Cornbread, Wild Rice and Mushroom Stuffing

This stuffing is my favorite part of my family’s Thanksgiving meal (besides the turkey). I love the taste of the cornbread and the wild rice adds a nice crunch. My aunt started making this years ago and I’m not sure where she found the recipe. What’s great about this stuffing is that you can make [...]

Pumpkin Flan

Growing up I never had any interest in cooking. It wasn’t until I graduated from college and was living on my own that I started experimenting with food. In my first job at a small market TV station I had to work on Thanksgiving and wasn’t able to fly home to spend it with my [...]

Happy Thanksgiving from the Amateur Gastronomer

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of year. I love getting together with family, seeing close friends and of course — the food! Tomorrow I’m flying up to New York to spend the holiday weekend with my family. We’ve eaten the same dishes for as long as I can remember. My mouth is watering [...]

My Fully Stocked Fridge

I just returned from a trip to my favorite giant liquor store and my refrigerator looks like a fridge you’d find in a frat house. I did go a little overboard on beer (and way overboard on wine but that’s another story), but I couldn’t resist stocking up on some hard to find brews. Brooklyn [...]

AG Pick Under $10: Bogle Merlot

Finding a great bottle of wine doesn’t mean spending a fortune. You can find some great wines for less than $20, even less than $10. My recommendation for a tasty wine at a great value is the Bogle Vineyards Merlot. The California wine retails for around $9. I most recently purchased it at Publix on [...]

SUNBOX eleven: First Time Winemakers' Bright Debut

Two weeks ago I was invited to a wine tasting hosted by a couple who were featuring the first wine from SUNBOX eleven Winery, a wine label they created. Intrigued by the concept (you don’t find too many winemakers in South Florida), and interested in seeing how their wine tasted, my husband and I went [...]

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est Arrive!

Beaujolais Nouveau has arrived! The annual celebration kicked off in Miami Beach yesterday with a bang — the revving of motorcycle engines. The Beaujolais Biker Brigade, made up of some of Miami’s best chefs and led by a man dressed up as the Georges Duboeuf bottle, escorted the 2008 vintage to the swanky Casa Casuarina [...]

My Daily Grind: Cafe Milagro Dark Roast

My favorite coffee to brew and drink at home is Café Milagro’s Dark Roast. I discovered Café Milagro last December during a trip to Costa Rica. The café was located a short walk away from my hotel in Manuel Antonio. I went there almost every day; I had their coffee with the traditional Tico breakfast [...]

AG Pick Under $20: Simi 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon

You don’t need to save up to afford a nice bottle of wine. There are plenty of bottles that are $20 or less. As part of my AG Picks, I’ll be featuring some wines I recommend that are less than $20, some even less than $10. Today’s AG Pick is Simi’s 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from [...]

Epcot International Food & Wine Festival 2008

Recently a friend who just moved to Florida asked me if Walt Disney World is fun when you’re an adult. I enthusiastically replied, “of course!” I still love riding Space Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean, and hold on just as tight before the big drop at Splash Mountain. And how can you not smile [...]