Cincinnati Chili

Some time ago, I created my own precise Cincinnati Chili Spice mix. It was adjusted to my personal tastes. I have let people sample it, and fans of that particular style of chili agree with me that is great. One of the goals I set for myself when I was lying in my hospital bed was to de-sodium it. Today is the day for that task. I am very proud of the recipe, and will be publishing it.

Wine for Dummies Andrea Immer's Great Tastes Made Simple Karen MacNeil'sThe Wine Bible

Life is Too Short to Drink Bad Wine

I like wine. In my family, happy hour is called "wine time". As a waiter at a fine restaurant, I learned what wines I liked, as well as what other people liked. It was to the point people just had me pick a wine for them. Other waiters were selling wine with the phrase "Kevin likes this one". Or I would get a referral from another waiter, "some customers are asking me what that wine was you suggested". I am not purporting to be any sort of expert. I will leave that to the society folks. I just like what tastes good. Notice I did not say "cheap wine", but "bad wine". Expense has as much to do with product postitioning, cost of production, perceived value, scarcity and many other factors that have nothing to do with how it tastes. One of our better Australians blends was actually about as inexpensive as our house wine.

A lot of people are intimidated about wine. Unfortunate. Some people obsess about what glass to drink from. Its about the wine. When I designed the wine list for Mia's. I labored to make it fun. It made such an impression two of our wind distributors used it as an example to other customers. I think I have an acrobat file of one somewhere. I'll hunt for it. A good suggestion is learn a couple reds you like and a couple whites you like, and memorize the names. Do not let a wine list intimidate you. When it comes to home buying, remember what wines, and the years, you liked in restaurants. I never thought I would ever say "I prefer 199x to 199y" but I found myself saying that not too long ago.

There is a club I would like to get a chapter in Lexington. Wine Brats. As I understand it, it was founded by the younger generation of Vinters. I remember hearing a story on NPR about it. To paraphrase what I heard was "drink it out of a paper cup if you want to, just drink it".

Here is what the American Heart Association says about red wine:

"What about red wine and heart disease?
Over the past several decades, many studies have been published in science journals about how drinking alcohol may be associated with reduced mortality due to heart disease in some populations. Some researchers have suggested that the benefit may be due to wine, especially red wine. Others are examining the potential benefits of components in red wine such as flavonoids (FLAV'oh-noidz) and other antioxidants (an"tih-OK'sih-dants) in reducing heart disease risk. Some of these components may be found in other foods such as grapes or red grape juice. The linkage reported in many of these studies may be due to other lifestyle factors rather than alcohol. Such factors may include increased physical activity, and a diet high in fruits and vegetables and lower in saturated fats No direct comparison trials have been done to determine the specific effect of wine or other alcohol on the risk of developing heart disease or stroke."

There remains some controversy. What is not controversial is, if a person has alcohol problems. Drinking wine is not a good solution. The risks of alcohol abuse outway any potential benefits.

Eating Healthy Since Feb, 2004