Wine Snob: Wacky Wine Reviews

So one day, when I was putting off reading Vergil, I stumbled across a wine review podcast on iTunes called Marketview Liquor. It turns out that they've been producing these videos for a long time, but only recently put them up on iTunes. The two guys are wacky and fun, sort of similar to the way I write my wine reviews, but, unlike me, they actually know quite a bit.

In the podcast I posted above they describe two reds under $15. So, when I went to the birthday party of a friend I brought a bottle of Chateau Ste Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 Sonoma County. I thought, as it had been recommended it would be fairly decent. However, it turned out to be hugely popular and quite tasty so I shared a bottle of it with Servia and Servius on Valentine's Day and they really liked it too. There's a little bit left from the other night, so I will have to try it again and write a fuller post.

My point in sharing the above anecdote is that although these guys are a little wacky, they know their stuff and seem to review the wines fairly and accurately (so far as I can tell). They are also quite amusing, so definitely check out the videos on the website or the podcast on iTunes.

Bread Tutorials on iTunes

Servia discovered this wonderful series today. It is a podcast from a culinary institute on bread making called Stella Bread. The first episode goes into a useful tutorial on bakers percentages. I did my own written tutorial, but the video tutorial is very helpful because it lays out the math very simply.

Busy Days

It's been a busy day. I made some bread which is proofing overnight in the refrigerator. I read some Homer and realize once again how much work I have to do. I have also been addicted to listening to iTunes U classes from Berkeley and various other places.

Earlier today, Servia sent me a clip from the Tony Awards. I didn't watch it since I'm not much of a fan of musical theater post the 1960s (I am a big Fred Astaire fan). This, however, was pretty funny. Especially Brooke Shields, who apparently has some minor stage fright (or so she claimed when she spoke at a graduation at my high school a few years after my own-- but that is a story for another time).

Enjoy!

More on the Exciting World of Opencoursware

So I am going to make a detour from my recent bread craze and talk about education (again), although I did make some more lovely pizza last night. A friend who was staying with us (and for whom I made the pizza) reminded me about the a lot of the opencourseware I was using before I started doing so much breadmaking, teaching, tutoring, and various lessons over skype. My recent discovery was iTunes U. The new version of iTunes apparently has a whole host of opencourseware from universities and groups all over the world from MIT to Oxford to UC Berkeley and beyond. Very cool.

I wonder if anyone has made an opencourseware bread class...