Amy Collins's Profile | TypePad

This is Amy Collins's TypePad Profile.

Join TypePad and start following Amy Collins's activity

Join Now!

Already a member? Sign In

Amy Collins

www.amyccollins.com

Interests: reading, writing, essays, fiction, wine, food, cartoons, design, color, drawing, painting, cooking, eating, gardening, observing, talking.

Recent Activity

WINE: Berger Zweigelt 2011

I used to see this wine stacked chest high, one case on another, in retail stores around New York, but I never bought one. With any professional pursuit, we spend most of our time dedicated to the pay check. My wine studies those days focused on the bottles I sold. Competitor's vinos were secondary and mostly relocated to the monetary... Continue reading

Posted May 11, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

STORY: The Art of Slow Eating

Lately, my life has been anything but slow. I started working full time in late January, and for the first month or more, I was able to keep this blog going with fairly regular posts. The job demand has since grown and my energies outside that frame have spread thin. Add in back to back weekends dedicated to the career... Continue reading

Posted Apr 27, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

STORY: Jiro Dreams of Sushi

"You must fall in love with your work." - Jiro Ono Last night I watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi, a documentary film by American director David Gelb, about 85 year old sushi master, Jiro Ono, and his ten-seat restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro, in a Tokyo subway. Japan considers Ono a national treasure, and people travel to Tokyo specifically to visit Jiro's... Continue reading

Posted Apr 20, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

WINE: The New South

I used to sell a little wine to Noel Sherr when he worked at Chambers Street Wines, one of Manhattan's choice retailers, where the dedication to honest, natural, high acid wines, promises a great bottle of wine in every purchase. Actually, I think I first met Noel at a wine lunch sometimes around 2002, each of us working for a... Continue reading

Posted Apr 2, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

Brave Mable on Etsy:

Most recently popular in my Etsy shop: Continue reading

Posted Mar 26, 2013 at BraveMable

0

WINE: Val de Mer Crémant de Bourgogne

French sparkling wine, because it's balls cold out again and it was snowing this morning when I left the house. Because I had to wear pajamas to bed last night, and because my body just wanted to keep sleeping when the alarm went off. And my skin itches. Because I'm behind on personal deadlines and my flip flops, which adorned... Continue reading

Posted Mar 26, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

FOOD: Scrambled Eggs on Anchovy Toast a lá Morrison Wood

My father Harry Collins used to make this dish from a 1956 cookbook by Morrison Wood titled More Recipes with a Jug of Wine. Wood wrote a food column called "For Men Only!" for a Chicago newspaper, and this was his second of three cookbooks (the other two also involve a jug of wine). His anecdotes are what really bring... Continue reading

Posted Mar 21, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

Thanks, Autumn!

Commented Mar 20, 2013 on WINE: Introducing The Vine (the Chablis column) at Pig&Vine

WINE: Introducing The Vine (the Chablis column)

The Vine, Page 86 Sometimes life seems to simply drop things in our lap. A job offer from left field, a choice parking spot in heavy rain, a slap on the wrist, unwanted but necessary, all prove to be exactly the thing you need. Sometimes life gives us what we ask for, maybe not in specifics, but maybe close enough... Continue reading

Posted Mar 19, 2013 at Pig&Vine

2

FOOD: Collard Tops

Sometimes I have this fantasy where my biological father introduces himself with a check for $100, 000 and a letter that reads, Sorry I missed everything. Odd to weight the connection with finances, but money is something we all think about: am I making enough, how do I make more, how do I work less but maintain an income I'm... Continue reading

Posted Mar 14, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

Yes, it would.

Commented Mar 14, 2013 on Drinking with Philip Roth at The Feiring Line

Really love this one. I can't imagine ever giving up writing, in fact I always felt a writer never retires, never stops writing until death demands it. I've been wondering if there isn't something else going on with Roth. What if he's failing mentally? Wouldn't that be much like what he's written about for so many years - the last twenty at least - failing as a man?

Commented Mar 13, 2013 on Drinking with Philip Roth at The Feiring Line

WINE: Torre del Falasco Bianco 2011

Italian white wine 2011. That's essentially the run down on this wine. Medium body with a touch of oiliness often associated with Pinot Grigio from this part of the world (north east Italy), some apple fruit, present but not overly sweet or fruity, and a decent finish, though honestly a little too short to fully impress me. But let's not... Continue reading

Posted Mar 12, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

FOOD: Local Spring Vegetable Pasta & A Runny Egg

Day Light Savings is this weekend. We will lose an hour on Sunday, but gain in daylight hours, which is always a win in my book. If the weather's nice I may even rally to the garden, pull some weeds and prune some shrubs. But no promises. Mostly I'm excited about the coming spring, the warmer weather, longer days and... Continue reading

Posted Mar 7, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

WINE: Ansgar Clüsserath Vom Schiefer (Dry) Riesling 2011

I opened this bottle over the weekend and was very, very pleased. I don't drink a lot of Rieslings, but this one has made me reconsider that direction. What a gorgeous wine. A friend and neighbor had a gathering with homemade summer rolls and a BYOB invitation. I brought the Clüsserath Trocken (Trocken means dry) Riesling from the Mosel region... Continue reading

Posted Mar 5, 2013 at Pig&Vine

1

FOOD: Getting Local with the North Alabama Food Policy Council

Buying local produce is a challenge. Most Americans work full time jobs, clocking well over forty hours a week. Add children to the equation, single parent or both parents working, and the energy and interest to seek out real food, much less locally produced food, and prepare it every night, dives well into the abyss of difficult choices. Ready made,... Continue reading

Posted Feb 28, 2013 at Pig&Vine

2

WINE: Elk Cove Rosé & Pinot Camp

Many years ago I attended the famed Pinot Camp in Willamette Valley Oregon, a long weekend dedicated to introducing wine professionals to the vineyards and wineries of Oregon. There were tours and tastings, panel discussions and impressive meals, often paired with older vintages from winemaker's cellars. It was a gorgeous evening in June when I tasted the first piece of... Continue reading

Posted Feb 26, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

FOOD: Collard Greens & Two Bean Soup

The front page of The Times Daily today featured an article about North Alabama weather and how difficult it is to predict. In this the little enclave where we live, zone 7A, if you're a gardener, we might easily see rain, freezing rain, snow fleurries and sun all in the same day. But across the river in Colbert County, the... Continue reading

Posted Feb 21, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

WINE: VRAC Rosé de Méditerranée 2011

From the label: "VRAC follows a centuries old European tradition where villagers buy their wine in bulk - 'en VRAC' - from the local winery. It comes directly from the winemaker's barrels, insuring that they are drinking their favorite wine at the most affordable price. Now you can enjoy the VRAC experience for yourself." For about $13 or so this... Continue reading

Posted Feb 19, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

FOOD: Tomato-Fennel Soup (via Michelle Scicolone)

I'm really bad about not following recipes. Can't explain that really, except that following a recipe demands a bit of fore thought, organization, and adhering to rules. Generally speaking, I get an idea of what I want to eat and the ingredients needed or available to me, and go to work chopping, sautéeing, braising, what have you, select a wine,... Continue reading

Posted Feb 14, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

WINE: Pinot Grigio ramato "Conte Lucio" 2009 ('orange wine')

I've been hearing a lot about 'orange wine' lately. It seems something of a trend among wine blogs and in-the-knows, though the process is ages old. White wines are made by pressing the grapes and immediately, or shortly after, running the juice off into it's own receptacle for fermentation, then discarding the skins, pips, and stems. The result is a... Continue reading

Posted Feb 12, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

FOOD: Spicy Italian Turkey Sausage and Sweet Pepper Risotto

My first risotto had shitake mushrooms - or maybe I used a mix of fresh mushrooms - and modeled after a dish I'd had at the now defunct L'Impero in Tudor City. It was too salty and undercooked. The rice crunched and no amount of water chaser would balance the sodium. I made that dish in my tiny 300 square... Continue reading

Posted Feb 7, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

WINE: Broc Cellars Cabernet Franc 2011

"...vineyards develop ‘true’ character and complexity when they have to struggle to survive." - Broc Cellars Website I shared this bottle with a friend who loves Cabernet Franc, and who cooked me a delicious steak to go with the wine. As often happens, I knew nothing about this wine when I opened the bottle, except that it was recommended by... Continue reading

Posted Feb 5, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

WINE: Dashe Zinfandel 'Les Enfants Terrible' McFadden Farm 2011

Not too long ago I wrote a post about my friend Clay Mauritson's Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel. When I shared it on Facebook I wrote that it was the only California Zin I could drink. A friend suggested in the comments that I try the Dashe wines, and now I have two California Zinfandels in my repertoire. Feels like I'm... Continue reading

Posted Feb 1, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

FOOD: Prosciutto wrapped Mascarpone stuffed Medjool dates

In 2004 the long awaited Time Warner Center building opened at Columbus Circle on the south west corner of Central Park. It housed several high-end shops, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, and in the basement, a huge Wholefoods supermarket with a separate wine store, which one colleague and neighbor quickly dubbed, Whole Paycheck. You couldn't get out of there without spending... Continue reading

Posted Jan 30, 2013 at Pig&Vine

0

More...

Subscribe to Amy Collins’s Recent Activity