The Gourmez

Les Caves Joseph Bordeaux Rouge 2007 France This Bordeaux smells peppery and tingles my nose. It is dry and tart, with a berry flavor of deep, dark cherries. There’s an extra layer to it that’s like molasses but not sweet  . . . rum notes? The wine is very drinkable, especially the more you drink [...]

Two weeks ago, Ben and I took a vacation to the Disneyworld complex. His sister, Erin, had been chomping at the bit to go back since her honeymoon trip and asked if Ben and I would like to come along with her and her husband, Travis. Being a California girl who used to go to [...]

In the past week, we’ve had a huge number of things go wrong at our household. 1. Computer that runs the television broke. 2. Ben’s car broke. 3. Ben almost lost his wedding ring in the snow at night. 4. Ben nearly injured himself in three different ways in the course of 72 hours: luckily [...]

Last summer, I posted this blog about my cat, Loki, having disappeared a week earlier. It is leaps and bounds ahead of every other blog entry I’ve posted in terms of hits, and that must be because so many people have had pets go missing and reach out to find others in the same situation [...]

Back in early November, I went to a free Ciompi Quartet concert. It was part of their lunchtime classics series in the Rare Book room at Duke’s Perkins Library. Ciompi Quartet is giving two more free performances, one on February 9, 2010, and one on March 30, 2010. Of course, they also have a few [...]

It’d been a good long time since I made it home to Los Angeles for Christmas. Most of the extended Gomez family lives in the area, including my sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, and those removed by a degree or two or five whom I’ll just refer to as whatever relation suits me.  I’d heard good [...]

Mazu, our five-month-old kitten, has four goals in life: 1) Convert house plants into litter boxes, 2) Rush out the front door, 3) Pretend I’m a tree, and 4) Defeat the monster in the water bowl. It’s a Petmate water fountain and the motor makes sucking noises whenever the water gets low. To Mazu, these [...]

OnlyBurger Constantly Shifting Location, Durham http://www.durhamcatering.com/onlyburger/ Burgers: $4.25-6.75  Bacon: $1 Cheese: $0.50  Fries/Chips: $1.50 OnlyBurger, a hamburger truck that moves from spot to spot in the Durham area, had become something of a legend to me by the time I finally tracked it down.  It is very often ranked as one of the best burgers [...]

Wine:  Clos Roche Blanche 2008 Region:  Touraine, Loire Valley, France This rose is full of berry on the nose that disappears when you drink it.  In the berry’s place, there’s a citrus flavor that tastes like Fresca, except it’s more pungent yet also more grounded.  It’s a velvety wine that is quirky, bright, and stony.  [...]

Saturday, I spent the afternoon and evening checking out SPARKcon for the first time.  It’s a local event that brings together ideas, art, food, music, gaming, and whatever else people want to add down to Fayetteville Street in Raleigh. We began by strolling up the road and checking out the chalk art.  Here are some [...]