Bread.  Love.  Bread.  

I’m on a tiny bit of a vacation these days.  Tiny.  Seriously.  Also… I’m kinda still working, but that’s mostly because I can’t help myself.

While I’m away… sort of away, I want to show what I love.  Can I share a bit with you?

Here’s one thing!  I love that you can now sign up to get my rambling posts in your email inbox.  Kinda sweet, right?  Just drop your email in the little “subscribe me!” box to the left.  Oooooh technology.  You’re rad. 

Freya Art and Design.  I love her prints, like the one above.  Colorful and playfully designed with a touch of thoughtful innocence.  I dig it.  

I recently got an email from 12 year old Catherine in Nova Scotia.  Catherine.  Thank you for your email.  You’re super sweet and I wanna squeeze you till you squeak.  Seriously.  I’m glad you like the Old School Brownie recipe.  It’s a real winner…. so are you.

I have serious affection for Beckie of Movies of Myself.  Why?  Well… she’s hilarious and approachable and real.  Aaaand, she plays a huge part in determining my musical taste.  Thank you Beckie.  I wouldn’t sound even the least bit cool trying to talk about music without you.   You’ve got taste girl!

I think I would love love love this Zuni Cafe Cookbook.  I went to Zuni Cafe in San Francisco last weekend.  Holy Heck!  Their food is a dream, but really…. this Bloody Mary set my world right.  It was divine.

You know what I also like quite a bit?  You.  I’m thinking about doing another Ask Joy the Baker session…. ok, mostly because I’m terrible at responding to individual emails.  What do you think about that?

Coming this week:  Pancakes.  I ride a bike in clippy shoes… to be explained.  And Ask Joy the Baker- burning questions answered.

Can we take a few moments to discuss my spur of the moment, Monday afternoon, high speed trip to Napa?

Napa seems to be in a perpetual state of sunshine.  It’s absolutely gorgeous.  There are grapes everywhere.  If not actually growing from the earth, then engraved into the side of a freeway overpass, or painted on…. um… every available space in Napa.  Turns out they’re really into grapes.

Can I be honest?  Napa was a little too uppity, snootypants for my taste.  I know just enough about wine to make my way through a conversation about tannins and acid, grape varietals, oak aging and whatever other terms wine people drop…. but I don’t think good wine should be all about the secret, and unapproachable language of wine.

I discovered, in these few hours in Napa, that the beauty of wine is all in the land.  See, it’s the land that creates the beautiful grapes.  It’s the land that’s beautifully adored and so carefully tended.  It’s the careful love of soil that creates such beauty up in wine country.  The care is evident in the carefully places acres and rows of grapevines.  It’s lovely to see the earth adored for what it can produce.  I feel like the story should be about the people and the land… not about fruit forward mouth feels… or whatever.

Here’s the deal:

The looking.  The strolling out in the sun.  The lazy walks through the tall grass of the vineyards… that’s free.

The tastings and the wine… so very far from affordable.  Do I sound like I’m looking for a free ride?  It’s not that, it’s just that a $65 bottle of wine is outside, way outside, my wallet’s comfort zone.  Fact.

I need your help.  I need your wine country guidance.  Where’s the wine with spunk?  Where’s the wine with story?  Where’s the wine that will make me want to give three cheers to Napa.  Let’s go there this spring.  Seriously, we’ll make it a party!

Five hours in Napa… ready, set, GO!

Drink wine.  Talk about tannins, body, oak barrels and finish.  Blah Blah Blaaaaahs.

Stomp around the vineyards like you own the joint (pictured above).

And stop by Fatted Calf to talk about how approachable and awesome American charcuterie can be.

More later!  Right now I’ve got more ground to stomp, and a plane to catch.

I’m in Seattle this weekend.

I’m sticking to a strict schedule of walking around in the cold, eating warm spinach Piroshkies, and enjoying friends, cocktails and Seattle times.

Here’s what my life looks like right now.

Super seats on a wall just outside Pike Place Market.

We found a wall of gum.  Literally a wall of gum.

By we, I mean Simon and I.

Incidentially, that wall of gum had my name written gummed in it.  Really?  Yea… could I make this stuff up?

I’m a sucker for a good used book store.

Then there’s Starbucks.  They’re exactly everywhere.

The Starbucks makes sense, considering this chilly, foggy goodness.

Hope you have a comfy, cozy weekend!  More later!