We’re super-excited to have Meschelle on-board, so let’s dive right into this edition of “Queers!”

Topics for this show:

Interview with Out in the Vineyard about the upcoming Gay Wine Weekend in California’s Sonoma Valley June 15-17.

Congrats to Meschelle for recently graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in Scottsdale!  She tell us all about her culinary school experience.

Claudine talks up Baratin, a new restaurant that just opened in Scottsdale from the culinary minds at FnB.

Joe chats about summer’s favorite food to keep you cool: ice cream!  Where did ice cream come from?  He relates some fun facts about this sweet treat and previews his upcoming review of Sweet Republic Ice Cream in Scottsdale.

Wines featured on this episode:

La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay and Imagery Estate Winery Dragonleaf Sirah

As usual, we forgot to intro ourselves, but you’ll figure it out by the end of the show (or see our page info on QTalkAZ.com).

The wine featured on this episode is Four Bears USA Sean Minor 2010 Sauvignon Blanc from Sonoma County.  And it’s quite fruity and a perfect summer wine!  Thank you Nathan for supplying the vino!

Also speaking of summer, since we have seemed to skip spring once again, it’s time to talk citrus.  Joe explains where citrus came from, what you can really do with a lemon and what comes to our minds with we think of that yellow tangy fruit!

Claudine talks to us about the Fry Bread House, a hole-in-the-wall place that was nominated for a James Beard Award!  Quite a variety of, well, fry bread choices on the menu that should appeal to just about anyone–even our vegan guest Meschelle!

Nathan talks to us about his recent experience on the Big Gay Wine Train in Napa Valley and the upcoming Gay Wine Weekend in June.  For detailed info and a great interview with the event producers, check out this archived episode of Queers!

And to wrap it up, it’s Pride Season!  Phoenix Pride is this weekend and we hope to see all of you at our booth!!  Come enter to win a Lytro camera, but most of all, just come and hang out with us and check out some of our live video broadcasts that we’ll do from Pride!  We’ve got a parade entry and live commentary and, way too much going on.  Check our Facebook pages and the QTalk AZ home page for more details!

BUT, how can you make ‘pride festival’ food fabulous?  Can the non-gourmet be turned gourmet?  And yes, oh dear, we’ve got an answer to that very question!

Shoot us an email at queers@qtalkaz.com to suggest show topics, new dives that we should check out, wine you enjoy or just give us a shout-out!  Or you can leave us a voicemail at (888) 791-9294.

See you at Phoenix Pride!

On this wild and crazy “Queers!”, accents break out in an around-the-world culinary tour, we talk with Joe Wilson, owner of our beloved Ticoz, Nathan dishes on wine glasses, Joe shares grilled-cheese-throwdown bites, Libbie pours on wines from far, far away and Claudine takes on a trip to Province!  Plus, we welcome our special guest Meschelle Hornstein from St. Francis–all this and a whole lot more on this episode of Queers!

Guest Meschelle Hornstein

Find Queers! on Facebook and follow the ‘Fab Four’ on Twitter:

@Nidocamen (Joe), @hollygolightly_ (Claudine), @winephx (Nathan) and oops, Libbie’s twitter account flew away!

(expanded show notes arriving soon…)

The news coming out of Washington State gave the EDBF crew reason to raise a glass or two and toast to marriage equality. Our festive choice? Charles Smith Chateau Smith Cabernet Sauvignon 08 is a delicious bottle from winemaker and Sammy Hagar’s doppleganger, Charles Smith. 

This month’s episode features a special guest, Derek Bryant, who is a visiting chef and micro brew aficionado from Albuquerque, New Mexico. In honor of the exciting news coming from the northwest, Derek brought us a selection of Washington State brews from Leavenworth Biers and Scuttlebutt Brewing Company, to butch up our beverage choices. Also, listen closely as he describes his latest creation, Bacon Cupcakes.

We thought that Libbie being under the weather would dampen the humor on the show, but as it turns out, she issues more one-liners and random outbursts that keep the whole group in stitches!

A great big special thanks to our new neighbors, Cactus Candy, for sending over a sample of a hometown favorite and a wonderful alternative to chocolates for your sweetie.

The troop rounds off the tasting with some Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale, yup, it is as interesting as it sounds. Tune in to hear the reactions, good, bad and ugly. Beer, it’s back to being for breakfast again.

Your favorite food and wine show is back with an episode full of culinary and vineyard-y goodness!

Coming up THIS SATURDAY in our own backyard, 30+ food trucks descend on Salt River Fields at Talking Stick for the 1st Annual Street Eats Food Truck Festival, presented by New Times!  Food trucks have become a gourmet phenomenon over the past few years, not to mention being helped by Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race” hosted by Tyler Florence.  And speaking of Tyler, he’ll be making a special guest appearance at the Food Truck Festival on Saturday.  Aaron Studebaker from Salt River Fields gave us an awesome interview and talks about how the event came to be and gives us the inside scoop on what’s planned for this massive event.  And, you can WIN TICKETS to the event by answering the trivia question on the show and e-mailing us the answer–first person to email with the right answer wins!  A big thank you to Ronnie at New Times for getting us the tickets to give-away on our various shows!

Nathan brings us a great interview with Mark Vogler from Out in the Vineyard about the upcoming The Big Gay Train that is calling ‘All Board!’ in March!  They invite you to join them for their exclusive ALL GAY Winemaker Dinner aboard the world famous Napa Valley Wine Train!  The event officially goes on Saturday, March 31: Enjoy an elegant, perfectly paired, five-course dinner in old world luxury, from Acclaimed Chef Kelly Macdonald.  Looking for more wine-related gay fun?  Check out their Gay Wine Weekend, June 15-17 in Sonoma Valley.

Claudine tells about the amazing experience that she had when she recently checked out Rice Paper, a relatively new Vietnamese restaurant in Central Phoenix.  This new gem has amazing Pho and also specializes in their rolls, which are made with a very thin wrapper (hence the Rice Paper name) which makes them somewhere in-between an egg roll and traditional sushi rolls.  Definitely put it on your list!

Joe dishes about how he just came back from stuffing himself silly at Girl Meets Fork’s Pancake Quest 2012 — an ultimate showdown of eight local chefs vying for the honor of the best pancake in town.  I especially liked those from Orange Table, Smart Kitchen and Elemental Sugar.  If you’re curious about their pancakes from those three, here they are: Buttermilk pancake with fresh ricotta and prosciutto, Meyer lemon butter, ground cherry maple syrup; cream cheese-infused, reduced port wine pancake with fresh raspberry coolie; and grain-free, gluten-free pancake with mesquite flour, pochi berry with chai-infused butter. The event was hosted by Perk Eatery, who put out some pretty amazing spiced sweet potato pancakes with a praline bacon crumble and whiskey bourbon sauce.  An incredible event, to be sure!

Girl Meets Fork is run by foodie and PR gal Susie Timm and is a boutique marketing firm for the restaurant and specialty food industries.  She blogs on her site about food and loves to organize food-related events.  Check out her next event: The 2nd Annual Grilled Cheese Throwdown February 26 at the Hotel Valley Ho.

Last but not least!  Check out this month’s Places, Spaces and Faces Community Dinner on Saturday, January 21st from 6-9pm, at Kitchen Sink Studios in Downtown Phoenix.  PSF is a giant community ‘potluck’ dinner and features a different theme every month and brings the community together for a totally fun night!  Meet new people and discover foods and recipes that you may have never heard of!  Click this link for the official Facebook event.

Wine that we’re drinking on this episode: Callaghan Vineyards Grenache

We share our own holiday memories with you on this very special show, plus, give the gift of QTalk Arizona this holiday season!  Tell a friend about our fabulous Food and Wine Show, plus our whole lineup of great shows on your local queer podcast network!

From all of us at “Queers!”, have a safe and joyous holiday season!

Joe, Claudine, Nathan and Libbie

Notes and helpful links form this episode:

Libbie and Nathan recall their adventures at the recent Wine Stomp in Southern Arizona.  We can tell you that they didn’t win, but they at least tried!

Nathan talks to us about some great inexpensive wines from the Wine Enthusiast Magazine Top 100.

Joe gives us the low-down on pumpkin through the ages and why it has become such a craze these days, plus other Thanksgivings around the world.

Claudine dishes about her experience at Mu Shu Grill — she just can’t say enough good things about it!

Is it possible to pair some wines with the venerable turkey?  Libbie’s got the full glass of information on that one!  Plus, is it ok to get a bit tipsy and relaxed to make the holidays go over well?  And how to do it with class and style!

What’s up with the new developments at 7th Ave and McDowell?  Is it ok that they are putting in national chains just to redevelop the area?  We’d like to see otherwise, but at least they are re-using existing buildings.

And to round out, we highly recommend buying local and supporting your independent shops and restaurants this holiday season, it keeps our local economy headed in the right direction!

From all of your tipsy hosts at your favorite food and wine show…

Have a safe, indulgent and truly ‘happy’ Thanskgiving!

Joe, Claudine, Nathan and Libbie

Claudine and Libbie, along with their partners, took a trip to San Francisco, Sonoma and Napa that has both Nathan and Joe totally jealous and they give us the details of their adventures.  From walking the wrong way and down a hill in SF to their relaxing and wine-sampling travels in wine country, we get the entire divine tale.

Nathan tells us about the wonderful trip he took recently to the Harvest Festival in the wine country of the Verde Valley of Arizona and Joe mentions the fabulous weekend (which started off with a wine tasting) up in the Red Rocks of Sedona enjoying their Pride festivities.

Ever wanted to add something a little extra special to your dessert?  How about liquor-infused whipped cream?  Yes, there is such a thing!  (Joe heard about it, strangely enough, on the NSFW show on TWiT)

Joe gives his full review of Rum Bar and the Breadfruit in Downtown Phoenix.  Hint: order the scallops, they’re totally hot!

As we enter fall, what’s your favorite food of the season?  We share our own favorites and stories.

Shameless plugs for our co-hosts blogs:

Libbie (winedayatatime.com) | Nathan (winephx.com)

Wine Focus:

Nathan introduces us to three great summer wines that can be had for $10.  (Get ‘em at Total Wine)

Libbie talks about the upcoming Grape Stomp and Festival at The Farm at South Mountain, that Arizona is now a bona-fide Wine Destination and that is is coming up on Harvest Season in Arizona Wine Country.

Food Focus:

Joe de-mystifies bacon and where it comes from, the bacon mania that has gripped the world, the question “is bacon better than sex?” and his favorite places to get your bacon fix!

Claudine discusses the newest trend in restaurants: iPads replacing menus!

Restaurant Reviews:

Joe talks about a little-known CenPho dive to get great food, awesome sandwiches and even a giant breakfast burrito: Cranberry Hills

Claudine shares her divine recent experience enjoying brunch at St. Francis.

Rumors / Gossip:

Anthony Bourdain vs Paula Deen! No, not celebrity deathmatch — but Anthony says Paula is the greatest threat to America!  Is she the Butter Terrorist??

Libbie starts us off, talking a bit about wines produced locally here in Arizona.  The three main growing areas are Sonoita, Wilcox and the Verde Valley.  Libbie and Claudine share about their recent trip to the northern Arizona wine country.  And speaking of Arizona wines, FnB Restaurant in Scottsdale only features Arizona wines.  FnB is an absolutely incredible culinary experience, if you haven’t made it over there yet, you’ve gotta go!

Nathan recalls his recent trip to the first ever Gay Wine Weekend in Sonoma, California.  We sum it up as “Drink with a Purpose”, as it benefitted both Face to Face – Somona County AIDS Network and the Sonoma Community Center.  It was a truly magical event that should become a wonderful tradition for years to come.

Claudine starts off our segment about de-mystifying foods.  And this time, it’s dairy — specifically, eggs!  Cage-free?  Do the chickens all hang out and have egg-laying parties?  What’s the difference between organic and non-organic?  You’ll be egg-ceptionally knowledgeable after this episode!

Joe gives his review of recent visit to the new Black Chile Mexican Grill at Biltmore Fashion Park.  Looks like it’s a chain, but evidently not.  What’s was his rating?  Listen and find out!

If you have a great wine or a wonderful restaurant that you’d love us to check out and talk about, just drop us an email!  Or even better, leave us a voicemail!  (440) 84-QTALK (78255)

Featured wine on this episode: Dos Cabezas ‘Pink’

Other helpful links mentioned on the show:

AZ Wine Grower’s Association

Bonne Lait in Cottonwood

Nathan’s Blog

Libbie’s Blog