All I have to do is to hear the pop of a Champagne cork (which I’m about to!) and so many memories come rushing back….Of good work, deep play and the way I plan to “refresh my memory” today and every day.
For now, this Friends of Wine cover — taken 25 years ago and recently reshot with the doll from France that inspired it — makes me laugh, and reminds me that of all the senses, sense of humor is often the most important.
I was so lucky to be able to give a talk to The Color Association of the United States this week on the importance of Eating in Color.
It is not only possible to eat with the eyes: Sensorially and nutritionally speaking, it’s brilliant…especially at this time of year!
Seek out all things green, yellow, orange, red and purple for a diet rich in phytochemicals, vitamins, and other nutrients.
Listen to what pleases the eye in buying, preparing, eating and sharing apples, arugula, avocadoes, beans, berries, cabbages, carrots, citrus, grapes, greens, lettuce, melons, parsley, peas, peppers, peaches, plums, pumpkin, sprouts, squash, sweet potatoes, salmon, tomatoes, zucchini, zests (of lemon, lime, orange, etc.) and more.
Within each of these, there is an enticing array of varieties and tastes.
Make your own A – Z list and savor what happens with your senses.
ENJOY visits to gardens, farms, markets…and even your own fridge. Frequent the restaurants that serve best of local.
For guides other than your appetite and eyes, we also highly recommend Power Foods by Stephanie Belling, M.D.
And let’s not forget drinking in color! We followed it up with a wonderful red, white and sparking Wine Workout that had us tasting in with every sense….
To your happiness and health!
Warmly,
Next time, don’t just SMELL the flowers.
Touch them with your lips and fingertips, and provide a fragrant and multi-faceted feast for SKIN…our largest sensory organ.
ENJOY!!!
Friends,
I met Russell Brumfield at Martin Lindstrom’s BrandSense Symposium a few Springs back.
We guessed in tandem as to what made the box of Crayola’s in question so clearly counterfeit: Smell! The knock-off artists had failed to capture the crayon aromas that so many of us know and love.
We went on to share many conversations on the importance of smell to all aspects of health, happiness, learning and success…including in-depth discussions of what it might mean — marketingwise and otherwise — to couple the primal powers of smell with the holy grails of customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Now, Russell has a compelling new book and an upcoming conference on these subjects:
Whiff: The Revolution of Scent Communication in the Information Age, written with James Goldney and Stephanie Gunning, was just released this week.
And SCENTworld Expo, which will take place at NYC’s Marriott Marquis June 29 – July 1 features Russell Brumfield, James Goldney and many other leaders from sensory marketing realms, among them NY Times fragrance critic Chandler Burr and Dr. Alan Hirsch of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation.
From noon – 1:15 on June 30, I’ll be moderating a panel on Creating Multi-Sensory Environments that will feature experts Kate Smith, Jeff Mariola, Wilbert Hirsch and John van Roemburg.
For me, this is a culmination of so much that I’ve implicitly known from my earliest years (creating gently changing scapes of smells, sights, sounds and sensations so as to enhance learning, recall and the enjoyment of it all) as it applies to the art and science of building multi-sensory experiences, environments and brands.
As always, I look forward to sharing what I know and learning more.
And for every good reason, I hope you’ll join us.
Registration is still open for SCENTworld Expo and there will be many opportunities for us to raise a good glass at it.
Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau
Friends,
I could not be more excited about what’s in the works!
As a first call-to-action from The Renewables: Thinkable is Doable!, we are busy building out A Call to Open Farms.
A Call to Open Farms couples the tactility of my first non-profit — FarmHands-CityHands, formed 22 years ago to link farm and city for the social, cultural, economic and environmental enrichment of both — with the immediacy and reach of today’s technology.
This growing season, A Call to Open Farms will encourage and enable folks from all walks of life to visit as many area farms, farmers’ markets, country and county fairs, stores and restaurants that support local agriculture as possible.
It will:
* Educate people about the importance of local food and farming, and about the opportunities for farm-city links.
* Guide participants to area markets, farms, wineries, breweries, distilleries, fairs, festivals, stores and restaurants that support local agriculture, including ways and means of getting there.
* Give them the tools to provide creative and profuse Proof of Presence (PoP) — allowing them to post a vibrant array of videos, photos, stories, songs, performances, poems, recipes and more at www.therenewables.net and www.farmhands.org.
* Reward them for their involvement — from the intrinsic pleasures of digging in, helping out, making friends and being the farm-city link to prizes like FarmStay getaways, flower bouquets, private wine tastings, meet-the-chef meals, and more….
* Celebrate the results with exciting events like Eaters’ Appreciation Day, Giving of Thanks Soiree, and more.
We’re now finalizing plans for in-city FarmFests, biodiesel bus tours, up-country FarmDays, and for a program that we think will herald a delicious and propitious bonding of people, call to nature and use of technology.
We’ll of course keep you posted!
A Call to Open Farms will be a wonderful ride. And we want you with us on it from the first!
Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit, aka Biodiesel Babe
“Those who prey together stay together!”
So claims Green Chimneys, one of my favorite organizations.
And they should know! For 60 years, Green Chimneys (GC) has been a leader in animal-assisted therapy.
As part of their residential flourishment program, youth sent to Green Chimneys by New York City and State enjoy a hands-on brand of education where, among other things, they grow and sell organic produce, have a robust culinary arts program, tend rare breeds of barnyard animals and rehabilitate injured wildlife.
On Sunday, June 1, Green Chimneys students will help host a full day’s Birds of Prey festivities that will culminate with the freeing of a rehabilitated red-tailed hawk back to the wild.
If you can, please get yourself up Brewster way for Birds of Prey Day. And please join me in supporting GC at their 60th Anniversary Celebration on June 5 in NYC.
Meantime, a shout out to the magical Josephine Monter, whose eagle eyes are pictured above. She will be hosting mask-making workshops at Omega on July 13 – 18 and August 10 – 15.
THANKS to Green Chimneys, Josephine…and to all of you…for working wonders and for playing with us when you can.
Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit, aka Biodiesel Babe
Friends,
I am fresh back from the SXSW music fest in Austin, Texas. And I am rejuvenated, inspired, impressed!
I was there thanks to the exquisite Heidi Richman, Program Director of Wente’s Discover the Wine, Discover the Music campaign.
Founded in 1883 by C. H. Wente, Wente Vineyards is California’s oldest family owned and continuously operated winery.
For more than twenty years, the Wente Family Concert Series has hosted headliner artists ranging from Ray Charles to Buena Vista Social Club at their stunning Livermore Valley ranch.
Discover the Wine, Discover the Music puts a new spin on the Wente Family’s passion:
Spearheaded by Karl Wente — fifth generation winemaker, fine musician and exceptionally evolved human — the program pairs Wente’s 100% estate-grown wines with breaking new artists in innovative ways. For example, neck tags on participating Wente wines include codes for free music downloads and info on how songs like Under the Influence of Giant’s joyous “In the Clouds” pair with the crisp and honeysuckled notes of Wente’s Riverbank Riesling; how Jesse Dayton & Brennen Leigh’s
“We Hung the Moon” mesh with Wente’s appley, oaky Morning Fog Chardonnay.
It’s a program that sings to me in every sense. And I wanted to be part of Heidi’s high-profile promoting of it, built on her years of experience and success, at SXSW.
After all, I impressed upon her, I can pop, open, pour, have been talking and writing about wine since long before it was legal for me to drink, and have not ceased from exploration. And somewhere in the midst of it all, I entered the music industry….
And so, happily, I was invited along for what has proved one of the most pleasurable rides of my life.
While I savored Wente’s ripe, luscious Riva Ranch Chardonnay and their long, smooth Southern Hills Cabernet on the front porch of a gracious Garden Street home, Karl and fellow Front Porch singer/songwriter Megan Bradford played covers of my favorite songs (John Prine, Bob Dylan, Counting Crows, Tom Petty), introduced me to new ones (Brothers Lekas, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tally Hall) and knocked my socks off with their own work.
On March 13, at The Moonshine Veranda, Wente treated musicians, industry execs, lifestyle and entertainment press to one of the most intoxicating blends of standout wines, spicy food and mellow tunes that it has ever been my privilege to experience.
And then, it was time to get on the bus!
The Wine Bus, that is — festooned with Karl’s image and his “Discover the Wine, Discover the Music” tag outside, and offering up a cool, acoustically correct, wine-laden lair within.
Karl, Megan, Simi Sernaker of Suffrajett and Jason Russo of Hopewell played music while we made our way to the hottest (and I’m talking 95 degrees that day) venues. At stops that ranged from the swank Whole Foods Lamar St. parking lot to the controlled chaos of Maria’s Taco Xpress, festival goers, fellow musicians and VIP press would get on board to play music, drink wine, conduct interviews and such. I popped, poured, talked about the wines that I had come to know and love, and held my own (that particular time).
Then my official “tour of duty” was over!
I was free to soak up all the strangeness and beauty that is SXSW (1500 bands, 400 films and an embarrassment of parties) in Austin, Texas (a town I love so much I could live there) in Spring (redbud, wisteria, birdsong, splendiferous beyond words).
Mostly, I hung out on the Garden Street front porch and imbibed all the Simi, Karl and Megan music I could.
I bought running shoes and cowboy boots, but spent my time barefoot.
It felt SO GOOD!
Flying home, I read an endnote that Kevin Smokler had written for Austin Chronicle:
“How Your South-By High Can Last Through the Rest of the Year:
Was it a dream? Where do I go from here? What’s this business card stuck to my toothbrush?
Where, in little changes or giant swings, can you draw on SXSW as the start of something new instead of just letting what happens in Austin stay in Austin?”
I think I know….
In significant (and not unSchrodingerlike) ways, I’m still on the bus, inside the music, drinking enough Wente for all of us.
And if they’ll have me, I hope my Livermore friends will keep their corkscrews handy:
When next I can, I’ll wend my way West for more of their wine, music, kind.
Meantime, from my perch to their porch, I send admiration, appreciation, LOVE.
For me, this party is so not over! In fact, it’s just begun….
Welcome to Spring, which officially began this morning.
And here’s inviting us to do wonderful, meaningful things, this season…and always!
Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit aka Biodiesel Babe.
Friends,
I encourage you to join our group of practitioners, parents and advocates for Schools, Food and Community — an inspiration and action-packed day and a half of panels, workshops, resources, entertainment and networking.
The program – produced by Baum Forum and the Nutrition Program of Teachers College — takes place on April ll and 12th at Teachers College of Columbia University, Broadway between 120 and 121st St.
It will focus on strengthening the resolve and ability of children to eat nutritious, fresh foods by:
* Connecting holistic food and nutrition messaging in our classrooms, cafeterias, after-school programs, homes, and neighborhoods
* Fostering relationships among children and their communities that focus on food, cooking, and gardening
* Exploring the nuts and bolts of cross-sector (i.e. health, education, food service, and agriculture) public and private collaborations
* Committing to actions we can take.
Last year’s program sold out. So here’s hoping you will register soon and looking forward to seeing you there!
Warmly,
Wendy
Whatever you do with this year’s LEAP DAY, may it hold leaps of faith, love, learning and life for you. And maybe a little wine, too?!
