Natalie MacLean's New Book - Unquenchable

I just saw this tweet this morning:

@Natalie MacLean: Ottawa's top wine bar Play is hosting the launch event for my new book Unquenchable, join us: http://t.co/Rkl3wqlx

I know many of you are Natalie fans. Subscribing to her wine reviews and using her Wine Picks & Pairings app. Totally trusting her with your party planning.

There is a bit more to Natalie though than the encyclopedic wine brain and palate. She also likes to write. Did you get a chance to read her first book Red, White, and Drunk All Over? A runaway success. Oh to be able to have that kind of response on a first book. I can only dream.

I thought you might be interested in knowing that Natalie is about to launch her new book - Unquenchable: A Tipsy Request for The World's Best Bargain Wines.

There is an event coming up here in Ottawa on October 25 at Play Food & Wine down in the Byward Market on York Street. Haven't been to Play yet? Chef Michael Moffatt is one of my favourite chefs in the city and is a regular Ottawa Gold Medal Plates contender, winning last year and in 2007. Their sommelier, Grayson McDiarmid, has also been receiving high praise. I am sure the canapés will be divine and the wines perfectly matched.

The ticket includes a signed copy of the book. Maybe you can convince Natalie to write something really sassy to make your book super unique! I love the idea that this is a smallish event. Suits me better. Maybe you too.

Notice that they are offering two time slots that night to fit your crazy schedule. 5:30 to 7:00 pm or 7:30 to 9:00 pm. Just click on the times to buy your tickets.

My advice to Natalie if she plans to do a reading: Do it before the drinks start flowing! Relaxed people can be loud.

If you have some wine loving friends or book readers on your Christmas list, you could be done shopping a full 61 days ahead of schedule. THAT has great appeal. I heard nothing about gift wrapping. For that you are on your own.

One Christmas I put Natalie's first book in a Secret Santa exchange and it was a real hit. Not hard to find friends that love wine AND a great read. [For the record, it was one of those sophisticated Secret Santa exchanges with all kinds of lovely things. Not the kind where you try to clean out your garage. I really struggle with those.]

I would love to hear if you decide to go. If I am not in Paris, I will be at Play.

LCBO Food & Drink Magazine - Spring Issue 2011

The Spring issue of the LCBO's Food & Drink Magazine is out!

My local LCBO now opens at 9:30 am and guess who was first in line to snatch up the new glossy?

After the Holiday Issue, this is probably my favourite. Not so much because of the expected great recipes, but for what it represents. The Spring issue gives hope that winter is ending and with it goes all this snow! With a snow fall warning in effect as we speak, I need all the 'uplifting' I can get.

Some inclusions did seem out of place though. I suppose someone at the magazine is VERY keen to move winter along when I find myself reading about wild leeks (ramps) and rhubarb! The Early Summer issue is coming out on April 27 and it struck me that What's Fresh For Dinner by Lucy Waverman may have been better suited for contemplation in 7 weeks time. Where does one find a wild leek in March??? Bless her for getting us juiced up.

I still found plenty of fresh recipes to get me thinking about spring and the brighter days ahead.

• Sweet Pea Risotto Cake with Prosciutto Mascarpone Mousse (From Spring Fling by Christopher St. Onge)
  
• Lobster Thermidor in Parmesan Phyllo Baskets (From Making The Most of Mustard by Marilyn Bentz-Crowley)
  
• Pecan Bourbon Carrot Cake (From Carrots Take The Cake by Monda Rosenberg)
  
• Spring Pea Soup with Toasted Almonds + Savoury Bacon Biscuits with Herb Butter (From Fun Family Brunch by Jennifer MacKenzie and Cobi Ladner)
  
• Almond Oil Cake (From Untried But True by Christopher St. Onge)

I was nervous to see Whoopie Pies tucked into the pages. I hear it is the new cupcake. Yikes! Imagine Whoopie Pie stores popping up like dandelions all around town.

GOOD NEWS: Crate and Barrel's companion store, CB2 is coming to Toronto in the spring to the corner of Bathurst and Queen St. West.

Check out Natalie MacLean's Spring Wine & Cheese article where she pairs Chilean whites with some great cheeses. You will also want to brush up on the solid advice given for Hosting A Wine and Cheese.

The Spring Playlist is again by Rick Shurman and Earl Torno and available for purchase. They appear to have a continued fondness for Diana Krall, which I fully endorse! They included her Isn't This a Lovely Day? and I've Got You Under My Skin. Other favourites for me are Norah Jones, Boz Scaggs, Van Morrison and The Chieftains, and Eric Clapton.

Pick up your copy right away. Let it be your power play for getting out of this long winter alive!

LCBO Food & Drink Magazine - Autumn 2010

The Autumn edition of LCBO's Food & Drink magazine came out today. I have to admit I was reluctant to go get it because I am not ready for that word "Autumn". I am still craving, 'light' and 'fresh' and 'bursting with flavour'. Descriptors for me that are synonymous with Summer. When I think Autumn, I think 'comfort', 'colourful', 'cornucopia'.

But the Food & Drink magazine never disappoints and I did go to get my copy on release day because everyone else in the city seems to share this observation and I couldn't bare to be without.

As expected, 'comfort', 'colourful' and 'cornucopia' do pop out from the pages as their feature stories are: The Harvest Table by Jennifer MacKenzie, Bound to Please by Marilyn Bentz-Crowley, Ontario Wine Classics by James Chatto, Dinner from the Garden by Lucy Waverman and our own Ottawa-based wine expert, Natalie MacLean, Branching Out With Ontario Wine by Michelle P.E. Hunt and Laura Panter.

By the time I turned the last page, I was thinking that they had hooked me again as my saliva was welling.

The corners of some pages did get folded back. Pear and Gorganzola Tarts (Pg 15), Savoury Apple Tart (Pg 40), Scallop Potatoes with Porcini & Bacon (Pg 63), Zucchini Fritters with Roasted Tomatoes (Pg 88), Three-Onion Soup (Pg 89), Quinoa Risotto and also Jerusalem Artichoke Gratin (Pg 114), Rich Oxtail Soup with Madeira & Mustard-Thyme Cream (Pg 138) to name just a few.

And although we all seem to think "Food" and "Drink" when get this magazine, I just loved their Thanksgiving Playlist on Page 32. Their selection of songs seems like such a gentle way to ease us from Summer to Autumn as we leave one season with some remorse and approach the other with reluctance. This playlist does it in a way that says "It's going to be okay."

Be not afraid. Go into Autumn, embrace it and know that the passage of time means we are surely moving on to new adventures with food and drink.