Unexpectedly, a potent aroma – eye-watering, nose-piercing, heat-inducing – engulfs me. Next, the ground beneath me shimmies, accompanied by loud rumblings overhead. Fortunately, the shake-rattle-and-rolling gyrations are nothing like the undulating tremors that years ago startled me awake from aRead more
I’m walking along a promenade on ancient ramparts (La Promenade des Remparts). The pathway encircles the old town of Beaune, the celebrated wine capital of Burgundy (Bourgogne) in the Côte d’Or department in eastern France. This strategic fortification, with itsRead more
Carlye Jane Dougherty and I are casually seated next to an exposed red brick fireplace in her charming home in historic downtown Charleston, SC. We’re sipping a perfectly chilled white wine, which helps soften the balmy afternoon air wafting inRead more
Dallas-born pastry chef Molly Wilkinson stands behind the butcher block counter in the kitchen of her charming, light-filled, 18th-century apartment in Versailles, France. She’s demonstrating how to make a simple puff pastry dough for a French apple tarte tatin. SheRead more
Chef Deena Chafetz of the Santa Fe School of Cooking in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is preparing fried potatoes the same way Georgia O’Keeffe, one of the 20th century’s most significant and intriguing artists, enjoyed them at her historic adobeRead more
A richly pungent aroma envelops us as thoroughly as the warm, humid Italian air wafting through open windows and doorways of a rustic and rural building. The bouquet, at once sweet and acidic and potent enough to tear up ourRead more
We’re standing in the presence of Italian royalty. The experience is not only humbling, but also…mouthwatering. More than 30,000 uniform wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, in various stages of aging, rest row after row on long wooden planks stacked inRead more
Deep within leafy woods near the town of Forcoli in Tuscany, we’re scouring the Italian earth for “diamonds,” says our guide, Sandra Rosy Lotti, a celebrated chef, cookbook author, and food writer. These forest diamonds, also called diamonds of theRead more
Our friends Jan and Art are already seated at a high-top table and sipping citrusy Sauvignon Blanc in the modern barn-style tasting room of Goosecross Cellars when my husband, Bill, and I enter. We’re in Yountville, tucked away on StateRead more
Standing on a broad, tree-lined pedestrian promenade in Lucca, Italy, we’re stories high atop 40-feet-tall red brick walls. Centuries old and remarkably intact, they measure an incredible 2.5 miles long and 100 feet wide at the base. These massive walls,Read more