As every teacher knows, if one student has a question, then undoubtedly other students have the same question but are too embarrassed to ask. Here are questions from my recent How to Bluff Your Way ...
How to Make the Most of Summer Without Dying of Heat Stroke
Now that we’ve arrived at high summer and the temperatures in much of the country are soaring past records, the time has come to rethink summer activities. Don’t get me wrong - swimming, grilling, ...
The birds are chirping, the masks are off and the wine sales reps are rolling their insulated bags loaded with samples across the U.S. In the wine biz, “back to normal” means Spring wine list ...
We Fell in Love with Pinot Noir, but Will the Sideways Affair Last?
It’s almost impossible to pinpoint the start of a major cultural shift. What work of art begins the Italian Renaissance, for instance, or on what day did the Jazz Age start? But there’s no doubt that ...
Like geese are drawn southwards for the winter, when the temperature plummets my instinct pulls me into the kitchen to roast a passel of vegetables. And since I’ve given up trying to enjoy any dish ...
Slipping into a silky robe on a hot summer day is a feeling we can all dream of during Chicago’s icy blast. Now we’re bundling up in wool scarves and coats. But how would we feel about a wool scarf ...
Explore the World of Wine in our New Tasting Series
Back when I shifted my career from sommelier to educator and marketer, my first project was to create a database of every wine product sold in Chicagoland. When I reached 10,000 entries, the client ...
Explore Your Primal Culinary Urge with Wine and Cheese
In all the years I’ve taught wine and food seminars, a guest may have told me “I don’t like halibut,” or maybe “I’m not fond of Thai food.” But I’ve never heard anyone say “I don’t like cheese.”