January 2010

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posted by AnnieP - Keeper Collection Team

If you’ve been even slightly following the Austin foodie scene lately, you’ve surely noticed the trend in food trailers popping up all over the city, but lately, one trailer in particular has been getting quite a bit of attention – Odd Duck Farm to Trailer.  My little sister offered to treat me to a belated birthday dinner last night, and with my growing curiosity and endless strive to be an “in-the-know Austinite” (in addition to her college student lack of cash flow), Odd Duck seemed like an obvious choice for something new.  It soon proved to also be a fantastic choice! If you too are a self-proclaimed “in-the-know Austinites”, swing by Odd Duck soon – and for you out-of-towners, add it to your list of “Reasons to Visit Austin” (you know you have one!).

Odd Duck Farm to Trailer
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After breakfast in Barolo, The Keeper Team was excited to learn that they would go to the village of Monchiero to visit the winery and cellars of Giuseppe Mascarello.

Mauro Mascarello follows a long line of Mascarello winemakers.  He took the helm of this estate in 1967, both running the cellar and making his first vintage.

Mauro gave us a tour of his winery, noting that the building was formerly an icehouse before being converted to the Mascarello winery.  The icehouse construction provided the perfect conditions with great insulation for the wine cellars.  This was one of many unique items we saw at the winery.  There were old large bottles,

Large Bottles at Mascarello Winery

Large Bottles at Mascarello Winery

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The always evolving Keeper Collection has launched a new exciting feature! Keeper’s Cookbooks now include even more in-depth instruction with recipe videos, bringing our chefs into your kitchen to cook along with you. With these demonstration videos you can see exactly how steps are executed, just as the chef intended. For example, included in Bull’s Eye on Food Interactive Cookbook, Chef David Bull teaches you his technique for manicuring shallots, like in this video below (provided by Texas Monthly).

Chef David Bull Manicuring Shallots

Already a feature added to many recipes in their Interactive cookbooks, Chef David Bull; Chef Monica Pope; and Chef Paul Petersen (and many more!) will continue to add recipe videos to make your home cooking experience an even easier and more enjoyable experience.

If you are already a Keeper Cookbook user, check out the videos and come back here to let us know what you think! We love feedback!

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The Keeper Team woke to a foggy, foggy morning, or what in Piedmont is called nebbia. The fog did not stop us from getting our morning coffee, this time not far from our Villa in the town of La Morra. We learned from our friend, Peter Wasserman, that there was a special chocolatier on a back street in Cherasco, so we were determined to find this artisan. It was a very small shop, but with an amazing array of chocolates. The owner enticed us with samples which were so delicious and a diverse selection.  His generous offers of samples led us to buy a kilo for home, selected for us by the chocolatier.

Hand Selected=

We found him to be extremely friendly and giving,  just like all of the winemakers we had met on this trip. We quickly realized this was a beautiful part of the Piedmont culture.
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Starting the morning off with a caffeine fix is typical for the Keeper Team.  While in Piedmont it was special to begin the day with a morning drive to the next village in Piedmont for espresso of choice, while being surrounded by the Alps along the way.  Enjoying this panoramic view and knowing that there would be wine tastings and food pairings with Barolo Wine Masters was almost more than we could stand.  So, Keeper took a deep breath, because we knew the adventure was just beginning.

After espresso in the village of Barolo, we went to visit Giuseppe Rinaldi  (known to his friends as “Beppe”).  Our friend Russell Hone of Le Serbet has known Beppe for years, and we were treated to a personal tour of the winery and a special tasting.  Beppe was quite entertaining, and his wines were lovely.  We tasted his 2006 Barolos out of cask,

Cask Tasting with Beppe Rinaldi

Cask Tasting with Beppe Rinaldi


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