Weed it and reap at Maverick Farms!
Holidaying could not have been more intriguing. Imagine a petite cottage in the midst of a farm where you can laze and have the farm’s freshest foods served to you at its restaurant during your stay. 
Muscle-aching work, stimulating conversation and mouthwatering food with a restaurant for visitors. Maverick farms have a lot to offer including the comfort of beds. Situated in North Carolina's (USA) High Country, this place is dedicated to sustainable agriculture and to reconnecting local food networks. It's interesting to note that Maverick farmers use mostly human-scale farming techniques. Honey comes from the bees, vegetables are harvested from the garden patches just a few steps from the house. It's also a dairy of sorts with home-made butter, yoghurt, milk, ice-cream. Meat lovers can rejoice as the meat served is from the farmers' rancher friends. Maverick Farms occupies the red-hot centre of foodie rectitude. It's time to pack your bags and head straight to this food- filled getaway.

Brightening up the winter dishes... Think pink... think Rhubarb!
Food lovers up for some experimental twists in their food and desserts will be delighted to learn about Rhubarbs, an exotic European plant. Rhubarb, often called the pie plant is most famous for its culinary use. It is a vegetable from the buckwheat and garden sorrel family. The plant has a distinctively sour flavour and when mellowed it is perfect for pepping up pies and crumbles and complements chicken, beef as well as pork. It is best from December to March when the plants grow pretty pink stalks unlike the sweeter red or green ones. The gourmands can pick rhubarbs just like celery with crisp stalks, but it's important to watch out for the leaves which are mildly poisonous. So one could easily spruce up a fine dish with the exotically tangy vegetable! Back home in India one could make do with the frozen form of this wonder plant.

Green and Black’s Organic chocolate
Listen up all you chocoholics! Tasting the difference between fine chocolate and the ordinary kind is an art too. Lauded for their superlative quality of organic chocolate, Green and Black’s, is a fine blend of delicious chocolate with hints of orange and spices. The Maya Gold organic chocolate is truly decadent and eaten by all chcolate lovers globally. The cocoa beans are purchased directly from the farmers of Belize in South America. Just  spending some time in the rainforests in Southern Belize  can help you understand why growing cocoa organically is the ultimate answer. The forest floor becomes a carpet of leaves, which fills the soil with nutrients that helps the plants grow without the need for pesticides and chemicals. There’s a stupendous variety of chocolate bars, ice-creams and cocoa products too. So next time you have an undying urge for intoxicating, pure sin you know which one to pick up without the guilt pangs!

Welcome aboard Club Privada...
The high life in India just scaled new heights, with the launch of Privada, India's premiere luxury boat club. It resonates luxury, life and style. The aficionados can have full access to a fully crewed and maintained luxury yacht and the lifestyle which comes with it for a fraction of the traditional cost. Members have a choice of two yachts. The Larson Cabrio 350, which is one of the finest motor yachts in the luxury boating market. The other is the Azimut 50, an epitome of panache. Club Privada plans to diversify and introduce more specialized boats like ocean-going yachts; high-end fishing boats and party as well as house boats. The enthusiasts will be delighted to learn that there is a two-tiered membership. Privada Gold and Privada Platinum. One can utilize the luxurious services depending on the validity of the membership. Fractional Ownerships are a highlight of the business model and reduce hassles related to maintenance and management of the boats. With online reservations and culinary preferences (www.clubprivada.com), one's desires of a dream voyage to Goa, Elephanta Caves, Ganpathiphule are only a click away!

The Slow Cooker that COOKS for hours...
The latest addition to the culinary industry, in the range of cookers spells fun and frolic for chefs and cooking buffs. For starters, All-Clad's Slow Cooker can be programmed for up to 26 hours of continual cooking- the longest one tested. Now you know what to pick up on your next trip overseas, well at least till the miracle cooker hits the domestic markets. Dum Pukht Dal cooked overnight with the perfect infusion and aromas just like Chef Imtiaz Quereshi's secret recipe or trotters only like you've dreamed of them. It is a top-of-the-line slow cooker featuring a heat-responsive cast-aluminum insert that functions as a piece of premium cookware in itself. Its gentle uniform heat perfectly cooks pot roasts, braises, soups and stews, then keeps the finished dish warm until serving time. Here's beckoning all the Cordon Bleu Chefs in you. When you're ready to dine, lift out the handsome black insert and bring it right to the table for serving.

Bubbly News!
Great news for Champagne lovers! Now one can serve wild hibiscus flowers as a garnish in Champagne. Its a great twist to the bubbly at a special occasion like a soiree or a grand celebration. All you have to do is crack open some bubbly, the little flower sits in the bottom of the glass, all the bubbles stream off and one slowly opens up the flower. At the end of the drink a surprise awaits and you can actually eat the flower - which has a delicious raspberry & rhubarb flavour. Hibiscus, especially white hibiscus is considered to have medicinal properties in the Indian traditional system of medicine, Ayurveda. Roots make various decoctions believed to cure various ailments. Besides lending some exotic sweetness to the sparkly; it gives the taste buds a floral burst. It would make some scintillating cocktails too. We say it's certainly worth a try.
While on a tour of champagne it's worthwhile to take a trip to Portugal's Douro Valley which is becoming a sought-after destination for wine lover's. It seems to be embracing the idea of wine tourism. With a string of tasting rooms, hotels and restaurants as well as wineries opening up, it's surprising how this stunning region was undiscovered until recently. The Aquapura Douro Valley is just one of the new hotels, overlooking the century-old vineyards.