Culinary Experiences on July 4th

Today was our last day in the area, but we did some really special things. Sunday when we strolled through Napa, we took a quick look through the Copia Center begun by Robert Mondavi as a tribute to the culinary inspirations of the Napa Valley. While we were there we bought tickets for their Friday culinary demonstration lunch which they have every Friday. It was an incredible experience and wasn't just the tasting we expected--we had a complete 3-course meal that was morer than we could have anticipated. Here are a few pictures:

Ed and Mamaw check out the menus which also included the complete recipes: Roasted Corn Soup with Pesto, Spice Rubbed Kobe Beef Tri-Tip with Guacamole Vinaigrette, Copia Garden Vegetables and Butterscotch Calypso Beans, and Ginger Mascarpone Icebox Cake,

all paired with an appropriate wine.

The chef gave a demonstraton of how to cook all the dishes as we ate them. The food we ate was actually prepared at Julia's Restaurant (the only one in the world that she allowed

her name to be associated with).

This is the wine expert who explained the individual wines to us before each course.

Even though this luncheon was very elegant, there was a casual atmosphere so that people could ask questions. After the luncheon, Ed went to the chef's counter to ask her a question about the cut of meat, so here they are conferring.

Since our luncheon did not begin until 1:00, we spent the morning driving around Napa to see some of the sights we hadn't stopped at before. As we were driving to St. Helena (north of Napa) we passed an interesting-looking building which turned out to be The Culinary Institute of America so we went inside. It was so interesting. The building was actually the original sight of Christian Brothers Winery.

We knew this would be a fun place to look around when we walked in and saw this vintage stove at the entrance to the "campus store." Students actually live on the 3rd floor of the building and take classes and work in the Culinary Institute's 3-year program.

This is the demonstration lab. Across from the counter is tiered seating for all the aspiring chefs and guests. Below is a picture of Ed behind the counter at his "dream grill."

We also stopped off at the Beringer Winery for a quick wine tasting. They were setting up on the promenade for a hot dog cookout for the 4th of July holiday.