Step back into the Sierra gold fields in the early 1860s. Our guides will be historical novelists Terry Meekins and Richard Hurley from Grass Valley who will present "California and the Civil War" based on their novel the Queen of the Northern Mines, set in Nevada City in the early years of the Civil War.  The novel was inspired by the famous Bullion Bend stage robbery near Placerville in 1863, where Rebel partisans held up a Wells Fargo shipment and left the driver a receipt for $52,000 from the Confederate States of America. Meekins and Hurley will illustrate California’s sudden leap from sleepy colonial outpost to pivotal player in the great national conflict. How close did California

 Baseball has long been considered a beer drinker's game.  The River Cats and Infuze Marketing are challenging that preconception with a series of wine tastings at Raley Field.       The events, which take place on game days, feature (semi) local wineries and catered appetizers, and part of the proceeds go to local charities.       The second of the aptly named "Wine in the Park" events was held Wednesday afternoon in conjunction with the the River Cats game against the Sky Sox.       An hour and a half before the first pitch, the gates opened for a gaggle of newly wristbanded oenophiles (I believe that "gaggle" is the correct term for a group of wine lovers, but  "murder" is also accep

"Wine is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin "Baseball is Heaven's gift to mortals" - George Will "Practice safe eating, always use condiments" - Unknown Last month, I spent a beautiful Friday evening eating good food, drinking good wine and helping children in need. Three of my favorite pastimes rolled into one. What could be better than that? I had meant that to be a rhetorical question, but then the good people at Infuze Marketing went ahead and answered it for me: Add a baseball game to the mix. On Wednesday, the 28th of July, Infuze is teaming with the Sacramento River Cats to put on "Wine in the Park" at Raley Field. Tickets are $25, with a po

May is Bike Month, and this weekend is the best time to celebrate. Sacramento has earned a stop on the international tour of the Bicycle Film Festival. The festival will be held Friday and Saturday, with the festivities extending into Sunday as part of the Amgen Tour of California. The Friends of Fremont Park, along with pizza and panini bar Hot Italian, will host the event. The film festival starts Friday in Fremont Park with movie shorts. They will begin at 9 p.m., but the event will kick off at 7 at nearby Hot Italian, which also will be the site of the night's after-party. And it will continue "as long as people are there and drinking," Lepore said. "The Bicycle Film Festival is a co

"For us domestic riders, this is our Tour de France," Chris Jones said of the Amgen Tour of California. "It's the biggest race of our year," added the 31-year-old cyclist from Auburn. Jones and Michael Sayers, a retired professional rider, are Amgen tour veterans. They joined John McCasey, Sacramento Sports Commission director, at a Tuesday press conference at Mason's Restaurant. They introduced the tour's first stage -- from Nevada City to Sacramento -- with Mayor Kevin Johnson and Councilmen Ray Tretheway and Steve Cohn also in attendance. The event kicked off with a video that provided a glimpse of the scenery cyclists will see when they ride from Nevada City to Sacramento on May 16.

I'm unsure where my deep and abiding appreciation for food, wine and the culinary arts was born.  As a third-generation Italian-American (with a smidgen of German thrown in from dad's side), one would assume that growing up,  good food and wine were the staples of our everyday culture, present and accounted for at the family table at every meal.  Any prowess I may have demonstrated ala cucina must  certainly be attributed to the genetic code of my Italian heritage, passed along from a long line of incredibly domesticated mammas and nonnas, right?  Picture a small girl of 8, perched atop a worn kitchen stool, watching as momma carefully rolls out the pasta dough, her small hands helping t

"That 1 Guy" will be playing a couple shows in the Sac area, Tuesday he will be at the Miners Foundry in Nevada City, & Wednesday he will be at Beatnick Studios in Sacramento. "That 1 Guy" aka Mike Silverman has been playing venues and festivals around the world for some time now, receiving rave reviews and accolades - Mike takes the concept of a one man show to the extreme, whith his "Magic Pipe" and assortment of unique instruments for which words can not describe.  He provides a family friendly experience that must be seen to be appreciated, please visit www.that1guy.com for a sneek peek.  Visit www.sblentertainment.com for tickets and more.  Tickets for the Nevada City show are also av