Dr. Connie Guttersen says you have to love to eat to be successful on her Sonoma Diet, a diet inspired by Mediterranean, Latin American and Asian cuisines.

Betty Teller

It’s traditional to eat latkes, also called potato pancakes, during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The eight-day candle-lighting festival begins this year on the night of Dec. 15.

Truth be told, it’s kind of fun to announce plans to spend a day with the CIA, even if the answer to the subsequent question — “Doing what?” — is “baking cookies.”

No apres-ski menu is complete without chili. It’s a great way to warm up, and fill up, after burning calories cutting tracks in the snow.

Each Tuesday The Register reviews an area restaurant, with an emphasis on establishments where a couple can dine for $30 or less. Reader suggestions are welcomed.

It’s really not hyperbole to describe Rob McNeil’s career as sparkling.

The Hess Collection will hold its monthly Cellar Door Red Saturday and Sunday when fans can fill a half-gallon jug with a blend composed of 90 percent Mt. Veeder cabernet sauvignon and 10 percent petite verdot.

“In winter,  the darkest time of the year, it’s the custom to drink to the return of the sun. In pre-historic times, access to a sheltered cave and a fire was the height of luxury. If a little fermented grape juice or soupy beer was at hand than you were literally living like a king.”