Are You Ready for Soup Week?

Where do you find comfort? Is it in a nice cozy pair of slippers, on your favorite chair, while cradling your favorite book in your hands? What if you added being in the presence of your favorite piece of art while enjoying a bowl of home made soup? Now that's what I call comfort!

“Soup Week” is an online event and it's almost here. For 8 consecutive nights, (October 2nd – 9th) Chef Robin White will host a LIVE twitter conversation around her original soup recipes and wine pairings. I am honored to have been asked to be a sponsor of what promises to be a fun and well attended virtual event. As one of Chef Robin's foodie and Twitter friends, I've been given Sunday, October 3 and will be preparing her Fresh & Local Carrot with a Ginger Creama.

I'm going to invite a few of my Twitter pals over to celebrate, to help eat the soup and to Tweet about our soup and wine pairing experience. Now all I have to do is round up the ingredients and do her recipe justice.













Here is the Soup Week line up:

Saturday, Oct. 2 – @thedailybasics | www.thedailybasics.com
“Jutta’s Elegant Chicken Soup” with Mango Curry Cream

Sunday, Oct. 3 – @CordairGallery | www.cordair.com
Fresh & Local Carrot with a Ginger Creama

Monday, Oct. 4 –@smalllotsbigwine | www.smalllotsbigwines.com
Lentil Rustica

Tuesday, Oct. 5 –@gimmeMoreWine | www.gimmemorewine.com
Authentic Sicilian Swordfish Stew

Wednesday, Oct. 6 — @NatalieMacLean | www.natdecants.com
Vegetarian Black Bean with Lime
Serve with Syrah

Thursday, Oct. 7 – @BostonWineDiva | www.cocktailsforeveryone.com
Sexy Six Mushroom Soup

Friday, Oct. 8 — @MyFoodThoughts | www.athoughtforfood.net
Chef Robin’s Law New England Clam Chowder

Saturday, Oct. 9 – @Passagio | www.passagiowines.com
Roasted Butternut Squash and Grilled Corn Chowder

Meet us online every night at 8pm Eastern and use the Hashtag #SoupWeek if you are Tweeting with us. Bring up our website and enjoy the art too. Why should we have all the fun?

Chef Robin's recipes will be available on her web site and I will post the Fresh & Local Carrot with Ginger Creama recipe here on Sunday.

My Other Passion

All work and no play makes me, well shall we say, a little cranky. So I am going to do something about it. If you know me, you know I love food and wine. When I originally started this blog, I managed to get a little food blogging in here and there, but the landlord likes to receive a monthly check, so I spent much more of my time focusing on the gallery. Oh, I'll still blog about my "Galt's Gulch," but I am also going to tease you with some of the yummy things that please me. After all, I do live in one of the most wonderful food and wine destinations in the world. Why shouldn't you benefit from that too? Some of the posts will feature my culinary creations, while others will be about my culinary experiences that were prepared by others.

We're going to kick things off this week with one of my favorite new places in downtown Napa, Dim Sum Charlies. Sure, we have plenty of places where you can go to enjoy a decadent meal, complimented by some of Napa Valley's finest fermented nectar and a bill that will set you back a few bills. But what we really needed was a Dim Sum Truck. Yes, I said Dim Sum Truck. Technically it's an airstream trailer, but you get the idea and so do these guys. Clayton and Andrew have delivered an Indian Summer gift to those of us who enjoy this traditional preparation of Chinese food consisting of a variety of items usually steamed and served in small portions.

I have to admit, I've already been there several times and made it through most of the menu. Everything is wonderful. I'm even the current mayor on Four Square. We'll see how long that lasts.


In honor of their arrival, I've even thrown together a last-minute, Dutch-treat party at their place. It's Thursday night and everyone is invited. What a great way to welcome Dim Sum Charlie's to the neighborhood. It's BYOB, so grab a bottle of your favorite liquid refreshment and RSVP so the guys will prepare plenty of food.



The lovely pictures are courtesy of my good friend and fellow foodie Deirdre Bourdet, aka @HedonismInk, who had the good sense to go during the day when the sun was out. If you are passionate about food, be sure to follow her blog too. Now she's a foodie!

Stay tuned for more food, more art and more fun. Remember there are no calories in the written word. I'll enjoy those for you too!

Better Late Than Never

After years, yes years, of Quent cajoling me to do so, I have finally completed and posted the first in a series of videos for the gallery. Why did it take so long you ask? It was mainly a time and know-how issue, and the fact that I wasn't ready to spring for the software. Then, low and behold, thanks to my assistant Karen, I found out that I already had adequate software that came pre-loaded on my laptop. Duh! The frosting on the cupcake? Karen knew how to use it. The result, no more excuses. I found myself being catapulted into the 21st century - no kicking, no screaming.

So without further adieu, I bring you the first video sneak peek into our wonderful sunlit world. Enjoy!



Stay tuned for the next installment. It's no where near as wonderful as being in the physical gallery, but we hope it will enhance your experience with us and maybe even tempt you to come for a visit.

Mean while, our virtual doors are always open and the welcome mat is always out.