Flavor! Napa Valley® Announces 2012 Dates

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The second annual Flavor! Napa Valley® will be held November 14 – 18, 2012, adding two additional days of hands-on activities and artisanal experiences to the festival lineup. Tickets for this year’s festival will go on sale beginning in June.

The inaugural 2011 Flavor! Napa Valley attracted approximately 3,000 food and wine enthusiasts to enjoy the best of the Napa Valley’s gastronomical prowess over three days.

“We developed Flavor! Napa Valley to help encourage food and wine lovers to take a fresh look at the Napa Valley as the top gastronomic destination,” Michael Chiarello of Bottega Napa Valley restaurant says of the festival. “As both a chef and vintner, I’m incredibly proud of the program we were able to bring together and I am thrilled to be a part of the 2012 celebration.”

In addition to successfully showcasing the passion for quality shared by the region’s winemakers, chefs and artisanal food producers, $60,000 was raised to support the scholarship program at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Greystone, Flavor! Napa Valley’s beneficiary.

“I am proud that our cumulative efforts for Flavor! Napa Valley successfully raised $60,000 for deserving CIA students in its initial year,” comments French Laundry’s Thomas Keller, who also serves on the board of the CIA. “As an advocate for the continued evolution and improvement of our profession, this worthwhile event will help pave the way for many aspiring young chefs in obtaining a culinary education, one that will allow them to have a firm grasp of the fundamentals–and hopefully provide a head start in their career.”

Silverado Resort and Spa will again host some of Flavor! Napa Valley’s core food and wine events, and a variety of expert-led seminars and tastings will also be held at the historic Greystone campus of The Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena. Two full days of hands-on experiences will be hosted at local vineyards, wineries, restaurants, farms and artisanal food purveyors, allowing attendees to fully engage in some of the elements that make the Napa Valley legendary. All of Flavor! Napa Valley’s programming will once again be produced by Karlitz & Company.

“We are so pleased with the caliber of the 2011 festival,” adds John Evans, General Manager of founding-sponsor Silverado Resort and Spa. “With the announcement of the 2012 dates and the addition of two days of activities, we are signaling our commitment to provide our guests and attendees with a wonderfully unique experience that can only be found in Napa Valley, California.”

“We were delighted to be involved in the inaugural Flavor! Napa Valley. We are looking forward to continuing our region’s legacy of gracious hospitality by inviting guests into our homes, vineyards, and kitchens to get their hands into the soil and share winemaking and culinary experiences that can only be found in the Napa Valley,” says Garen and Shari Staglin of Staglin Family Vineyard.”

This Weeks Must Have: Roasted Seaweed

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A few months ago I came across these crunchy, thin nori seaweed crisps from Trader Joe’s and have been addicted ever since.

These tasty little squares are a perfect low-calorie (30 calories per serving), vegan and gluten-free snack help satisfy your midday hunger. Savoring these treats slowly is certainly a challenge, but I do recommend eating one paper-thin square at a time rather than noshing on stacks of squares.

Not only are these crunchy snacks delicious but they are also very nutritious. Nori is about a third protein and a third dietary fiber. It contains high proportions of iodine, carotene, vitamins A, B and C, as well as significant amounts of calcium and iron.

Easy Continuous Batch Composting

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Composting is  nature’s process of recycling decomposing organic material into a rich soil known as compost. By composting your organic waste you are returning nutrients back into the soil in order for the cycle of life to continue. Finished compost looks like soil–dark brown, crumbly and smells like a forest floor. Environment enthusiasts can now efficiently and continuously batch compost with the new Dual Compost Tumbler from Lifetime Products.

The Lifetime Dual Compost Tumbler features two 50-gallon tumblers on a single frame, allowing one filled tumbler to mature while continuing to fill the other tumbler. It also includes a visual processing indicator to attach to show which tumbler contents are maturing. Both tumblers turn on an axis for easy and balanced rotation using built-in handles, and can be filled and turned with a new single-hand operation. The Lifetime Dual Compost Tumbler is now available nationwide at Costco Wholesale Clubs for $140.

To add to the convenience, loading and unloading material from the Lifetime Dual Composter is also made even easier with the extra large removable lids and the steel frame which holds the tumblers off the ground to create a convenient loading height. In addition, to ensure the tumblers do not rotate during filling or emptying, they are equipped with a spring-loaded locking pin.

It also features an internal aerated bar in each barrel which mixes the compost and allows air to flow through the composter to help quicken the batching process time. To also speed up composting time, the Lifetime Dual Compost Tumbler is constructed of black, double-wall high-density polyethylene (HDPE) panels specifically designed to absorb and retain heat. The combination of the raised powder-coated steel frame and durable HDPE panels that fully-enclose the compost materials makes the Lifetime Dual Compost Tumbler pest-proof, weather-and rust-resistant, and aesthetically pleasing.

10 good reasons why you should compost:

  1. Yard and food waste make up 30% of the waste stream. Composting your kitchen and yard trimmings helps divert that waste from the landfill, waterways and water treatment facilities.
  2. You will significantly reduce pest problems–and your use of pesticides.
  3. Healthy plants from healthy soil look better, produce better and have a much greater ability to fight off pests and diseases.
  4. Adding organic materials to the soil improves moisture retention.
  5. Adding decomposed organic material to the soil feeds beneficial organisms.
  6. Compost amends both sandy and clay soils.
  7. Compost provides a balanced, slow–release source of nutrients that helps the soil hold nutrients long enough for plants to use them.
  8. Composting saves money–you avoid the cost of buying soil conditioners, bagged manure etc.
  9. Feeding your plants well will improve your own diet. Plants grown in depleted soils have a reduced nutrient content.
  10. Home composting is a valuable tool in educating children about nature and the cycle of life.

5 Tips for Better Work-Life Balance

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If you're feeling overworked and finding it more challenging than ever to juggle the demands of your job and the rest of your life, you're not alone. (photo source: iStockphotos)

If you’re feeling overworked and finding it more challenging than ever to juggle the demands of your job and the rest of your life, you’re not alone. In today’s society, many of us find it more and more difficult finding balance in our daily lives. Feeling more burnout in discovering ways to devote more time to the activities and people that matter.

Here are five ways to bring a little more balance to your daily routine:

1. Build downtime into your schedule.
When you plan your week, make it a point to schedule time with your family and friends and activities that help you recharge.

Be proactive about scheduling. If a date night with your spouse or a coffee date with friends is on your calendar, you’ll have something to look forward to and an extra incentive to manage your time well so you don’t have to cancel. Remember that scheduling downtime for yourself (“me time”) is just as important. Make t a point to schedule at least an hour for yourself, whether it be going to the gym or yoga or even a stroll — it’s important to have me time.

2. Ditch activities that zap your time or energy.
Many people waste their time on activities or people that add no value — for example, spending too much time at work with a colleague who is constantly venting and gossiping. Stop taking stock of activities that aren’t really enhancing your career or personal life and minimizing the time you spend on them.

You may even be able to leave work earlier if you make a conscious effort to limit the time you spend on the web and social media sites, making personal calls, or checking your bank balance. We often get sucked into these habits that are making us much less efficient without realizing it.

3. Rethink your errands.
Consider whether you can outsource any of your time-consuming household chores or errands.

Could you order your groceries online and have them delivered? Hire a kid down the street to mow your lawn? Have your dry cleaning picked up and dropped off at your home or office? Order your stamps online so you don’t have to go to the post office? Even if you’re on a tight budget, you may discover that the time you’ll save will make it worth it.

Here at Valerie A. many of our clients utilize our services by outsourcing their to-do list to us, thus freeing up time and mental energy. We’ve signed up many of our clients with Laundry Locker, an eco-friendly laundry service providing green dry cleaning and wash and fold services, making it a convenient choice for those looking to free up time.

4. Get moving.
It’s hard to make time for exercise when you have a jam-packed schedule, but experts say that it may ultimately help you get more done by boosting your energy level and ability to concentrate.

Research shows exercise can help you to be more alert. Personally, I’ve noticed that when I don’t exercise because I’m trying to squeeze in another half hour of work writing proposals or answering emails, I don’t feel as alert.

I recently started sneaking in a trip to Peacebank Yoga Studio two or three mornings a week before my husband wakes up. It’s a real boost in terms of the way I feel for the rest of the day. I feel like my head is clearer and I’ve had a little time to myself.

5. A little relaxation goes a long way.
Don’t get overwhelmed by assuming that you need to make big changes to bring more balance to your life. I recommend setting realistic goals, like trying to leave the office earlier one night per week.

Slowly build more activities into your schedule that are important to you. Maybe you can start by spending an hour a week on your hobby of carpentry or planning a weekend getaway with your spouse once a year.

During a hectic day, you can take 10 or 15 minutes to do something that will recharge your batteries. Take a bath, read a trashy novel, go for a walk, or listen to music. You have to make a little time for the things that ignite your joy.

4 Weeds You Can Eat

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A field of blooming dandelions creates a sea of yellow in a pasture in Barre, Vt., Friday, May 8, 1998. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)


Learn to identify common weeds that make uncommon additions to your meal plan.

Here are some suggestions for finding free munchies in your backyard’s landscape. Just remember to ID them with a credible guidebook or source if you’re not plant-savvy, wash your harvest thoroughly before consuming, and don’t take anything from an area that’s been treated with chemicals or pesticides.

1. Dandelion
Perhaps the most familiar lawn weed of them all, the dandelion may also be the weed that’s most known to be edible. In fact, the reason it exists in the U.S. is that it was introduced by European settlers as a salad green. You can buy dandelion greens at some specialty food markets, but odds are if you have any kind of lawn there are some growing a whole lot closer. Their bitter taste isn’t for everyone, so add small doses to a salad to try them out. Both leaves and stems are edible; you can also try steaming them

2. Purslane
This plant has rounded, succulent, leaves and a reddish stem; it’s sometimes called (or confused with) pigweed. You can eat the stems and leaves fresh—try them in salads or sandwiches—or use them in soups or in recipes that call for spinach (they’re related and have a similar taste). Purslane is loaded with antioxidant vitamins like vitamins A and C, and also contains health omega-3 fatty acids.

3. Bamboo
This familiar plant, made into everything from floorboards to pajamas, is actually a type of grass. And if anyone in the neighborhood has ever planted any, there’s a good chance some of it will spread into your yard. Bamboo shoots are a frequent ingredient in Asian cooking, are full of fiber, and are sometimes described as tasting like corn. Should any pop up in your vicinity, harvest shoots that are less than two weeks old and under 1 foot tall.

4. Japanese Knotweed
The shoots of this plant poke up from the ground in the spring amidst the dead stalks of last year’s growth (the stalks look like bamboo, but there’s no relation—even though it’s sometimes called “Japanese Bamboo”). Harvest the green and red shoots when they’re 6 to 8 inches tall, before they turn woody. Remove any tough leaves or rind and steam or simmer for a tart, rhubarblike taste.

One person’s weed-filled lawn is another person’s salad bar.

[source: Rodale]