www.hillcountrybonvivant.com

Albert Einstein once said “When you stop learning, you start dying.” I will be honest with you, I was not a fan of school. For me, school was what happened in between sporting events and dances. I enjoyed attending college and did actually learn a lot. However, it was not my favorite thing. As I’ve […]

Recipes, TidBits, Travel

Cooking Classes & Why I am in LOVE!

When we were in Italy last fall, if there were zucchini flowers on the menu, I was having them! There is something about the pillowy softness of a stuffed zucchini flower that fills my heart. I’ve had them cut up on pizza, stuffed, and fried, but the one I’m going to share with you here […]

Recipes

Stuffed Zucchini Flowers

Arrabiata Sauce

I have spent enough time in Italy to know that dishes are very regional. For example, Bolognese sauce is ONLY available in Bologna. If you make a very similar sauce, up the road in Modena, it is called ragu. (If you missed it you can check out my stories about our time in Bologna, Modena, Cooking in Modena and Rimini). […]

Recipes

Pasta with Arrabiata-ish Sauce

Before we visited Texas for the first time in 2017, I pictured all of Texas to look like how West Texas actually looks. West Texas looks like a scene from a cowboy movie with the high hills, vistas and desert vegetation. In actuality, the Hill Country of Texas is very green, except when we’re in […]

Travel

Visiting West Texas

I decided it was time to expand Over a year ago my friend Anna told me that her husband was very into reading things on Substack. Being a Gen Xer and not knowing what she was even talking about, I decided I had too much to think about and said, “I would think about it”. […]

TidBits

Find me also on Substack

Wine and Cheese Day Happy Wine and Cheese Day 2023! Honestly, it is just an excuse for me to share one of my favorite things to do! Eat cheese and drink wine. Cheese and wine go together like peas and carrots. One makes the other so much better and that makes for a great pairing. […]

TidBits

Wine and Cheese Pairing Ideas

I love a good sale! Especially when it is on something that I have had my eye on for quite awhile. Most of the things that I am interested in make my life a bit better. Little fans to keep flies off of my food outdoors, or something to satisfy my morning addiction, a Nespresso […]

TidBits

Amazon Prime Days 2023

Midwestern Caviar Growing up in South Dakota, I never had real caviar. For me, that was something that was told about in books from far away places. Maybe it would be served at very fancy parties in big cities. Midwesterners like their mustard. A large portion of the population can trace their roots back to […]

Recipes

Pickled Mustard Seeds

Above and beyond Life as a Bon Vivant, well for me anyways, includes learning all about food and wine. How to best pair them together, how the grapes are grown and even enjoying a cigar in the vines. I am excited to share with you some of my favorite elevated wine experiences in the Texas […]

TidBits

Elevated Wine Experiences in the Texas Hill Country

First half of the year in review I love cookbooks. Cookbooks are my addiction, my kryptonite if you will. At one point I had collected over 500 cookbooks since 1988. In 2019, when we were relocating to Texas, I paired down to my top 50. Those cookbooks all have a place in this food bloggers […]

TidBits

Cookbook Review – Spring 2023