Here’s a scoop of a recipe; it’s a sneak peek from La Dolce Vita’s Spanish Cuisine selection. On Oct. 20 and 21, Lamar University invites Southeast Texans to La Dolce Vita, a weekend of fine wine and haute cuisine benefiting the Dishman Art Museum. In addition to a vintner dinner, cooking demonstrations and wine pairing, guests may bid on one-of-a-kind wine buckets, created specifically by Port Arthur artist Linnis Blanton at a silent auction. Tickets are $175 a person for the vintner dinner; $45 each for the cooking demonstration and the wine pairing; or $80 for both the cooking school and the wine pairing. For reservations, call 880-8959.

Grilled Serrano Ham and Manchego Cheese Crostini

4 servings

12 slices French bread, sliced on the diagonal into 1/2-inch thick slices

Olive oil

12 thinly sliced pieces serrano ham

12 thinly slices pieces Manchego cheese

Whole grain mustard

Preheat grill. Brush each slice of bread on side with olive oil and grill, oil-side down, until lightly golden brown. Turn over and divide cheese among bread slices. Top each slice of cheese with the slices of ham and grill until the cheese begins to melt. Serve with the mustard.





Sausage is ready when you are

I once knew of a guy who opened a can of chili, ate half, and put the rest in his desk drawer for the next day.

I thought of him when J Bar B mailed a batch of Texas Smokehouse Sausage. Even though I knew it was packaged so it didn’t need to be refrigerated, I still panicked when I opened it. It’s ruined, I thought, but of course, that was the idea. Thanks to USDA-approved technology, you can pack these juicy, smoky sausages into your backpack for camping, fishing, etc.

This would be a great trick in itself, but the key is, the Waelder-based company makes some tasty stuff. Rugged as they are, I sliced some hot and spicy stuff up to serve with wine and cheese and tasters were raving. You can check for it now through jbfoods.com or start looking in stores in 2007. Can’t wait.





Plan on dinner

Funny how family planners are geared to moms, who always have to be on top of football practice, poster board runs, after-school meetings and cook dinner to boot.

A long list of moms rave about a concise spiral at thefamilyplanner.com from G4 Publishing. The sturdy, clear cover protecting it from juice spills got my attention. Lines for “things to do” have a box to check them off; another section is headed “things to buy.” My attraction is the dinner slot for each day, which is the perfect place to plan ahead so all those bananas you got on special get used before they’ve turned to mush.





Southeast Texas Food Bank

The bank has released notice it expects to provide 171,943 meals to locals this Thanksgiving. To help, visit www.setxfoodbank.org.

Contact this reporter at ddoiron@panews.com.