"Good wine is a necessity of life for me." 
 Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826

Fenn Valley Vineyards

There’s always something special going on at Fenn Valley Winery, just 10 minutes from Saugatuck.
• June 28 Open House with live music and food; cooking/wine/food pairing, and wine blending demos, and a lot of fun.
• July 11 Cookout with Natchez Trace's music
• July 12 Blues In the Vineyard. Time to bring a picnic and blanket and listen to music amidst the grapes.
• July 26 Cookout with the music of Keith Scott
• August 8 Schlitz Creek Bluegrass Band comes to a cookout in the vineyard
• August Sunday’s – The Performing Arts In the Vineyard www.fennvalley.com or call 269.561.2396
                           Wineries ---

Eating to be Younger
Longer Aging Foods
• Bacon
• Hot dogs
• Potato Chips
• White bread
• White potatoes
• Corn oil
• Sugary cereals
• Sugary soft drinks
• Red Meat
• Doughnuts
Anti-Aging Foods
• Apples
• Blueberries
• Spinach, dark greens
• Salmon and sardines
• Whole-grain cereals
• Popcorn
• Nuts, almonds and walnuts
• Legumes and peanuts
• Green tea
• Extra-virgin olive oil

    
"Green is more than a lifestyle --- it's a life." 
 Frances Moore Lappe

No-Dig Vegetable Gardens
There’s a new way to garden that’s proving to be great en lieu of water shortages in the US. And is deemed “absurdedly easy”. Widely used in Australia, it is a low-water sustainable technique for organic farming using bales of hay and straw and layers of fodder, bone and compost. It’s often called the “lasagna” method of gardening. Those using the method have been “inundated” with abundant harvests of vegetables and herbs. As more and more people begin gardening as a solution to costly food, consult:
• Esther Deans’ 1977 Gardening Book: “Growing Without Digging”
• Ruth Stout’s 1955 book, “How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back"
• Masanobu Fukuoka’s 1978 “One Straw Revolution”
Those who have tried it, including author Rosalind Creasy, “The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping", say “it is a wonderful movement. It is more efficient, water wise because the layers of compost and straw keep moisture around the roots and you can keep layering it over and over again as the organic matter breaks down."

    
"When shall we live, if not now."   Seneca

SPRING - CHOCOLATE - PARIS - CHAMPAGNE
The Grande Chocolate Adventure began and ended with champagne, and in the middle so much chocolate that we thought we’d bust --- or was that from laughing and having too much fun!!! Ooooh, la la!!  It all started with hosts Jeannette, Mort and David who were always right on the mark with info and advice, as the ultimate hosts to this small dinner party of people cruising from one chocolatier to another.

First, Jacques Genin titillates us with flavor guessing games of gnache and toffee --- setting the bar almost beyond reach, Michael Chadoun a very close second, and then Patrick Roger, Jean Paul Hevin, Pierre Marcolini, Jean Charles Rochoux, and Patric Charx.

Between are scrumptious respites at La Coupole, Alain Ducasse’s Jules Verne, in the Eiffel Tower, Ma Bourgogne, Christian Constant’s Le Violon d’Ingres, L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, L’Epi Dupin, L’Ami Jean , and our old favorite L’Ami Louis on rue Vertbois.

An unexpected surprise is Tapas at Bellotta Bellotta with it’s varieties of Iberian Ham from the regions of Spain (the acorns they feed on affect, the taste of those pampered black footed pigs), and the visits to The Bastille and Alma markets. At the latter, Joel Thiebaut’s wonderous heirloom vegetables dazzle. His “Carrot Crayons” in purple, lemon, white, and pale green taste as distinctive as they look and his herbs, well we’ve not experienced those fragrances for a long time. He makes us more adamant than ever to only dine on organic heirloom veggies and fruits. And, the Absinthe Tasting --- oh, my, the absinthe. No wonder those Impressionists saw things a little different than the rest of us.

And finally, the most magical night of all --- The “Soiree on the Seine”, on La Bateau Almira, the private 130 year old newly re-varnished boat which is docked just up the river a tad from the Place de la Concorde, with the grandest view of the Eiffel Tower’s diamond pave light show imaginable. The show every hour on the hour leaves you breathless. If a Parisian Chocolate Tour is something you crave too, just e-mail: JTRoseParis@aol.com or davidlebovitz@hotmail.com

Live Like A Local
Slow down, you’re walking too fast!
• Saugatuck Locals spend a lot of time watching sunsets while sipping wine or beachcombing. That goes well with sipping wine too.
• Walk everywhere you can. Meander and stop for an iced coffee or an ice cream cone.
• Take to the water, slide down a dune, or play on The Star or The Dune’s Scooters. We do that!
• Watch shooting stars
• Sit on a porch and shoot the breeze with your best pal.
• Take a picnic to Music in the Park
• We love our music, it’s everywhere!
• Go sail fishing, or just fishing. That slows you down.

"Gardening is not a rational act. In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."   Margaret Atwood

The Seeds of the World
Our seeds are in peril. They’ve been snatched out from under us when we weren’t even looking. They’ve been replaced with seeds that grow synthetic foods. Strawberries and tomatoes that can travel. Plastic raspberries and lettuces with no flavor. Tomatoes, well they are hopeless unless homegrown.

The culprits are Monsanto who perfected bio-engineered seeds and Mexican billionaire, Alfonzo Romo Garza, who set out to acquire all of the world’s seed companies and sell only Monsanto’s seeds. The result is in 2006, 90% of all produce sold in US supermarkets came from Romo’s seeds, those synthetic seeds. The only solution today for concerned cooks is to chop the organic stalls at Farmer’s Markets, to befriend a trusted local farmer, or to grow your own produce!!!!
www.seedsavers.com