Wine & Country Living

This afternoon, Wild Bill of Wild Bill's Organic Patit Street Garden, Dayton, and I had our seasonal over-the-fence-visit. Bill's in the planning stages of his 2011 organic summer garden. In a couple of months he'll plant various leafy greens, corn, potatoes, cucumbers, green beans, beets, carrots and culinary herbs.

I love having a big garden like Bill's in the neighborhood; it's an eco-friendly kind of thing. Even Bill and my bees, butterflies and dragonfly kanoodle over the fence.

In the summer, we share a family of Dayton bats that pay a visit to our yards each evening. The chubby fellows careen across my yard up into the pines for a rest, and then navigate their way home, dragging their leathery wings over Bill's corn silks. When I've commented on this annual occurrence, there's not one person who doesn't admire the beeping squirts, commenting on how much they love the rural nature of Touchet Valley.

Tonight Wine Guy showed up with a bottle of Glencorrie, Walla Walla Valley '07 Cabernet Sauvignon, a perfect pairing for the cozy cabin casserole I'd made for dinner.

First sip and I found this cab to be unique, riding high on a ribbon of herbal nuance, fluttering among a smattering of dark fruits and wild anise. But it's the long squiggle of dark chocolate finish that really got me going. Because this Walla Walla west-end winery has worked the herbal ribbon and long dark chocolate finish into this locally produced '07 Cabernet Sauvignon, the Glencorrie Winery earns 98 points from Wine and Country Living. Congratulations Glencorrie!

Until next week, "Eat Art, Drink Imagination!"

Sunny Italy Serves 4-6

2-tablespoons olive oil

1-tablespoon butter

1-yellow onion, chopped fine

1-pound clean ground beef

½-cup frozen corn

1-cup black olives

1-tablespoon each: basil, oregano, minced fresh garlic

1-teaspoon fennel seed

1-large can diced tomato and juices

3-cups grated cheddar cheese

2-cups cooked and cooled macaroni

Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot over medium heat, add olive oil, butter, meat, onion, corn, olives, garlic, herbs and fennels seed; brown meat and all ingredients, stirring well. Add tomatoes and their juices. Heat through. Remove pot from heat, add cooked macaroni and grated cheese, and pour all ingredients into a well-oiled casserole dish. Oil the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and lay oiled side down on casserole top; crimp edges.

Place casserole on sheet pan and slide into oven. Bake casserole for 40 minutes. Remove and serve with organic green salad, warm sourdough bread and butter.

Hear Judith Speak! @www.chefjudithhenderson.com