Hostess gift in good taste

Oliver Kita (whose AMAZING artisanal chocolates are included in the upcoming HVC magazine Gift Guide) is making something special for Thanksgiving. Chocolate turkeys! $3.95 each -- and Oliver says that if you buy four, you get two extra just because you stopped into the store (at Astor Square on Route 9 just north of the Dutchess Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck.)

Now this would be a hostess gift in good taste!

Bond. James Bond. Hudson Valley style ...

Who does it for you? Sean Connery? Roger Moore? Or Daniel Craig? Tonight you have a chance to tell others just who your fave James Bond actor is, while enjoying a 3-course dinner and charity casino games -- and benefiting a good cause: the Dyson Center for Cancer Care.

James Bond Dinner and Charity Casino Night at
Terrapin Catering in Staatsburg, tonight (Nov. 21).

Evening schedule includes:
* 7:00pm – 7:30pm cocktail hour
* 7:30pm – 9:00pm dinner and gaming
* 10:00pm – 12:00am gaming and cash bar

All tickets are $29.95 + $20 donation for chips prizes for the big winners! Call 845-876-3330 for more information.

There's a train in the garden ...

The not-to-be-missed Holiday Train Show at The New York Botanical Garden opens on Sunday (Nov. 23) and runs though Jan. 11 in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. In the north Bronx, the garden is easily accessible from our area by car or train.

Here is the NYBG's description:

Wrapped in the glow of twinkling lights, model trains and trolleys zip along over bridges and on winding tracks past scaled replicas of New York landmarks. Orange slices, cinnamon sticks, poppy pods, pine cones and other plant parts make a festive brew as the materials used to create the more than 140 architectural reproductions. Among the favorites are the Empire State Building, the Little Red Lighthouse, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the borough’s own Yankee Stadium. The sounds and sites of locomotives with names such as Holiday Steam Engine and the North Pole and Snowflake Railroad evoke more magic than even Hogwarts Express.

New to the show this year are two famous gateways to New York: Ellis Island, the symbol of America to the 12 million immigrants who passed through its doors from east of the Atlantic, and the George Washington Bridge, the 75-year-old portal to New York for those west of the Hudson River.

Admission is $20/adults; $18/seniors and students; $10/children 2–12. FREE for Garden Members and children under 2. Buying tickets in advance is recommended, as this is a popular show. Info is at the NYBG Web site. The show is open during regular Garden hours.

Learn from a master!

Learn how to make classic Hungarian goulash in this video featuring Certified Master Chef Tom Griffiths, HVC magazine's food columnist!

Wine-ish weekend

I just received news about two local tasting events that sound like fine opportunities to discover some new favorite wines just in time for Thanksgiving ...

-- Madden's Fine Wine and Spirits, 65 Broadway, Kingston, will offer a champagne and wine tasting from 5-7 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 21). The new(ish) shop in the city's Rondout waterfront area will serve food and offer a 10 percent discount on all wines and champagnes tasted and purchased that evening. Madden's phone number is 845-340-WINE (9462).

-- Whitecliff Vineyard’s Red Wine & Chocolate tasting takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 22) at the winery at 331 McKinstry Road in Gardiner. An $8 tasting fee covers this "annual exploration of the wonderful, complex and complementary flavors of red wine and chocolate." Directions are available by calling 845-255-4613 or visiting www.whitecliffwine.com.

Here is more info:

Whitecliff’s Red Wine & Chocolate! tasting will offer a terrific line of Belgian chocolate by Newtree that made the “O list” in The Oprah Magazine in April. The chocolates combine unique flavor extracts with playful names, like milk chocolate Crave with apricot, or dark chocolate Sexy with ginger, and dark chocolate Renew with black current.

Whitecliff will pour some of its award-winning red wines, ranging from light bodied to full bodied, and dry to slightly sweet. With side-by-side sampling of chocolates with these different styles of red wine, people will experience a culinary adventure that allows everyone to get to know their own personal preferences.

Surrounded by 24-acres of vineyard, Whitecliff offers a great wine tasting experience: spectacular cliff views, fine Hudson River Region and New York wines, and friendly staff happy to share their knowledge of winemaking and grape growing.

Cocktails and Couture for NDH

The Northern Dutchess Hospital Mothers' Club annual fashion show, "Cocktails and Couture" raised more than $7,000 to benefit women's and children's services at the hospital. The event took place at The Rhinecliff Hotel and featured fashions and accessories from Rhinebeck-area businesses, including Changes, Pique, Winter Sun, Rhinebeck Department Store, Scruples, Haldora, Darryl's, Hudson Valley Footwear, Hummingbird Jewelers and Sugar Plum.
Thanks to NDH PR director Gina D'Angelo-Mullen for the following photos of the evening:

1) Haldora (center) flanked by two models wearing her designs.

2) Will Stanley, of WKZE radio, models an outfit from Rhinebeck Department Store.

3) Models showing designs from Pique Boutique.

4) A model dressed in fashions from Darryl's.

5) Several items were donated from area businesses for a silent auction and raffle- including FACE Stockholm, Basic French, Haven Spa, Phantom Gardener and Bella Fiore.

6) Denise George, President and CEO of Northern Dutchess Hospital, who modeled fashions from Rhinebeck Department Store, with James Chapman, owner of The Rhinecliff Hotel.

7) L to R front row: Mary Beth Pollis, Elizabeth Marvin, Ana Marvin, Marilyn Fitzpatrick and Stephanie Tucker
L to R, Back row: Joan Marvin and Joy Gross

Winewise opportunity!

Hudson Valley Connoisseur magazine's wines columnist Michael Weiss will be talking about and signing his new book, Winewise, from 7:30-9 p.m. Friday (Nov. 14) at Oblong Books, 6420 Montgomery Street, Rhinebeck. Winewise was published by Wiley, and was written for folks who "have an interest in wine but do not have confidence in their ability to select the 'proper' bottle. It will give them a basic introduction to wine: how to select different varieties and identify their flavors, how to read wine labels, and how to identify grapes from wine-growing regions all over the world." Michael wrote the book along with Steven Kolpan and Brian Smith. (All three co-authors are professors at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park.)

Michael and his wife Jennifer Axinn-Weiss (who creates HVC magazine's wonderful Gourmet Giggles cartoon) will be at Friday's event. It's a great opportunity to pick up some personalized holiday presents!

Sharp shooters!

Brian Connor of East Fishkill is the first winner of the Poughkeepsie Journal's monthly Hudson River photo contest. His photo, "Guardians of the Hudson," shows a seagull resting on a Battery Park City dock with the Statue of Liberty in the distance.

Elisa Shaw of Red Hook won honorable mention for her photo, "As the fog lifts at Bard Rock," depicting an early morning scene along the eastern bank of the Hudson at the Vanderbilt Estate in Hyde Park. The newspaper's staff photographers selected the winners. You can see the photos here.

Congrats to both of them!

Frugal and fantastic!

How about great live music in a beautiful venue? The best part -- it's free!

Bard College's Conservatory Orchestra, conducted by Melvin Chen, will perform Verdi's Overture to Nabucco, Debussy's Premiere rhapsody for clarinet and orchestra, selections for clarinet and orchestra drawn from the Klezmer musical tradition, and Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2, at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Sosnoff Theater at Fisher Performing Arts Center, Bard College, Red Hook.

Clarinetist David Krakauer will be the guest faculty artist.

The event is free and open to the public and no tickets or reservations are required. This is on my weekend agenda -- I hope someone saves me a seat!

For more information, visit www.fishercenter.bard.edu

On the road (again)

I'll be on the road today in Dutchess County, blogging about the election for the Poughkeepsie Journal newspaper. This is a nice return, of sorts, as I spent almost 15 years working as a journalist at another newspaper (the first 7+ years as a reporter covering government) before moving into lifestyle magazine publishing. As much as I love my current job, there's nothing like spending Election Day working in (or for) a newsroom.

In addition to checking in at polls throughout the day, I'm going to try to get to a few Election Day community/social events, and a dinner or two. If there is something interesting going on, election-wise, in your Dutchess County neighborhood, send me a message and I'll try to mention it.

The car is gassed, the laptop is charged and the GPS is turned on. I'll be heading out as soon as I send my daughter off to school … come visit me at the newspaper's Web site.:-)