Archive for May, 2007
Wine Pairing
Friday, May 18th, 2007
I forgot to tell you about one of the projects I worked on this year — that might come in handy for your online party planning.
It’s a text-messaging wine pairing tool.
Text your food to #411511 and you’ll get a text message back that pairs wines from my company’s portfolio with your food. The results are most likely easy to find, even available in your grocery store.
My brilliant co-workers devised a very clever pairing matrix, first referencing flavor and then protein — and an 80% word match algorithm. Then, if it STILL isn’t in the database, an actual wine expert goes in and manually pairs the food with wines for the next time someone enters that food. The more we use it, the bigger and more accurate it gets.
It’s awesome.
And could help you plan your next party.
Potluck of Self
Thursday, May 17th, 2007
I’m so lucky to be around people who also appreciate amazing food and wine and sportsmanship.
Did you know that our bocce team had a food theme every week?
Each week we pick a theme like “Italian Honeymoon” or “Foods You Can Eat With One Hand” or “Old Family Meals” and try to outwit each other with our presentation.
This week’s theme was “Foods that represent your personality” and it resulted in chuckles abound.
So what did everyone bring?
Natalie: A salty, buttery cherry tart. Because her dad grows cherries and she’s awesome.
Kevs: Pecorino cheese with aged honey and french bread, because he’s salty, sweet and a little yeasty. I kid about the yeasty part! He had a much cleverer reasoning behind his tasty treats than I did.
Adam: Olives and beer. Because he was lazy (his comment, not mine, I happen to think Adam is very hardworking.)
Tom: Dry rubbed ribs, because he’s complex yet everyone loves him.
J. Kendall: Spicy bean dip, because he’s spicy and full of potential gas.
Malcolm: Guacamole, because he was wearing a green shirt, and he goes well with anyone.
James: Sushi, because he’s meticulous, clean and good looking.
Helen Jane: the bocce skewers below, because they’re creative, useful and fun to eat (ahem).
So you’ll now have a leg up on your guests when you ask them to your next potluck because I’m asking you…
What food represents your personality?
Friend Appreciation Day
Thursday, May 17th, 2007
(I know this isn’t a warm weather entertaining tip, but that will come.)
I just wanted to say that over the past few years my professional life has been with a significant number of people who didn’t think I did enough for them and didn’t think I was enough for them. This is a tough industry to be inside.
The past month, I’ve been surrounded by folks outside of that who think I am enough, and that I do enough and they encourage me to grow.
And it’s made all the difference.
So thanks, thanks, thanks to all of you who say,
“Helen Jane, you are enough and let’s grow together.”
Because it’s quite seriously changed my life.