Author Archives: Lea Barlow

Ingredients

• SALAD:
• 3  ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 2 pounds)
• 1  Vidalia or other sweet onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1  tablespoon  thinly sliced fresh mint
• 2  teaspoons  chopped fresh chives
• VINAIGRETTE:
• 4  teaspoons  olive oil
• 4  teaspoons  red wine vinegar
• 1  teaspoon  Dijon mustard
• 1/2  teaspoon  minced fresh garlic
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Name: Akemi Sue Williams

Kids: Kira, 15 months

Occupation: Sales Representative for John Wiley and Sons. I sell college textbooks!

Hometown: Lake Wales, Florida

Read Full Interview with Akemi Here

Written by Lea Barlow • Leave a comment

Ingredients

• 2/3  cup  fresh orange juice
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh mint
• 2  tablespoons  honey
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground ginger
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 3  Granny Smith apples, cored and each cut crosswise into 4 (1/2-inch) slices
• Cooking spray
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Written by Lea Barlow • 1 Comment

Name: BIG ASS CAB-2007 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Alcohol content: 13.5%

Price: $15.99

Description per label: Just what it says, this is a big intense, lush Cabernet, you should be extremely happy. Very enjoyable right now. With the potential for aging well into the next decade.

Review: The first thing that comes to mind when I hear Big Ass is Walmart. The reason behind this (no pun intended) is when browsing the aisles at the big W I can’t help but marvel at the gigantic ass population of the joint. I feel small and lost, with an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia. It infuriates me when I can’t move my oversized cart full of junk past two huge butts attached to brainless bargain grazers. One can only ponder, how and why? And where did they find those insalubrious outfits?  Oh, I see, over there in the clothing department.

On an entirely separate note, Big Ass Cab is a decent wine.  However, I find the suggestion to cellar this blend for a decade unconscionable. I try to impart upon you, my friends, there are wines that you drink now, there are wines you guzzle and there are wines you keep for a special occasion. Big Ass Cab sits its bulky  rear squarely in the drink now category.  Upon tasting, the corpulent Cab is warm and oaky with a satisfying hint of green peppery olive.  This blend delivers a portly alcohol content and has culinary applications too numerous to list. Even as I penn this review  with a blood alcohol content well north of legally drunk, I can articulate with connoisseur certainty that it’s worth your time to sample this wine. On the now world-renowned SMS scale of (1-10) I rate this rotund red a solid 6.

Suggested pairings: Duck a la orange, Cajun cuisine, frog legs and suffering through yet another episode of Max & Ruby.

Written by Lea Barlow • Leave a comment