(photo by Janet Macoska)

Barefoot Contessa viewers, are familiar with the signature rhetorical questions peppered throughout her show, such as "How easy was that!" and "How good is that!"

But there was no question as to how "the Contessa" comes across in person...
“Instantly lovable!”   was Michael Ruhlman’s take on fellow New York Times best-selling cookbook author Ina Garten, aka The Barefoot Contessa. 

(We were fortunate to host the duo March 12 at my day (and night!) job at the PlayhouseSquare Performing Arts Center in Cleveland. Ten years ago, we couldn't have guessed that chefs would become the new superstars. So now, in addition to stars like Jerry Seinfeld and Tony Bennett, our stages are spotlighting the talents of foodie favorites like Anthony Bourdain, Guy Fieri and Ina.)

With more books to his credit than you can shake a spatula at, Cleveland is proud to claim Michael Ruhlman as one of its own international cooking celebs (along with that other Michael..."Symon"). Michael acted as on-stage host for the evening's “A Conversation with Ina Garten.”

Appearing before a near-capacity audience, Michael was deft at coaxing some revelations from Ina…such as “ I'm not a very confident person,” and “I'm a nervous cook.” (Who’da guessed, as Ina always makes cooking and entertaining appear effortless on TV.)  Oh, and between cooking and gardening…she  actually loves gardening more!  (Do we see a line of Barefoot Contessa gardening books in that crystal ball?)

Ina also shared news that--coming soon to the frozen food cases of your grocery-- she’ll be offering her own line of high-quality frozen Barefoot Contessa Sauté Dinners for Two such as Beef Bourguignon and Shrimp Scampi with Linguini.

Like fans who believe that all famous actors must know all the other famous actors, people backstage at Ina's event were surprised to learn that Ina and Michael had never crossed paths, but the two, along with Michael's lovely wife, Donna, wasted no time in sharing industry conversation until it was showtime.

(If you'd like to check out any of Michael's or Ina's fantastic recipes. visit them at
Ruhlman.com, barefootcontessa.com or foodnetwork.com/Ina-garten/recipes. )

My most interesting wine tasting experience came many years ago courtesy of a Mondavi winery rep who hosted a component tasting.

After explaining the obligatory Wine 101 terms like legs, viscosity, staining, nose and meniscus, he began the component element of the tasting.  It was unpleasant but revelatory. To be able to recognize how tannic or acidic a wine might be, we were asked to swish some nasty chemical-tasting potions around our palate.

Then the wine rep shared this story: A friend dining at the Napa area home of Peter Mondavi raved so much over one of that evening's wines that Peter sent a case home with the guest.  A few days later, Peter asked if he was enjoying the wine.  The guest admitted that the first bottle didn't resemble what they had been served at Peter's so they tried a second bottle, but were also disappointed with that one.

Peter said, "Let me pick up the rest of the case, and I'll replace it with another case of the same wine."  But after sampling the "new" case, the guest once again admitted the wine still had an "off taste."

So Peter began to question him.  "Tell me everything you do when you arrive home before you drink the wine." The guest related that he would change his clothes, check the mail. talk with his wife, brush his teeth then open the wine for a glass before dinner. "That's the culprit," Peter told him.  "Toothpaste will change the way any wine tastes."

But toothpaste isn't the only no-no to avoid to enjoy your wine.  Chewing gum (any flavor), breath mints or certain candies are also foes.  And...eating artichokes before-or-with wine will make any wine taste sweeter than it should.  But by far the über-villain for your wine palate is vinegar.  This is why Europeans serve salads after their entree.

There is, however, a solution to the vinegar dressing problem.  Create your own salad dressings by substituting wine for vinegar in the recipe. (For examples, check out this month's recipes on the homepage.)