Author Archives: HomeandTable

My Personal Decompression Oasis

THE LIFE STYLIST
We’ve removed all lulls from our lives. From the moment we wake until well into the hours we should be sleeping, we’re plugged in and preoccupied. What follows is a simple solution for beginning to turn that tide and the profound justification for it.

 

By David J. Witchell

We’re almost always conscious of that line, conscious of the implications of crossing over it, and, yet, we do, over and over again, as if compelled by an urge that, at best, can only be ignored for a day or two at a time.

Buy it. Save it. And even when there’s no logical reason why we should, we do.

My days, in every aspect, are sensory-overload. It took me years to learn how to not just manage it but appreciate it, to be present at every turn and fully absorb the experience. The linchpin, I believe, is heeding that line. It represents more than the division of more and less. It’s also balance, or harmony.

For at least few minutes each day, but usually no more than that, I unplug and meditate. What that entails, exactly, is reading my daily word and reflecting on the blessings of the day. I focus on my intentions, center myself in the present and, simply enough, breathe.

The location matters less than the immediate space. I can do it wherever I am, but the room in which I do it needs to clear from distraction. I’ve come to describe it as my Personal Decompression Oasis, or PDO. This is how I go about establishing it.

First, I’ll eliminate all spoken words, which means the TV, if there is one, goes off. My phone and computer are left in another room. Occasionally, I’ll play some music, but it’s strictly instrumental. Then, I’ll light a candle, if it’s practical. If I’m relegated to a walk-in closet, it’s not. In lieu of the candle, I’ll find another focal point, like a tree or a flower on the other side of a window.

Next, I’ll get comfortable, but not too comfortable. If I lay down, sleep will follow. Relaxing as that may be, it defeats the point here. So I’ll sit with a relaxed posture and then take three deep breaths, inhaling through the mouth and exhaling through the nose. I’ll read my daily inspirational message aloud to myself, all the while continuing to breathe in a slowed and deliberate manner. Dividing my attention between the two, the idea is to lock out any thoughts, positive and negative, about the past and the future. This very moment, the message and my breath, is the whole of my world. It’s only then that the act will bear its rewards: comfort, wisdom, strength.

It’s hard to believe that such a relatively small investment can yield such a large return. It took me a while to buy in. But once I gradually started to realize that I was feeling more satisfied with what I had and less burdened by it, I began to respect the process more. The PDO is designed to be a simple construct so that it’s sustainable, but it’s also meant to illustrate how little we actually need to get by. Nothing I’ve ever owned has touched what I’ve felt during meditation. And when you move through life feeling like you’re already equipped with everything you need, you become immune to all those threats to your things, which, you’ll discover, are the source of so much stress.

David J. Witchell is the co-owner of David J. Witchell Salon & Spa, in Newtown and Lahaska, and The Boutiques at 25 South, in Newtown.

 

Drinking Your Way Through Philly Wine Week

NAVIGATOR
If you have in mind a bunch of snobbish dinners, you’re in for an abrupt, and probably life-altering, awakening.

By Scott Edwards

 

When Philly Wine Week debuted back in 2014, the goal was elemental: to throw some attention on the city’s budding, but small, wine community—the shops, the bars, the makers. But as the industry itself has evolved over the last three years—winemakers growing younger, their products more unconventional—we, the audience, have become the target. Trend-happy as we are, a lot of us are still harboring a grudge against wine for being too uptight. We’ll drink it at dinner with the in-laws, but it’s rare that we’ll tote a Spanish sparkler to the beach, or even into the backyard. If we even know what a Spanish sparkler is.

Philly Wine Week

Much like your OS, wine has become much more user-friendly in recent years. This is the opportunity to fast-track your re-education. Pictured, from above: PWW hosts Panorama and The Good King Tavern’s Chloe Grigri.

“All of us at Philly Wine Week (PWW) are looking to change the perception of wine as something complicated, stuffy and only to be enjoyed on special occasions. And what better place to show how unfussy something is than our very own city, where keeping things casual and unpretentious is the way of life,” says Kate Moroney Miller, a PWW co-founder.

How that’ll be accomplished is through a wide range of tastings—more than 70 participants, the largest pool yet, are collaborating on over 100 events—that’ll be offering something, in most cases, a few degrees from what you’re familiar with. The hope is that you’ll get drunk along the way (unofficially) and discover a few new go-tos that go down easy with every occasion, including the complete lack thereof.

This year’s installment opens next Sunday, March 19, with the signature kickoff party, Opening Corks, at the Academy of Natural Sciences. (General admission tickets are $65.) In keeping with the aforementioned intent, the party’s designed to conjure a rather abrupt awakening by way of a sensory overload—a hundred-plus varieties flowing through halls populated by a T-rex and butterflies.

If you haven’t broken through your two-glasses-of-Malbec-then-off-to-bed regimen by the end of the night, there will be plenty of other opportunities to wear down your resolve over the coming days. (Still, ease up a bit on the reins.)

The next night, head over to Kensington Quarters for the pay-as-you-go Lambrusco Festival, at which bartenders will be pouring various kinds of the Italian sparkler and an impressive roster of guest chefs—Jesse Ito (Royal Sushi and Izakaya), Sam Jacobson (Stargazy), Steve Forte (Town Hall Provisions), among a slew of others—will be pairing dishes with them all night long.

Tuesday night brings perspective. Vintage will be hosting Think Inside the Box, a blind tasting to test your ability to decipher boxed and bottled wines. Think all boxed wines taste the same (cheap)? You’re a varietal-ist. And you clearly haven’t drunk from one since your sorority mixer. It’s time to cast your ignorance aside and have your mind blown. (After this, it’s on to cans. Yes, cans.)

Come Thursday, you may be confused, but it’s only the fast-track to awareness. Time to step in for an at-bat in the big leagues. Osteria is offering the chance to experience one of the great perks in a day in the life of a sommelier: the trade testing. You’ll be sampling wines from Italy, schmoozed by distributors and brand ambassadors as you go. Your goal for the night: Figure out how to decipher Prosecco from Lambrusco. (More on that in a moment.)

To ensure the last of your preconceptions are kicked to the curb, hit Afternoon Delights, a pastry-and-wine pairing at Jet Wine Bar Saturday afternoon. The wines have been selected because they’re especially conducive to day-drinking. That’s right; you can drink the stuff in broad daylight too. And not out of a paper bag. Then, Sunday, Barbuzzo’s hosting a brunch, its first, featuring wine-based cocktails, Calabrian and Sicilian wines and Italian sparkling wines (which you should be on intimate terms with by now) paired with Italian-inspired dishes.

Two serious bouts of day-drinking seem a fitting way to close out the week.

(*For a complete list of the tens and tens of events not mentioned here, including access to tickets, go here.)

Photos courtesy (from the top) Philly Wine Week, Panorama, The Good King Tavern

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Sheltered from the Storm

FASHION

This coveted residency is why a Philly designer may be mainstream fashion’s next household name.
By Jenna Knouse

 

Incubator. Say it five times fast. Want a challenge? Define it. Just kidding. Don’t. That’s why Google exists. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I picture words. Tractor? A John Deere. Neighbor? The old man with the fuzzy cow. Incubator? A chick hatchery. Pardon, my country roots are showing.

The new class, from left: Janell Wysock, Christie Sommers, Jessica Joy London, Latasha Hall, Amy Voloshin and Sara Keel.

But, that’s just my mental image. Incubators don’t have to be peep hatcheries. The Philadelphia Fashion Incubator reboots this month, and it’s hatching a different type of chick. This year’s class, its sixth, is comprised entirely of women.

Pause. Rewind. What’s the Philadelphia Fashion Incubator, again? It’s an annual 12-month residency for six designers committed to growing their labels in the Philadelphia area. The program nurtures business awareness through networking, seminars and access to resources.

Fast-forward. Resume. The incoming class features Latasha Hall (Lillie Designs by Latasha), Sara Keel (Penrose Design Studio), Jessica Joy London (Eluthera), Christie Sommers (West Oak Design), Amy Voloshin (A. Voloshin) and Janell Wysock (Janell Wysock Textiles). For all their optimism and ambition, they’ll be promptly pushed out of the nest with a weeklong boot camp.

“I hear them talking about their brands and think, I remember saying the same stuff, saying I’m going to do this and that,” laughs Conrad Booker (conradbooker), a graduate of the incubator’s last session. “These industry professionals come in, and they kick you in the face.” Figuratively, of course. And it’s all for the greater good.

“Being at the incubator, I changed in ways I wouldn’t have without the program,” says Nigel Richards (611 Lifestyle), another grad from the last session. “Whether I would have quit or gone a different direction, I don’t know. But, I’m grateful for the path the program’s put me on.”

The incubator’s designers-in-residence benefit from exclusive access to resources and decision-makers that can mean all the difference in making it and not.

An opportunity to change direction, that’s what the Philadelphia Fashion Incubator provides. It turns side jobs into careers, chicks into hens. How, exactly? Well, the curriculum is fluid, says executive director Elissa Bloom. It’s tailored to cater to the strengths and weaknesses of the current class. The designers themselves decide on their goals, and the incubator catalyzes the process to achieving them.

Where keeping it local is a prerequisite for the designers-in-residence, it’s becoming a more devout interest with each new class. Early on, it was meant to seed an arid scene. But now it’s evolved to become part of a larger consciousness.

“It is exciting to see our designers’-in-residence commitment to manufacture in Philadelphia and keep it all local. From the production of their collections to using local photographers and printers for marketing, they are the future, and making an impact on revitalizing the region’s once-thriving fashion sector,” Bloom says. “It is inspiring to see many of them focused on sustainability and zero-waste design and how creating social impact companies are a core part of their business models and brand DNA.”

Eveningwear and wedding dress designer Latasha Hall’s roots go hand-in-hand with her ambition. “My aunt’s best friend taught me how to sew my first outfit in fourth grade,” she says. “Since then, I couldn’t stay away from the machine.”

Still, in this industry, passion, and talent, for that matter, will only carry you so far. To advance beyond that ceiling requires access to an inside track that eludes even the most promising designers. The incubator won’t place you there, but it’ll load up your arsenal so that you stand a better chance of discovering it—or it discovering you—on your own.

Which is why the incubator has come to represent a sort of safe haven for its designers, who have already sacrificed much in pursuit of innovation. Sara Keel left her 11-year gig in corporate fashion to turn her hobby into something real. And Amy Voloshin started using her formidable print company as a springboard to craft her own designs.

Christie Sommers believes in zero-waste. She uses straight-stitch sewing, a Japanese technique, to minimize it. While knitwear designer Janell Wysock employs yarn bits in her up-cycled pieces. Jessica Joy London isn’t far removed from their spirit. She paints silks with organic patterns to encourage connection with nature.

Together, they make for a vivid vision of the future that, at this rate, appears likely to include a local designer among the household labels.

Photography by Matthew J. Rhein

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A Chef’s Life Comes Into Focus

BOOKS

Melissa Wieczorek didn’t study at a prestigious culinary institute, didn’t apprentice under a stern chef and she didn’t pay her dues as a line cook. What she did was approach the kitchen as an entrepreneur who loves to cook. And it’s paying big dividends, professionally and personally.

 

The chef’s coat may not have been Wieczorek’s first choice, but it fits her just fine.

Too many among us have been there, are mired there now: Hemmed-in-verging-on-suffocated-by an unrelenting work schedule that left little room for anything else. The only rays of hope, the increasingly frequent daydreams about living an entirely different life.

Melissa Wieczorek was there 15 years ago, advancing within the administration of Temple University’s Fox School of Business, but, in the back of her mind, thinking about cooking.

“I knew I wanted to do something in food,” she recalls, “but it had to be conducive to having a family. So a restaurant was out.”

Ironically, while Wieczorek was studying for her own MBA at Fox, an independent study led her to the personal chef industry. She created a business plan as part of her coursework and presented it to venture capitalists. Later, in 2005, she’d put it to use, founding the Newtown-based A la Maison Personal Chef Service, now Zest Culinary Services, which she owns with her partner, Theo Petron, another corporate dropout.

Initially, Wieczorek operated primarily as an in-home personal chef, but she’s since pivoted to prepared-meal delivery, a $1.5 billion market that’s expected to at least double over the next few years. Wieczorek may be at peace with herself in the kitchen, but she’s clearly thinking beyond it. It’s that savvy that landed her in the book, Behind Their Brand, Chefs Edition, Vol. 1, published last September, which offers narratives by Wieczorek and several other chefs who followed non-conventional paths.

We caught up with her—after her trip to Cuba—to find out what’s trending in her kitchen now.
—Mike Madaio

 

 

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Wieczorek in the kitchen in Cuba and strolling the streets of Havana with Petron.

 

How is a personal chef different from the chefs we read about and see on TV?
MW: Great question. That’s part of why I participated in this book, because so many people think the industry offers a single career track, working the line in a restaurant and eventually becoming executive chef. But there are so many different culinary careers. For me, cooking is only one part of the skillset. It’s an entrepreneurial venture, so I’m everything from bottle washer to business strategist to salesperson.

Meal-delivery subscriptions are blowing up. How are you

distinguishing yourself?
We offer a more complete experience. First, it’s like having a personal trainer. This is a one-on-one program, customized not only to your likes and dislikes, but also to your lifestyle. Second, our clients are not cooking at all. They’re taking something out of the fridge and heating it up within a few minutes, which is life-changing for busy people.

What advice would you give someone who’s looking to be more efficient in the kitchen?
Cook once. Eat twice. It’s something often overlooked because people don’t want to eat leftovers. But if you reinvent it into something else that doesn’t look like Monday’s dinner, it’s more exciting.

What kind of food are you passionate about?
I rarely meet a food I don’t like! But, right now, ethnic cuisine is something that consistently excites me. I’m always on the lookout for lesser-known ingredients, that next new thing to try.

What’s your ingredient-of-the-moment, then?
Well, we’ve been working a lot with quinoa—

—Come on! That’s so last year.
[Laughs.] True. We actually just got back from Cuba, where we learned to make a stew that was traditionally made with whatever protein they could find, monkeys, rats, snakes, you name it. But I’m not going to say rats. My big takeaway, seriously, was plantains. They’re versatile and delicious and readily available here. Though, unless you are from a Latin culture, you probably don’t know what to do with them.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
I love making a peanut butter-and-jelly with potato chips on the sandwich. I know, this does not exactly fit with our vision of “eat well, live fit, have fun,” but I’m a big fan of everything in moderation. Though, sometimes I do OD on chocolate.

Photos courtesy Melissa Wieczorek

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Buying Wine in a Brave New World

NAVIGATOR

Just because we Pennsylvanians can buy wine pretty much anywhere we want now—or, at least, at the supermarket—doesn’t mean that we should.

By Mike Madaio

The only thing keeping that corner of the grocery store that seemed to spring up overnight from looking totally alien is that it’s a totally common sight almost anywhere else we’ve been beyond our own borders. Yeah, we Pennsylvanians are now free to buy our wine at the grocery store like the rest of civilization. But just because we can, doesn’t mean we should. There are a few wrinkles that, for some, may outweigh the convenience.

Prepare to be hassled
Your supermarket, you may have noticed, is handling its wine (and beer) sales more like a store within the store rather than just another section. There’s a specially designated register, a separate set of hours and, in many cases, a separate entrance. There’s also this inconvenient rule: You’re restricted to buying three liters at a time. Of course, there’s nothing really barring you from depositing your purchase in your car and returning for more. And why wouldn’t you? Little about the experience is seamless anyway.

But not pay much more
The industry standard is a 30 percent wholesale discount. But Pennsylvania licensees are relegated to 10, which should translate to significantly higher pricing. Yet it hasn’t.

“It wouldn’t be convenient if our cost was higher,” says Mike Kier, who oversaw the incorporation of Wegmans’ wine and beer inventories, which match state-store pricing. “Our customers shouldn’t have to shop around for price.”

That isn’t to say, though, that prices, by and large, compare favorably to those found in neighboring states. Only that they’re relatively consistent throughout this one.

Treasure-hunt elsewhere
Don’t expect to discover any obscure bottles at the grocery store. “Given the speed to market, retailers are operating from our standard catalog, the items we have in our warehouses,” says Elizabeth Brassell, the director of communications for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. “Yet, many have expressed interest in developing customized portfolios.”

In other words, it’s a vanilla, but fluid, selection.

Still, it’s progress
It’s easy to complain because it feels like a fairly straightforward process is being overcomplicated. But, to the bureaucrats’ credit, they appear to be listening. We were frustrated by the dictatorship-like rule over our drinking supply. It finally loosened, and there’s a little more give all the time.

“This is an industry in its infancy,” Brassell says. “It’s too early to predict where it’ll go. But this is an exciting time and we’re embracing these challenges as opportunities.”

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The New Rules of Cooking with Wine

DIY

They’re really more of an update than a total departure, but they’re still going to turn up the flavor on your favorite dishes.

By Kendra Lee Thatcher

Rules provide us with fundamental foundations. But that doesn’t mean they’re untouchable. Everything’s worth a second look. It’s part of evolution. I especially love heading into my kitchen and challenging the establishment. It’s less about how I can do it better and more about how I can do it differently, because cooking is a study in nuance. The same recipe altered by a degree or two will yield completely different flavors.

Here in the heart of braising and stew season, I got to thinking about cooking with wine. Winemaking is progressing by great leaps and bounds. Yet, we’re still cooking with wine in a lot of the same ways that Julia Child taught us (use the cheap stuff, apply liberally). I decided to experiment with coq au vin, and what I found is that some small changes yield big flavor.

What follows are a couple of the more critical lessons I learned that afternoon. I’ve since applied them to scampi, risotto, even baking, all with crowd-pleasing results.

Cook like you drink
We’re finally catching up to the fact that freshness matters. Veggies from the farmers market taste better than veggies plucked from the produce aisle. So why, then, would you dump a $7-bottle of Yellow Tail into the pot? The point of the wine is to coax even more complexity from those delicate flavors. But a cheap wine is only going to drown them.

A better-quality wine usually means less sugar and artificial tampering, which translates to more pronounced flavors and textures. And all of that will come through in the cooking. Basically, stop thinking in terms of wine that you drink and wine that you cook with. You’ve honed your standards with the former. It’s time now to do it with the latter.

And drink what you cook with
In that vein, serve the rest of that bottle with dinner. And have more of it waiting in the wings. The pairing will add a whole new dimension to the wine. Waves of cassis and tobacco were suddenly coming through the burgundy I used in the coq au vin. As prominent and pleasant as they were, they spilled down my throat unnoticed before.

Be bold, not reckless
Once you get a couple of successful meals beneath you, resist the urge to take bigger risks. The idea here is to update a few rules, not rewrite them entirely. Think changes by degrees, not by miles. I swapped the traditional Chianti in my grandmother’s Sunday gravy with Lambrusco. I made scallops and scampi with Prosecco. And I marinated pork in sake. Treat the wine as you would any other ingredient in the dish. Consider its flavor profile and the dish’s before cooking anything. If they seem like they’d marry well, go for it. If it requires too much blind faith, move on.

Respect the one hard and fast rule
Unless you’re making a crockpot meal where everything goes in together, take the time to layer your flavors. When you let the wine mingle with the other ingredients before you start introducing stocks and the like, you’re giving the alcohol a chance to cook off. And that’s a good thing because the wine’s flavor profile will then meld with the dish. Rush it, and no matter how good the wine, all you’re really going to get is the alcohol.

There’s nothing new here, but it’s worth mentioning because it’s a technique that too many of us gloss over. I wouldn’t want you to try this on your own, only to rush the wine and think that’s nothing’s changed.

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Mind the Gap

FASHION

Inclined as we are to fixate on spring, there are a few awkward weeks to get through first.

 

Transitions are awkward. Remember middle school? I looked like a poodle with an ‘80s blowout and ducked into bathrooms to avoid boyfriends. (Truthfully, my dating habits haven’t changed since.)

Skip to adulthood, and seasonal gaps—you know, the time between seasons when it looks like we dressed without contacts, mirrors and weather apps—are the new middle school. But, they don’t have to be.

Pre-fall and resort fashion exist to make seasonal gaps less gappy. They’re the bridge between and a sneak peak of the major seasons. (Cough. Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter. Cough, cough). My point? Your Turks and Caicos garb shouldn’t go bye-bye after you return to reality. Here’s how to combine resort with spring to smoothly transition from one season to the next. —Jenna Knouse

 

Photos courtesy Moda Operandi (trousers, sweater and mules) and Farfetch (Backpack, jacket and sunglasses)

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J Brand Classic Denim Jacket, Spring/Summer ‘17

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How To: Throw a Crockpot Party

ENTERTAINING

It’s the easiest dinner party you’ll ever host. And maybe the most productive. But there is some planning involved, mostly to ensure you don’t end up with 25 pounds of chili.

By Scott Edwards

It’s a joke that I wore out a couple winters back, but it’s no less true now: Every crock-pot dinner’s good for a few extra pounds. The aroma hooks me in the morning. My brain’s confused—Is that short ribs? We just ate breakfast—but my stomach’s always prone to persuasion, no matter the hour or the circumstances. By afternoon, there’s nowhere to hide. The scent’s everywhere. It’s on my clothes. And every whiff is a distraction, to which the reply is always, Sure, I could eat.

This time of year, we’re eating crock pot three, four times a week. Why not? It’s about as low maintenance as cooking gets. Plus, the recipes skew heavily toward stews, braises and soups, the kind of piping-hot, hearty dinners that blunt the end of another gray, numbing day.

Shortly after it was discovered that many of our friends were following the same routine, a flurry of link-sharing erupted, everyone eagerly offering up their tried-and-true recipes. From that, a proposition emerged: We should throw a crock pot party.

It’s as easy to pull off (and filling) as it sounds. And unlike the potluck, which always (always) ends up turning out like a buffet of nuked and cold afterthoughts, the crock pot party ensures a smorgasbord served at its height—as long as it’s done right.

Think counter space, not seating
Not to push this on anyone unwillingly, but the host should be the one with the largest kitchen. Ample counter space is critical. (Tables count too as long at they’re within reach of outlets.) Think how much your one crock pot eats up. Now multiple that by five or six.

In that vein, include as many friends as you want—there’s going to be more than enough to go around—but limit the crock pots. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. And don’t worry about seating or table settings. Lay out stacks of plates, bowls and napkins (disposable is perfectly acceptable), along with some flatware, and leave it at that.

Menu planning and parting gifts in one shot
Among the cooks for the night, coordinate recipes. This serves two purposes: Foremost, it removes the possibility of redundancy. Awesome as pumpkin-turkey chili may be, one crock pot of it is enough to cover seconds. If anyone’s left wanting more, they can make it themselves. Which leads us to the second point: This party’s doubling as a tasting, so make the recipes available to everyone. Save yourself the trouble of keeping track of who wants what and compile them in an email, either the recipes themselves or the links to them, and send it out to your guest list.

BYOT
There will be leftovers, rest assured. So encourage your guests to bring their own Tupperware. Just make sure they don’t start poaching their shares prematurely. Before everyone starts digging in, make an announcement along the lines of, “The leftovers are fair game when the kitchen’s closed, and only then.” That’ll free you up from the burden of policing the crock pots all night long.

BYOB, too
Everyone not charged with bringing a crock pot is responsible for supplying the booze. Don’t worry about coordinating who brings what. People tend to gift whatever they enjoy drinking. And, really, pretty much everything pairs well with crock-pot meals. They’re easy like that. Which is kinda the point here.

How Can I Improve My Athletic Performance

Achieve Your Fitness Goals with the Right Plan and the Wellness Support Your Body Needs

As we settle into a new year, many of us are turning our attention toward our own wellness goals. While resolutions can seem cliché, this time of year encourages us to reflect on the current state of our health and fitness. Many of us want to get in shape, improve cardiovascular health, or simply improve upon our current levels of athletic performance. If you have your sights set on making this year your healthiest yet, you can do it with the right help. Here are just a few ideas to help you get started:

  • In conjunction with your larger aims, be sure to set small, achievable goals for yourself. Seeing those little victories along the way will help fuel your motivation, and serve as benchmarks for your progress.
  • Create a plan that uses concrete training principles to improve athletic performance. If you are asking yourself, “How can I improve my athletic performance?” find a training plan that applies to your sport of choice and level of fitness. For example, if you want to up your running game, many free apps are available that address concepts of speed, distance, or all-terrain training. Research is your best ally when it comes to creating a successful training plan.
  • Make sure to get a check-up with your healthcare provider. You want to get a good idea of your current level of health so you can incorporate any pressing issues into your training plan, or make adjustments as needed. You want to ensure that you are not ignoring nutrition or safety recommendations that will help keep your body safe.
  • Keep track of your progress and be sure to take notes on your workouts and nutrition. For example, if you have a bad day, be sure to document where or when you were struggling in your workouts so that you can identify and overcome obstacles.

What If I Hit a Wall in My Training?

As you progress, you may face many obstacles like soreness, stiffness, injury, or simply the feeling that something just isn’t working correctly. Even with modifications and stretching, you still feel like your body is not living up to the potential you know is in there. If this happens, it may be time to look at an alternative cause: problems with your fascial system.

Your fascia, or connective tissue, runs throughout your body and helps your bones, muscles, and organs work together. Occasionally, parts of your fascia become tough or fibrous, thereby pulling your body out of alignment and hampering your performance.

The good news is that these issues can be corrected through a series of deep tissue bodywork called Rolfing®. This practice corrects these aberrations, and restores range of motion and springiness to your movements. In fact, Rolfing is considered to be one of the essential tips to improve athletic performance by professional athletes and dancers. They often turn to Rolfing for rapid recovery from sports injury, improved flexibility, or better form and posture.

About Author: In our area, Certified Advanced Rolfer® Bob Alonzi helps people of all fitness levels achieve their goals and improve personal wellness. As you begin your own journey toward your healthiest year, consider adding Rolfing to your self-care plan. To learn more, or to schedule a consultation, contact Bob Alonzi’s practice today at 310-451-3250!

9 Reasons to Start Drinking Local Wine

DRINK

Still caught between gifts for next week? Go with an all-local wine tasting. You’ll both be surprised by the breadth of it—you especially because you’ll know how cheaply it came.

By April Lisante

Maybe save the vineyard strolling for more hospitable conditions and head straight for the bar, where it’s warm and toasty, and getting more so with each pour.

If, like us, you’re not in the fortunate position of plotting an escape from this gloomy winter to Tuscany or Napa, there’s still a consolation prize to be had. Through the end of April, the nine-member Bucks County Wine Trail is offering a $20-pass that buys you a tasting at each vineyard. (Cough. Valentine’s Day. Cough.)

The vineyards, which cover about 30 miles, from Rose Bank in Newtown to Unami Ridge in Quakertown, are sampling reds and whites, along with several unexpected varieties, including Rieslings and fruit wines. All are family-owned and -operated, ranging in size from just a few acres to over 70, and some have been around for decades. (The wine trail itself has been a thing since 2004.)

“Our mission was to educate people about agro-tourism and winemaking,” says Theresa Katalinas, a spokesperson for the wine trail.

More specifically, it’s to introduce them to us, their neighbors. Joseph Maxian has been making Riesling since the eighties at Sand Castle Winery in bucolic Erwinna, but out-of-towners comprise the great majority of his visitors. Sand Castle’s out of the way, but Maxian’s hardly been operating on the down-low all this time. Large signs along River Road announce the approach of the winery’s entrance, which, aside from the Golden Pheasant Inn, is the only business around for miles. And he regularly submits his vintages to international competitions.

“We taste it against the best in Europe, and no one can say which is better,” Maxian says. “But we are more known in New York City than Bucks County, so it will be nice to see if the trail brings us more locals. This county is great for wine. I see it as an eye-opener.”

Normally, tastings would range from $5 to $20 per person, on average, at each winery. They entail about a half-dozen three-quarter ounce pours—which can add up fast, especially when you’re driving to your next round. So bring a DD (which could spoil the mood) or pace yourselves across a few weekends. This isn’t a competition. Though, we don’t want to make any presumptions about how your partner will want to reward you at the end of it.

Jerry Forest planted his first vines in 1966—and then waited. Which makes his Buckingham Valley Vineyards, now in its 50th year, the trail’s granddaddy. “I played guitars, I drank wine. I felt like I was going to make a living of one or the other,” Forest says, with a laugh.

Forest, like many of the other wine trail vintners, experienced years of trial before producing his first bottle. Today, Buckingham Valley’s most known for its sparkling wines, in part because they’re a rarity for the region.

“That’s why this trail is nice. We are all different,” Forest says. “We aren’t in competition with one each other. We complement one another.”

Photos courtesy the Bucks County Wine Trail

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