Hi there! My name is Sarah Shorter and I am a rare third generation San Diegan. My husband and I are raising our daughter and two dogs in beautiful San Diego County.
Being born and raised in Southern California I have an affinity for anything outdoors, so my favorite place in the world is in and around the ocean. Second to the coast is the wide open space of the desert. The terrain is gorgeous, and I love going camping and riding my dirtbike with family and friends. When our little family isn’t adventuring at the beach or desert we’re hiking local trails or watching live music at a local brewery.
Overall we take a very casual approach to enjoying the finer things in life. Mostly though, our focus is good times spent outdoors surrounded by people we love while savoring amazing flavors. When I have the occasional moment to myself I enjoy going for a run or curling up in my oversized chair with a good book.
…being able to put seemingly random ingredients together in a harmonizing way does take a bit of talent.
I consider myself to be a food and drink enthusiast, and I absolutely love getting creative in the kitchen. Recipes, when I use them, are more of a guideline than hard and fast rules. Often times I browse the kitchen and randomly put things together and hope it turns out awesome. Luckily I have a gracious and loving husband who seems to like everything I make, even when it doesn’t live up to my standards.
He’s the one that made me see cooking as an art form; I had never considered myself talented, creative, or artistic before. But, he helped me realize being able to put seemingly random ingredients together in a harmonizing way does take a bit of talent.
My inspiration comes from the variety of experiences I have had and the flavors I have encountered, so my focus is not on any one cuisine, rather I’m creating my own unique style as I go. I am not a professional chef or connoisseur, I simply love to create, eat, and drink delicious things.
What is Red Fermented Grapes?
Something to be known about me is that I am a horrible story teller, and I make bad jokes quite often. One of my favorite running jokes is when ordering red wine, I say something along the lines of “as long as it’s red fermented grapes I’m happy”.
So when I was brainstorming names for my food blog and it popped in my head it just seemed to fit perfectly. It’s unpretentious, casual, fun, and combines food and alcohol!
In writing this blog I strive to bring people together through a shared experience surrounding the love of all things food and booze. So much of our life is spent eating and drinking, and I love the idea of enriching that experience as much as possible. If we make an effort to take the time to enjoy our meals with our loved ones we’ll get so much more out of it than calories.
I also think that food and beverages can help us learn about each other’s cultures, just watch any show by beloved and greatly missed Anthony Bourdain and you’ll see what I mean. To me, food is so much more than something we eat to survive.
No matter your sex, gender, race, religion, political background, country of origin, or level of wealth, we all need to eat. Because of that, I believe that food and alcohol can be used to bridge the gap between cultural divides. It can open doors to conversations, tolerance, acceptance, understanding, and connects us at a human level – all something I think the world could use a little more of right about now.
I’m so excited you decided to start this blog Sarah! I can’t wait to see where it takes you!