My husband and I celebrated our anniversary last week with a weekend getaway to Mendocino County.  My husband planned the event, keeping me in the dark until we were about 15 minutes from our destination.  Until that moment, he had hinted strongly that we were “hiking in” and needed to stop and secure some...
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A few of my fellow bloggers have recognized my blog and I want to say a belated “thank you” to Sophie at Sophies Foodiefiles (an incredibly talented chef who hails from Belgium, and from whom I continually get inspired). Gera from SweetsFoods, an engineer (a fellow after my own heart) who hails from Uruguay...
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Halloween is fast approaching.  I know because I just spent a few days with my niece and I got the details on this much anticipated holiday from her costume (a garden fairy) to the fact that old people do not wear costumes (she’s four).  She informed me of this sad fact when I asked...
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Imagine you are Zhu Yuanzhang living in the 14th century, and are of the Han tribe of China.  You are tired of  living under an oppressive Mongolian overload of the Yuan Dynasty, and desperate to overthrow this ruler.  You hatch upon a brilliant plot to unite your people to rise against the conquerers.  You...
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I never appreciated the strong connection that the Irish had with Guinness, until my recent trip to Ireland, and saw the anticipation leading up to Arthur’s Day on September 24, 2009 – a celebration of 250 years of Guinness.  I was in Ireland 2 weeks prior to this event and can I tell you,...
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These past few years my hubby and I have gone our separate ways on vacation, not for any specific reason, just a divergence in what appealed to each of us. My husband has been passionate about surfing for as long as I’ve known him, and I love that my hubby takes these surfing...
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Altoids have been around forever, at least in candy years; more than 200 years now to be precise. Produced by Callard & Bower-Suchard in Great Britain, Altoids have a long and storied tradition. History In the late 1780’s, during the rule of King George III in England, a confectionary company called Smith & Company was...
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I had read about Asafetida in Madhur Japher’s tome on Indian cooking and seen it referenced in many other Indian recipes and so confidently picked up a container so that my future Indian cooking endeavors might taste that much more authentic.  However, I was unprepared for what was to come…. What is It? According to my...
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America or Ireland? Who rightfully claims the title as the inventor of Irish coffee? Some folks claim, that Irish coffee was invented in the US, San Francisco in the 1950’s, to be exact, and if you really want to nail down the location; the Buena Vista Café. Other say it was...
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