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I give credit to my dad for reintroducing me to the classic steakhouse salad: The Wedge Salad.

Growing up in Wisconsin, this salad was part of every Sizzler (considered fancy-schmancy at the time) dinner. Do you remember those salads too?

And I give credit to Tom for elevating that sad salad I remember, into a salad I now [...]

Lately Samantha has taken quite an interest in cooking with her dad.

While she’s been into it since she’s been able to walk, suddenly cooking has become more important than even Dora the Explorer.

It makes me happy to see her take such an interest in cooking–as we are firm believers in food as an intrinsic, wonderful part [...]

I love, love, love farmers’ markets (click back there on that to find one near you).

The easygoing summer mornings, the happy, eco-conscious folks, and of course, the bounty of produce and handmade goods…

Part of the community since 1986, the Saint Helena Farmers’ Market is a fine example.

Just as one would expect, naturally.

Who: All ages

What: Stand after stand of jaw-droppingly, lusciously gorgeous local [...]

Up to now, much of the content for this month’s theme of kid-friendly activities in the Napa Valley has been focused Upvalley (the term used by locals to connote the northern part of the valley).

And the fact that, so far, I’ve mainly highlighted activities in Saint Helena is natural as that is where we live and spend most [...]

Taylor’s Automatic Refresher is an institution.

In business since 1949 (and not much has changed since then), the place is your classic burgers-and-fries type of joint, albeit Napa Valley-fied.

We regularly visit the original Saint Helena location on what has come to be called “French Frydays” (in the past few years, they’ve also opened locations in San Francisco and the [...]

There’s nothing quite like the ice cream parlor.

And this one is family-owned, with a nostalgic old-fashion atmosphere.

In addition to the 20 or so flavors of ice cream, the Big Dipper also offers beverages from the soda fountain and the espresso machine, homemade treats, even hot dogs and the like.

They also sell those candies you remember from YOUR childhood. [...]

So that NaBloPoMo thing last month plum tuckered me out.

The theme. The daily.

It’s actually still a bit challenging changing gears and writing about a subject other than a winery (or as it became, anything even remotely associated with a winery).

So I’ve decided to write about something that has nothing to do with a winery. And [...]

It is a wonderfully quiet rainy day here in the Napa Valley.

After the excitement of trick-or-treating last night, it seems everyone in town has tucked in. We’re tucked in too.

It is the perfect day for tomato soup & old-fashioned dumplings. Just like my mom makes.

Since we are fans of good-ol’ Campbell’s tomato soup, that’s what we [...]

It seems everyone has their own seasonal favorites that signal the formal beginning of a new time of year.

Maybe it’s the first candy cane of Winter, maybe the first daffodils of Spring, maybe the first tomatoes of Summer…for me, it is now officially Fall as last night we had our first Dungeness Crab of the season.

A west coast specialty, I’d never had fresh [...]

With this blog, one of my objectives is to write about family-friendly activities here in the Napa Valley.

It seems some people (even some locals) think that the valley is not a great place for kids. And, if you think about what Napa represents to most—that is, wineries, fine restaurants and wineries—it’s easy at first to see [...]