Where Did the Interest Come From?

Our interest in food and wine probably started in college. I enjoyed baking and Dave enjoyed grilling and turkey dinners. It wasn't uncommon for us (okay, more Dave) to cook very simple meals during our last year in college. I always enjoyed making cookies and desserts - yum! By the way, when I say turkey dinners, we are talking about the whole shabang. My roommates (6 gals) and his roommates (5 guys) would hold a Thanksgiving dinner at our (the gals) house on 1212 East U. Our college Thanksgiving typically fell on the evening of the Michigan/Ohio State game, so what better way to celebrate than stuff ourselves full of food before an evening of fun. Dave volunteered to cook the turkey (FYI: the gravy bag exploded in the turkey while we were at the game), while the rest of us brought the remaining turkey day staples. It made for great memories!


For those with sports knowledge, this was during the time period that Michigan routinely beat Ohio State.


Fast forward four years...


While we started dabbling a little with cooking in the years following college, it wasn't until we moved from the Washington, D.C. area to Amarillo, TX in 2004 that Dave and I started to learn how to cook. We knew the basics (mac-n-cheese, sloppy joes, tacos, etc.), but we wanted to expand our horizons and build our cooking repertoire. So, we started watching hours and hours of The Food Network (http://www.foodnetwork.com/) to learn about food and cooking techniques. Now, it's a hobby that we enjoy sharing together and sharing with family and friends. It is not uncommon when our families visit for an outsider to find all of us in the kitchen working together to prepare a meal. It's become a family affair! Dave and I are by no means professional, just a couple who enjoys our culinary adventures.

Where does the wine fit into this?

As for the wine, Dave and I started off drinking a popular brand of white zinfandel, some boxed wine and a certain oaky chardonnay in college. (I'll admit that my summer study abroad in Italy helped me develop a taste for wine - this was before I met Dave). Our palates have since matured, but we have great memories of sharing wine and watching movies or just hanging out on the front porch in good ole A2 (Ann Arbor). A few years later, when we lived in Boston, we signed up for a six course wine tasting class. We learned an amazing amount about wine. Dave also proposed during the last class over a tasting of French champagne, which made for a wonderful memory. We continued our education by visiting Napa Valley on our honeymoon and returning to wine country the following two years. Since our wine adventures started before our cooking adventures, we didn't appreciate the relationship between food and wine until we began cooking. Now, we are trying to learn the art of pairing food and wine together since combining the two can really 'make' the meal. Granted, we still ask for recommendations at wine stores as this is not an easy feat for the novice. So, for Dave and I, an evening of good food and wine is perfect.