Dominus - Napa Valley

We always assume wineries want to have visitors; the more people coming through the property the better, "it is good PR" someone said to me once.

I thought that was true until we visited Dominus in Napa Valley. The owner, Christian Moueix a French native, feels different. After he purchased the land, came the need to build the winery. To him that means a place where the production of wine takes place and offices are housed and he wanted to keep it that way, so he hired a duo of brilliant architects and the guidelines were: I want to be invisible, sustainable and non-obstructing.

They couldn't dig because it will disturb the alluvial soils that the vines were sitting on and therefore disturb the growth of their roots.

Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest is one of the most beautiful places I have visited. Flying in to San Francisco to get a rental car and purchase food provisions and wine (a must on any camping trip) and then taking Highway 1 along the coast for a spectacular way to get away from civilization.

 

The trip from San Francisco is scenic two and a half hours. Initially through farm land and eventually through a narrow, curvy road showcasing spots of the ocean next two us. There were few places to stop for food or a little break, however we found a spot about twenty minutes from Salt Point camping grounds, which had a great view of the ocean, a cold beer and some fish and chips.

Ela Family Farms Peach Crips

For many years we have been eating the best peaches in Colorado from Ela Family Farms. Since I first found out about the farm, the family and the grower himself, Steve Ela.

Every year we anxiously wait until the first fruit of the season starts showing up at the market and to ensure we always get our fix, as they sell out pretty often, we buy a CSA - Community Share Agriculture in the spring, before the trees have even flowered, making the wait even more painful.

Pasta with Oyster mushrooms and Beet Greens

As I told you in the last post beets have entered my life and are here to stay!

Having found the most beautiful beets at the farmers markets on Sunday I have been on a "find a way to use beets quest" and my husband seems to be happy with my finds.

For the actual vegetable I made this raw salad which was delicious and very easy. The green tops were so crisp and fresh that I had to find a way to utilize them and what a better way than making a pasta with other vegetables and fresh herbs.

Brown Dog Farm - Golden, CO - Raw beet salad

I have had a couple of busy weeks and there are many topics for the blog so keep tune.
Yesterday, I went back to the market, which I hadn't had a chance to do in a few weeks, and had some great finds.

My favorite was a small vegetable booth from a farm in Golden, Brown Dog Farm. It is sometimes obvious when perusing the market that some of the produce isn't Colorado grown or aren't all that fresh. Reason why I was so impressed with this small booth. The produce looked fresh, vibrant and nicely displayed in clean baskets; plus the couple of young vendors were friendly and helpful.

I fell in love with the mesclun greens, arugula, the squashes, radishes and beets...yes, beets! You should know that I too used to dislike beets very much, but I have been to beet rehab and have learned to love them, I wish I could say the same about green beans!

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!

Making films are hard. 

Forget about the length, the script, the actors or the budget... As an actress I am telling you making films is damn hard, but fun at the same time.  That is probably the reason a bunch of us still dream of telling stories that move audiences, that shows the important of film and eventually, why not, will write our name in some sort of hall of fame...I guess the Oscars will take that credit.

Screw big budget movies, and writers that take years rewriting an idea that has been clear to everyone from the first draft, or producers that do not know how to cast an actor, or actors that have panic attacks as soon the schizophrenic director screams...ACTION. 

Forget about all that paraphernalia because you have exactly 48 hours to write, shoot, edit and score your short film in this sweet twisted festival taking place in Denver August 2-4, 2013 and is looking to produce the best short film ever.

Yeah, let’s get back to the basics and cut the BS of this business that is plagued with people with too much ego to admit that they have no idea what in hell they are doing.

BIENNIAL OF THE AMERICAS

Have you seen all of these colorful pendants around the city that read “The Americas are coming”?

Is it funny or embarrassing, I am not sure. Whatever you want to call it, the first time I read one of those I thought... Biennials are created for cities like Paris, Rome or London, what is a Biennial publicity doing here?. For some reason the word biennial sounds too sophisticated for an outdoorsy city like Denver.

However, we have a Biennial of the Americas in our very own Denver. 

This Biennial of the Americas is an amazing accomplishment that was developed for the first time in 2010 during the government of then Mayor of Denver, John Hickenlooper, as proposal to celebrate the Americas in Denver.

BLACK ARTS FESTIVAL

http://www.colbaf.org/images/CBAF_AAS_art.jpg

I am very excited about this festival. I have the feeling this is my chance since I moved to the States to reconnect with my roots. Because I am, what it is called now, Afro Colombian. My dearest friends in Colombia called me Negrita, which means “Little Black”, that was my nickname and it made me happy. Like me, there are Afro descendants everywhere and their culture is palpable even when it doesn't seem obvious. Music, sense of style and food, when influenced by Afro predominance is very particular, full of colors, flavors, fun. It is a poesy dedicated to life. It is the perfect combination between melancholy and happiness. It is tragic and passion story that a grandma tells you before going to bed. All those are the reasons I can’t wait to enjoy the Colorado Black Arts Festival. This is the 27th Annual festival and those 3 days will feature the best of Black music, dance, painting, performers, visual arts, photography, theater and film.