happy birthday Virgo all-stars!

virgo - august 23 - september 22
ruled by: mercury
status: I analyze

Quick Fire: Recipe dissection is a favorite pastime for our analytical Virgoans. You are likely to be a vegetarian or have acute tendencies toward certain food philosophies. Your foodie birthright is a nourishing diet of nuts, grains, beans, seeds and plain yogurt... boring! It's okay, someone has to keep us healthy! Avoid noisy crowds, they cause stress and disturb your perfectionist eating rituals. You are benevolent to a fault... tweeting your generous spirit helps our world evolve.

September Horoscope:
It’s time to believe what others have known for a long time… you are a star and can manifest your daydreams with little effort bringing you the recognition you truly want. Embrace this side of yourself and practice creativity. The kitchen is a good place to start breaking out. The full moon on the 12th will support these efforts by sharpening your skills of persuasion and keeping you in tune with partners of all types. Plan a special party for your birthday and show them your flair. Remember… life encompasses work AND play!

Your pairing: Summer pineapple glazed Cornish game hen with pine nut wild rice stuffing and crispy Pinot Grigio.

StarChefs: Mario Batali, Todd English, Michael Symon, Rachel Ray, Padma Lakshmi, Donatella Arpaia

Virgo StarGlimpse

Out To Eat…
Choose a clean and efficient vegetarian cafe. A like-minded place where their pickiness won’t draw attention… a safe bet and comfort zone for them to open up.
At Home…
Don’t expect frilly gourmet cooking… they will serve simple dishes with whole grains and vegetables.  Enjoy their enthusiasm to share.
How to Impress…
Understand them, hug them, and give them simple, meaningful gifts.
Gift Foods…
A lovely woven burlap reusable grocery bag filled with potting herb seeds, an organic chili mix, and the latest trend in tabouli!

Leo / Virgo magazine horoscopes!

Here are the the Leo and Virgo birthday horoscopes... (usually) published in Napa Valley Life. This one missed the final Aug/Sep issue, but we still have it here for your reading pleasure!

There were lots of great StarChefs born under these two creative signs!

Download/View PDF

LEO
Summer sets the perfect stage for our shimmering Leo all-stars. Be sure to pace yourself at the BBQ parties, both your own and others, and give yourself plenty of quiet time to reconnect with your intuition. But, of course, bring on the cake and ice cream sundae bar for your big day… just reign in the temptation to celebrate all month! As Venus advances through Leo up to the 20th, your popularity soars and the law of attraction is abundant. The full moon on the 13th stimulates romance sizzle… now is the time to plan that weekend getaway.

Your pairing: Grilled filet mignon au poivre with fresh asparagus pasta salad and a spicy Zinfandel.
StarChefs: Julia Child, Alton Brown, Tom Colicchio, Giada DeLaurentiis, David Rocco, Martha Stewart

VIRGO
It’s time to believe what others have known for a long time… you are a star and can manifest your daydreams with little effort bringing you the recognition you truly want. Embrace this side of yourself and practice creativity. The kitchen is a good place to start breaking out. The full moon on the 12th will support these efforts by sharpening your skills of persuasion and keeping you in tune with partners of all types. Plan a special party for your birthday and show them your flair. Remember… life encompasses work AND play!

Your pairing: Summer pineapple glazed Cornish game hen with pine nut wild rice stuffing and crispy Pinot Grigio.
StarChefs: Mario Batali, Todd English, Michael Symon, Rachel Ray, Padma Lakshmi, Donatella Arpaia

happy birthday VIRGO all-stars!

virgo - august 23 - september 22
ruled by: mercury
status: I analyze
quick fire: Recipe dissection is a favorite pastime for our analytical Virgoans. You are likely to be a vegetarian or have acute tendencies toward certain food philosophies. Your foodie birthright is a nourishing diet of nuts, grains, beans, seeds and plain yogurt... boring! It's okay, someone has to keep us healthy! Avoid noisy crowds, they cause stress and disturb your perfectionist eating rituals. You are benevolent to a fault... tweeting your generous spirit helps our world evolve.

MANGIA!

Try to stay awake and bear with us… remember it’s not boring to the Virgo and the rest of us could learn something from their healthy ways!

Virgo is likely to be a vegetarian or have acute tendencies toward certain food philosophies.  They enjoy a nourishing diet of nuts, grains, beans, seeds and plain yogurt.  If they eat meat, it will be prime, free-range… and as fresh and previously well cared for as possible.  The presentation is never as important as the ingredients.  There doesn’t need to be any fanfare or drama; Virgo will be happy if the food is just plain good… as in literally simple and not spoiled.

This may all sound rather tedious, but we guarantee if you hang out with a Virgo long enough, you will be pleasantly surprised at the imagination of their food choices.  They are not bound by the traditional “four food group” rules present at most meals.  The color and intense flavor of freshness is addictive once you get passed the rawness and strange combinations. They can sit down and pick at whatever sounds good in the moment… it may be three different vegetables or potatoes and pasta at the same time.  This can be very freeing to the rest of us who still think inaccurately about what a “balanced” meal should consist of.  Let’s all sing together… “Finicky yet free!… kum ba yah!  Finicky yet free!… kum ba yah…”

Their eating environment must be clean, simple, and free from noisy crowds of people.  Noise and crowds add to their stress by distracting them with irrelevant details and unnecessary interruptions.  This problem disturbs their perfectionist eating rituals and digestive harmony… and dilutes their control.  We all know how long it takes for Virgo to get from point A to B and eating is no exception. Lacking the peripheral vision to see the big picture, distractions will consume their focus and keep you waiting (but, don’t we all wish we could give our attention so closely sometimes?)

The servers must have patience and accommodate them without judgment… no heavy sighs or rolling eyes.  If you can’t take them to a quiet restaurant, then find the quietest corner wherever you end up.  Keep in mind that planning ahead, meticulously, will be much appreciated by your Virgo… they would do the same for you.

Favorite Foods:  Health food. This is not exactly glamorous, but it is what it is. Yes to organic, fresh, raw, free-range, plain, and unadulterated, anything with the words natural or harvest in their name!   No to preservatives, dyes, synthetics, weird by-products, sugars, processing, canning, or anything you can’t pronounce.  Modest spices, but only if they have an interesting or herbal history…. well, maybe, not at all.

Virgo StarGlimpse

Out To Eat…
Choose a clean and efficient vegetarian cafe. A like-minded place where their pickiness won’t draw attention… a safe bet and comfort zone for them to open up.
At Home…
Don’t expect frilly gourmet cooking… they will serve simple dishes with whole grains and vegetables.  Enjoy their enthusiasm to share.
How to Impress…
Understand them, hug them, and give them simple, meaningful gifts.
Gift Foods…
A lovely woven burlap reusable grocery bag filled with potting herb seeds, an organic chili mix, and the latest trend in tabouli!

Must have diner food!

This weekend we ventured out early for an appointment that turned out not to be an appointment because the place had closed on Saturdays for economic cutbacks and oops, we didn't know! So, early and hungry and Saturday = diner breakfast! There's a new place in town that has gotten mixed reviews so we decided to get a first-fork look, smell, and taste.

Our waitlist entertainment was an adorable 16-month old girl who was petite, shy and cautious, wobbling around with wonder in her big blue eyes... always close to her mother's knee. Her Mom told us she was a twin when we remarked at how sweet and little she was... and said her sister was "huge!". Genetics is an interesting thing, especially when coupled with astrology... a few minutes can greatly contribute to our already predisposed uniqueness.

We're seated at our favorite people watching position... how did our waitress know! Corner booth with the whole room in view. Our neighbors at the first open 4-top to the left were two girlfriends obviously enjoying some comfort (hangover) food after a Friday-night-out adventure. One was organizing the real estate of her plate... nut & grain pancakes to the right, butter off the plate waiting for its verdict, eggs scrambled with fresh veggies. Her dimple-smiling friend had an array of small plates fanned out in front of her. Bacon, toast, hashbrowns side by side with roasted reds for comparison, and a center plate of chorizo and egg scramble. I'd never seen breakfast appetizers before! But, then Eva pointed out that nut & grain was a Virgo and breakfast apps was a Libra! Ohhhhh, of course!

With a loud "look out!" our attention was turned to a 50-something inventor cleaning up after his creative iteration of the classic science class volcano project with his huge biscuit and country gravy. Hahahaha, that was hilarious and all of his friends thought so too... Aquarius.

Oh, and back to the twins... the sister boldly walked up to our table with a ceremoniously presented gift of wadded napkin and a flirty glint in her eye. She looked like she was 3, not 16-months and was night and day to her twin that we had met earlier... they will make great partners in life!

Breakfast is the first meal of the day. The word is a portmanteau of "break" and "fast," referring to the conclusion of fasting since the previous day's last meal. It is widely referred to as the most important meal of the day. Breakfast usually consists of foods that are high in energy content. Typical breakfasts by world region...

New word for the day... portmanteau!