Something New

Anyone who knows me from my regular blog, Champagne Taste, a wine blog that I started nearly two and a half years ago, knows that I’m constantly on a quest to learn and to try something new, and that this quest is what fueled my wine exploration, landing me a cool job in the wine industry (I was actually an attorney) and forming important professional and personal relationships in my life.  Well, maybe I haven’t gone into much explanation of the personal side of things - but that’s a story for another day.

My wine blog has inspired me to start a food blog.  The posts will not be regular - rather, they will revolve around kitchen experiments whenever they happen.  My wine blog takes up that space, the regular weekly (and sometimes biweekly) writing assignments I give myself.  But I’ve put some food related posts in my wine blog over the past couple of years, especially since it was experimentation with food that led me to learn about wine, but I think food deserves its own blog, and this makes sense to me since my food projects are surprisingly separate from my wine projects.

In terms of food, I draw my inspiration from the likes of Julia Child, Ina Garten, Giada De Laurentiis, and Jacques Pepin, to name a few.  But I also feel inspired by some of the people in my life, who encourage me to try traditional concepts, and who take an interest in my new concepts.  (For the record, I more often use the word “concept” than “recipe” - it makes sense to me and if you follow me, you’ll probably understand.)

I’ll be the first to admit that I was a timid, fearful child.  That was carried into my teenage and young adult years, and then something changed.  I realized that in the kitchen, I had no fear.  What I created was as I intended it, and I believed in it, and most times, it turns out so well.  After reading Julia Child’s book, I understood that this was a good thing.  And as the kitchen brought me confidence, I was able to apply it to other areas of my life.  So while I continue to experiment fearlessly in the kitchen, I make sure to respect “the classics” - tried and true recipes tested by some of the greatest chefs over the years.

My cooking and baking are most reflective of Italian and French cuisine - Italian because those are the flavors and traditions I grew up with, and French because those techniques seem to be the most practical and effective.

I think I should also mention that this blog sometimes will be paying tribute to some of the culinary greats, but it will be nothing like the Julie/Julia Project.  While I loved the movie, I was dismayed by Julie Powell’s approach and was in no way surprised by Julia Child and Judith Jones’ reactions to Powell’s blog.  I’m not one for kitchen theatrics and throwing four letter words around when learning from someone like Julia Child.  I’d rather show some respect and admiration, and in a sense, affection, for those who happily gave us so much through their work in the kitchen, and for which we should be grateful.  And there’s no need for four letter words in the kitchen - cooking and baking are supposed to be happy, delightful things.

So I’ll be talking to you about my kitchen experiments, both new concepts that I hatch from my sometimes vivid imagination, and attempts at the classics.  I’ll walk you through my steps and research and results, I’ll give you some insight into my culinary imagination, and of course I’ll explain my wine pairing selections!

I hope you’ll join me on yet another fun journey and perhaps find some inspiration to turn your own kitchen into what I call “the test lab” - this is going to be fun!