If spring in Wine Country isn’t the best time of the year, I don’t know what is!!! The new buds and leaves on the vines are bursting with energy, maturing from soft pink to bright, neon green – flush with energy. The tiny bunches elongate and each berry bursts with energy in the sun, finally…
Anyone who has ever had chickens knows the joys, and trials, of raising a flock of hens for eggs. People ask “Do you name them all?” No – they are not pets; they are chickens. “Are they free-range? Do you let them out in the vineyard?” No – if we did, they would all become…
On either side of our work day, the earlier sunrise and warmer evening temperatures have allowed us to work into a fairly regular summer schedule – walking with the dogs to the chicken pen at the end of the driveway each morning with a bowl of table scraps for the young hens, turning on separate…
Bocce Ball season in the Wine Country has started again, every court at the local park filled with dozens of teams each night for the next 12 weeks (basically until harvest). Bocce nights are social evenings with neighbors and friends, eating and drinking and sharing delightful picnic dishes before, during and after the games. (One…
Kori’s Salsa Verde Chicken Salad With capers, cannellini beans, Parmigiano Reggiano and arugula – serve with Two Old Dogs Sauvignon Blanc Salsa Verde: 1 Handful of Parsley – stemmed 1 T capers 1 clove garlic 1 lemon – zest and juice 1 tsp red chili pepper flakes Olive Oil Put all of the ingredients in…
In the Napa Valley we are blessed with dozens of exceptional restaurants locally, and we frequent them often. Within 15 minutes of our home in St. Helena some of our favorites are Farmstead, Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen, Tra Vigne, Brassica, Gott’s/Taylor’s Refresher, Market and Terra. A little further afield in Yountville, 15 minutes further down the…
Blame it on Millie. She was the fawn colored Nubian goat that we inherited on the ranch we were care taking in the mid 1970’s – head-strong, vocal and capable of eating anything in her path – who subsequently proceeded to give birth to twins. What to do with all the milk? Make cheese, of…
Our family has traditionally split the holidays with Herb’s family in Napa for Thanksgiving, and Jennifer’s family in Pasadena for Christmas. For over 30 years, at Thanksgiving all we had to do was make a salad or bring the green beans and the wine and show up at grandmas for football and a full turkey…
(Recipe by Emeril Lagasse, courtesy The Food Network, with changes by HL Vineyards) Ingredients 1 pound fettuccine pasta 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 3/4 cup diced onions (green onions work just as well) 1 tablespoon minced garlic 2-4 ounces prosciutto, cut into 1/4-inch strips ¼+ cup dry white wine (Two Old…
Late winter and spring in the Napa Valley finds vineyards knee deep in healthy grasses, clovers and cover crops, but none of them take your breath away like vineyards filled with the vibrant blooms of yellow mustard, peeking up between the gnarled bark of the dormant vines. Legend has it that mustard seeds were spread…