SPAC Wine and Food Festival 2010

This past Saturday we decided to shut down Catskill Maison because we have a huge weekend next weekend with the warrior race, and take a rare break to enjoy ourselves. We went to SPAC's annual wine and food festival in Saratoga and it was a blast! There was a celebrity guest appearance from Lidia Bastianich who is owner of Becco and the renowned Del Posto in the city, and she is my grandfather's favorite chef so I met her (she's incredibly humble) and got a personalized signed copy of her latest Italian cook book for him. There was food from restaurants all around the Capital region (Albany area) and a showcase on Italian wines, spirits and food (it was an Italian themed wine and food festival). We picked up on some great possibilities to feature at our wine bar next year, so look out for some gems from the Italian vintages that we found this weekend. We really had a wonderful time at this laid back not overly crowded wine festival and I encourage those who have the time to check it out next year.

When It's Over It's Over (The inevitable end of summer)

I, like most people greet Labor Day with mixed emotion. Usually it's a beautiful day, very sunny with low humidity and quite warm which is perfect weather for a BBQ or picnic. But it also marks the unofficial end of summer and all that it means; the upcoming cold weather, snow and a lack of farm fresh fruits and vegetables. Every fruit and vegetable has it's season, and from living so many years part time in the Catskills where local fruits are vegetables grow regularly I'm a very strong proponent of eating things "in season" when they taste the best. What baffles me about so many people who come up for the weekend from the City is their obsession with corn. The harvest season for corn is mid July until early September, but some of the farms up here bring out these tiny ears of underdeveloped corn for July 4th weekend because the "weekenders" demand it and the end of corn season is about now (or in a week or two)...I can't begin to tell you how many incredulous stares the farm owners are given when the "corn bin" is replaced with butternut squash. Corn doesn't last forever, nor do tomatoes or berries or any other fruit or vegetable. They all have seasons and that's what makes them so special. Corn wouldn't be special if it tasted like crisp candy in January would it? Seasons are not something that we can control, so it makes sense to appreciate each one for the gift it presents.