Maria Stuart

Pear & Apple Compote – Thanksgiving Traditions

November 27, 2013 Maria Stuart 4 Comments

I love Thanksgiving. It is absolutely my favorite holiday. It’s all about my favorite things – cooking, eating, drinking and spending time with good people, whether family or family-by-choice. For us it’s mostly the latter, family-by-choice, since we long ago gave up traveling on this weekend. I would love to be with my family back […]

An impromptu dinner party and a new hors d’oeurves – Salmon Rillettes

November 9, 2013 Maria Stuart 5 Comments

I have this habit of inviting people over in an impromptu kind of way. It’s important to me to be able to entertain spontaneously, to not get all wrapped up in the finer points but rather focus on the food, the people and the fun. Maybe my desire to push the agenda of care-free entertaining stems […]

“You Can Taste The Love” and My “Epic” Meatloaf

October 25, 2013 Maria Stuart 7 Comments

I love October in Oregon. The days start out cold and foggy, the afternoon turns sunny and warm (at least that’s the way it is this October), then the dark comes early. And October means grape harvest here in Oregon wine country. In many ways, harvest is the very best time of year for us. […]

Oregon Septembers – Herb Garlic Salt

October 2, 2013 Maria Stuart 2 Comments

I was in Los Angeles last week on business. LA is fun, world’s away from my day to day life. I traveled there with 60 other Oregon winery owners to do a couple of wine tastings. We do this twice a year going en masse to different cities around the country. It’s fun to be […]

Labor Day and Late Summer Corn Chowder

September 4, 2013 Maria Stuart 7 Comments

The funny thing about Labor Day and the start of school is that even though it’s the end of summer it’s still summer weather. I remember longing to wear boots and sweaters to school in September and sweltering if I did! My daughter struggled with the same dilemma today. Here in Oregon, public school starts […]