eyes of an audience the self could lack validity--after all, without mirrors we might all believe ourselves beautiful,…

Didn't I grow up in a quiet stretch of country? Every passing year, I hear the name of my small sun-soaked valley on the tongues of people further and further abroad. There are some things they can't know. No one but me saw my grandfather sketch and paint a sign whose grape clusters parted to…

Part One - In which a baking neophyte watches the Great British Baking Show and thinks, without any basis in reality, “I can do that.” It looked doable. Not easy, but only few ingredients and a lot of hard (but simple) labor. After watching the Great British Baking show I was determined to take a…

When you are lucky enough to find a gorgeous piece of fresh sushi grade tuna its time to pull out the stops and go for “Friday Night Sushi.” And since we were feeling adventurous we decided to try “inside-out” rolls among other things. We’d had these rolls in Sushi Bars but had not attempted them…

I often get asked about the Russian River and its history. As the water rises from our “once in a decade” rain fall, I wanted to provide a little information. The Russian River is approximately 110 miles long. The watershed area is roughly 1500 square miles, with large dams at Lake Mendocino in Ukiah and…

On Friday morning June drove up Hwy 128 past Cloverdale to the last little patch of Sonoma County before Mendocino which is where our very own Mike Pendleton plies his trade. “I parked, Mike picked me up in his 4-wheeler and we zipped up into the vineyard to taste some grapes,” said June, “Cab Sauvignon,…

I’m a peanut butter nut -- All I want when I get home is that tasty, salty rhizome. PBJ for lunch, A cookie with my tea; Smooth and creamy, Coarse ‘n’ crunchy, Peanuts do it all for me.     Recipe: ¾ cup extra Crunchy Peanut Butter ½ stick Crisco Baking Sticks butter flavored All…