Updates to the Blog and a Reminder for the Call for Recipes

Over the last couple of weeks I have undertaken a few updates to the blog you may have noticed.  I am taking a brief moment to highlight these changes and hope you find useful.

First, under the title photograph you will find a row of buttons that link to some information that you may find useful as a reference.

• Recipes.  This link will take you to an index to all of the recipes I have posted on this blog.  The index is sorted by main ingredient and includes reference to the wine I paired with the recipe.  This page will be updated regularly as I explore new recipes.
• My Favorite Wines.  Recently a good friend asked about some of my favorite wines.  I hastily threw together an e-mail with a half dozen of my favorites.  In doing so, I realized I had to put some thought into the response.  This encouraged me to think a bit harder and put together this list.  Wines make my list of favorites for appealing flavor, food friendliness/pairing attractiveness, or value.  Clearly, the sweet spot is a wine that makes the list for all three reasons.  Although all the wines currently on the list result from successful food pairings, I am leaving the option open for wine I like to drink, but have not yet used in a pairing.  Again, this is a dynamic list and I encourage you to return frequently if you are in search of a new wine to try and comes with a thoughtful endorsement.
• Taste and Flavor for Wine and Food Pairing.  My purposes for this blog are several including a great excuse to enjoy great food and wine, explore food and wine pairings I have not yet experienced, uncover the “why” of food and wine pairing that creates a sensation greater than the sum of it’s parts, and of course to enjoy making it all look good through photography. The purpose of this page is to begin discussing our experience of taste and flavor to lay the foundation for understanding why food and wine pairings work – or don’t.  As I refine my knowledge in this area, I’m quite sure this page will be updated with new information.  If you want to explore the “why” of wine and food pairing, this is a good place to start.
• My Wine and Food Pairing Decision Model.  This page describes my process for selecting a wine to pair with a recipe, or conversely, how I select a recipe to pair with a bottle of wine.  This is clearly not a rigorous treatise on food and wine pairing, but it reflects my thought process that you may find useful.
• Food Photography.  Part of the fun with this adventure in food and wine pairing is the photography.  I have written a number of articles providing food photography tips, approaches to improving your food photography, and some gear to aid your food photography.  This page provides links to each of these articles.

Next, Blogger recently added a new gadget I have included on the blog.  This gadget adds snippets of the posts most popular among the readers.  You will find this list in the right hand column under “Popular Posts.”  The list is updated continuously and reflects the popularity of posts over the last month.  This is an cool way to see what other readers find interesting.

Finally, in the upper right corner of the blog, just under the title photograph, I have added a “Donate” button.  This button allows you to throw an occasional bone my way through PayPal if you find the content valuable, or just want to buy me a bottle of wine for the next post.  There is a great deal of effort that goes into producing this blog, and I sincerely appreciate your support.

As a post script note, I want to encourage you to send your recipes for me to try and share with the readers of this post.  Following my original call “Send me Your Favorite Recipe” I was pleased to find five recipes in my inbox at craig.a.corl@gmail.com.  I am very excited about creating pairings with these recipes and sharing them with you.  The call for recipes remains open (perpetually), and I look forward to hearing from you and highlighting your favorite food.  Simple or extravagant – there are no constraints.  On the other side of the pairing, I would be pleased to hear about your favorite wine.  It would be fun to feature your favorite wine and create a pairing to go with it.

I hope you find the updates to the blog valuable and enjoyable.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig