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I love Halloween. Dressing up and pretending you are someone else is just so fun! I used to work for an ad agency in Dallas where everyone dressed up at work on Halloween and we all went to a pizza place called Campisi's Egyptian Pizza on Mockingbird Lane for lunch. It was a big deal to dress up and then all drive to this crazy pizza place (that was rumored to have Mafia ties.) I don't think it really did. It was in Dallas after all. However, I just learned from checking their website, that Jack Ruby, who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, dined there on the eve of the Kennedy assassination. interesting.... Anyhow, one year (1995 I think) I dressed up like Dracula. I was really proud of my cape and outfit - but everyone thought I was Eddy Munster. NO! Oh well. I guess I did kind of look like little Eddy - but he didn't have a cape! See? The funniest costume that year was worn by our copywriter, Eric. He dressed up like ME! He wore a pink suit, pantyhose, heels, a wig and a ...

Check out this gorgeous water filtration container!! It's made by a brother and sister team in Quebec by a company called Aquaovo. I wonder if they got the idea from water balloon fights with each other. They kind of resemble water balloons don't you think? I spotted Aquaovo on  TheKitchn blog the other day and just had to share it with everyone.  It says it holds 11 liters total and takes 20-30 minutes to filter the water. (The top tank holds 4 liters.) It requires a cartridge to filter the water which will last for 2,000 liters or approximately four months. Nothing against my Brita water filter. But these are just gorgeous. It's like having a work of art and water dispenser all-in-one. Love it. Here's a list of stores where you can buy it in the US. Click here . They're not cheap. They run about $700. But it's art and function all in one. I think it's an excellent investment. And I wasn't paid to say so.

I picked up a few plates at Heath Ceramics to use as props for food photos. At least that's what I plan on telling Don anyway. I just love their plates. I would love to have a set, but they're kind of expensive and we don't really need any plates. But I'm getting bored shooting pictures on the same plates. So, uh oh. I now have some new plates in different shapes and colors. (big smile) I can't wait to cook something so I can use them!! The ladies that checked me out  looked at my random assortment of square plates and said "Oh, what I nice gift for someone!" I laughed. They're a present for me!  Yeah! If you're not familiar with Heath Ceramics you should check them out. They have great pottery, dinnerware and tile for kitchens, fireplaces, anywhere I guess. They are based right here in Sausalito, CA. They're not fancy. They are very simple in design.  But something about the shapes, colors and the fact that they are hand-made righ...

The BevMo! Mega-Tasting event on Saturday was a hit! YEAH! I cannot tell you how hard our little committee worked to make this thing happen. We had people from all over the world pouring wine and spirits. Fabulous food. We raised money for local firefighters and the local Boys and Girls Club of the South Bay  . I have to tell you, the group of volunteers from the Boys and Girls Club were awesome. They are so enthusiastic and organized. We could not have done this without them. And then there's the catering and event company we hired. WOW! Nathaniel and his crew from Contemporary Catering were amazing. Everything was set up just as we wanted, the food was great, the staff was terrific and their event management skills were perfect. It was fun having some of my favorite California winemakers there.  Rob Jensen, from Testerossa Winery , Mary Ann and Michael Pozzan, from Michael Pozzan Winery , Caroline Wente, from Wente Vineyards , Robert Smerling from Renwood,  an...

Last weekend I was in La La Land (Los Angeles) for a huge event for BevMo! We were opening their 100th store in Torrance. And I can say "we" because I was on the grand opening committee that met every other week for months, preparing for this opening. We had a VIP party Thursday night to thank all the vendors and executives for helping BevMo! get to 100 stores. Here I am with Rocio and Amy (holding champagne) at an "after party" in the hotel. We made a pretty good dent in the big, honkin' bottle of champagne. Needless to say,  I felt like DEATH on Friday. Not good. But I marched on. With a really big headache. On Friday we opened the store. And stuffed 2,000 goody bags for the Saturday event. It took 6 hours to stuff the bags. AAAAHHH! Finally on Saturday we had our Mega-Tasting event with over 100 winemakers, spirits, beer and food vendors. It was a huge undertaking. And I am happy to report it was hugely successful. We think we had about 1,500 people a...

So, for those of you that don't get to see me everyday. You don't know that I've gained a few pounds since I started writing this blog. Five to be exact. Ick. Plus the whole "Foodie/Fatty" comment from her classmates parent was enough to get me motivated to change my chomping ways. I used to get up early in the morning to exercise. I still get up early, except I check to make sure I don't have major typo's in my blog, or I write. It's so nice and quiet in the morning. Just me, my coffee, the computer and the dogs whining to go out. So I'm going to have to stop the early morning writing. I must start exercising again. And eating better. We've been eating like big, fat, kings for six months. It all starts tonight. Sort of. Baby steps. Baby steps. I decided we should have a fabulous salad for dinner. So here's what we had. Everything was great until I added steak to the salad. Oops. And blue cheese bread. Double oops. Mulkey Steak S...

We had a super fun day at the Spring Hill Cheese Farm and Pumpkin Patch last Saturday. I highly recommend going if you live in Marin. They have thousands of pumpkins, farm animals, other fresh squash, cheese for sale, and, you can dig up your own potatoes. Fun! Here are a bunch of pictures from our fun day. First, the animals!   Cute little piggies digging holes.       On to the vegetables....pumpkins and squash everywhere!           Then we hit the pumpkin patch. Holy cow. Where to start?     We love the long, crooked stem on this pumpkin! Off to dig up some potoatoes. See the people in the field? That's where we're going. So, we didn't get around to carving the pumpkin. I did make a totally yummy pot of Baked Potato Cheese Soup . More on that later. And I'm sure we'll carve the pumpkin this weekend. Later alligators! Have a good one.