Here is the Napa Valley Life Magazine – Spring 2021 digital issue. You can flip through it online or download it by clicking the download icon in the top left corner. It includes my three features. Pickleball: Napa Valley’s Fastest Growing Sport, page 20 A Day at the Oxbow: Napa’s Culinary Marketplace – To Gather or To Go, […]
Author: Elizabeth
Elizabeth Smith is a former community college professor turned freelance journalist and writer. Her experience includes writing, higher education, wine club membership management, social media marketing, and travel management. Elizabeth holds a doctoral degree in community college education from George Mason University, master’s and bachelor’s degrees in French from the University of Tennessee – Knoxville and Western Carolina University, and Wine & Spirit Education Trust’s Level 3 Advanced wine certification. She is also a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier International Sacramento Chapter and the International Food, Wine, and Travel Writers Association.
Elizabeth is the freelance communications and social media specialist for Matt Parish Wines, Vinture LLC, and Scott Peterson Wines. She is also a contributing food, wine, and travel writer to the Napa Valley Register and Napa Valley Life Magazine and freelance project writer for Naked Wines USA. Elizabeth has written stories for American Winery Guide and Wine Industry Network (WIN) Advisor. In 2017, she won the Born Digital Wine Award for Best Tourism Content with a Focus on Wine for her story entitled “Lodi: Beyond the Zinfandel.”
Elizabeth’s passions include food, wine, travel, and fitness. She is always on the move to discover and share inspirational stories and places.
Pickleball: Napa Valley’s Fastest Growing Sport
Across many media outlets, pickleball has been dubbed “the fastest growing sport in America” because it is easy to learn, appropriate for all ages, a social activity, and fun. It has attracted celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres, Serena Williams, and George Clooney. Excerpt from my editorial for the April 2021 issue of Napa Valley Life Magazine. […]
The Fifth Anniversary of Napa’s Mercadito Food Truck
It is the fifth anniversary of Napa’s Mercadito Food Truck. Many of you know that I have written about Mercadito a few times and tried many of the meals. I am delighted to have a menu item named after me for the anniversary celebration. It is on today’s Thursday, April 8, 2021 menu and is […]
My Silver Lining of 2020
On this first anniversary of the day COVID-19 changed my life, I share my silver lining of 2020. Friday, March 13, 2020, I was furloughed, then permanently laid off a couple of months later from the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone due to the COVID-19 shutdown. I was the professional wine tutor for the Master’s […]
Naked Wines USA Women in Wine Project
I had the great honor of being asked to interview 12 women winemakers for Naked Wines USA‘s Women in Wine project for Women’s History Month 2021. I am delighted to share with you these role models in the wine industry.Alex FarberAnne DasheAna Diogo-DraperCamille BenitahFrançoise GazeauJacqueline BahueKaren BirminghamNova Cadamatre MWOndine ChattanPenelope Gadd-CosterSharon WeeksYian Lu
The Egg Lady of Hen Pen Farm
“Until the coronavirus disrupted life, most Napa County residents never knew of The Hen Pen Farms or Emma Rasmussen because she and the farm sold directly to bakeries, restaurants and other retailers. However, over the course of the past year, Rasmussen — ‘the Egg Lady’ — has become a household name.” *CLICK HERE TO READ*
La Vie en Rose: Madeleine’s Macarons: How a Valentine’s gift, fatherhood and a pandemic created a career for one Napa Valley family
A transplant to California in the early 1990s, Dennis McIninch, born in New Jersey and raised on Italian food, never anticipated that marriage, a daughter and a pandemic would set him on the path to perfecting a famous French sweet, macarons. “La Vie en Rose: Madeleine’s Macarons: How a Valentine’s gift, fatherhood and a pandemic […]
iPOKEshack brings a taste of Hawaii to Napa
Mazotti began his research for a to-go restaurant where he could offer underrepresented cuisine like poke, ramen and dim sum. His family pushed him to pursue this possibility. He said his children told him, “Dad, you make the best poke and soups. You need to do this,” and friends chimed in, “Napa needs a full […]
The many wines of Roussillon
I had a “Roussillon moment” that haunted me for more than six years. *CLICK HERE TO READ*
Five Food Stories
This is a first for me. Today five of my food stories were published on the same day in Napa Valley Life Magazine and the Napa Valley Register. I hope you enjoy reading them over the holidays. If you are in the Napa Valley, please consider ordering takeout or delivery from these restaurants during our […]
