"loire valley" news and stories

• This former Microsoft executive's forthcoming cookbook is six volumes, 2400 pages, 43 pounds, and $625 dollars. Enjoy!
• The new pomegranate variety Angel Red has softer seeds than its conventional counterparts.
• Everything you ever wanted to know about making gelato -- including a recipe for parmesan flavor. Uh...yum?
• This is the little black dress of wines: "It's a great basic, one that drinks well all year round and never goes out of style."

When it's summertime I can't help but daydream about a trip to the French countryside. Think fields of lavender in bloom and birds chirping. I pedal my little bicycle to the farmers market in search of bread and cheese. Each afternoon I uncork chilled white wine from a nearby producer. This is my fantasy trip to France anyway...

In lieu of plane tickets, we recently tasted some white wines from the Loire Valley. We can assure you that these five are perfect warm-weather sippers, a cool relief from the hot weather that each July brings.

Find our favorites after the jump.

• Homemade donuts! (Cue Homer Simpson: Mmm...donuts.)
• West Hollywood's Manja is home-cooking, Maylasian style -- and it gets five stars.
• Quesadillas -- easy, delicious, and did we mention easy?
• Next time you're in Solvang, skip the kitsch for Chef Bradley Ogden's new Root 246.
• As for wines, well, we'll always have Paris.

• Salsa is Mexico's "most misunderstood culinary export." It's time for a reintroduction.
• You can't cook, but you want a home-cooked meal. Enter the newest kitchen gadgets.
• Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio is back in the kitchen at his newest restaurant, Colicchio & Sons. And the food? "Terrifically good."
• The Times wine panel tasted 20 bottles of Loire wines. It's a tough job, but someone had to do it.
• In Brooklyn, barbecue meets Southeast Asia at the Fatty 'Cue.
• Where are all the cupcakes? It's actually a controversial question.