Photo: The Boastful Baker, Flickr.
- A range of wine tomes to gift to those smitten with the inebriant, from the fictional story of a "Vintage Caper" to "When the Rivers Ran Red," the history of Prohibition in California.
- One Southern California writer speaks fondly of their eclectic holiday feast, which she lovingly likens to gathering the United Nations to table, in "the latest chapter of a colorful and tasty family history."
- A promising new establishment in Hollywood, Orale offers traditional Mexican and Tex-Mex fare, as well as unique dishes like tortilla paninis -- and encourages readers to polish the meal off with some sweet churros.
- Though the holiday reference is an enigma, Christmas Salad would pair well with your holiday meat of choice, with a vibrant, fruity base of oranges, beets and the fresh crunch of jicama.
- "Sneered at by aficionados and loved by just about everyone else," low-cost and debatably low-quality wines are nonetheless the quaff of choice for the American masses -- but can be enjoyed by connoisseurs and the general public alike in delicious, saving-grace cocktails.
