Welcome to the inaugural issue of our monthly e-newsletter. We've taken a lot of the requests you've sent to our web site and woven them into this short, easy to follow format.  We hope you'll find it useful and informative.  And keep the requests coming!

Here are some of the things that you can expect to find in upcoming issues.

Peeks into the chef's inspiration for dishes from our monthly changing restaurant menus.

Dates and places Rick will be appearing: For example, Rick will be in Miami at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival on Feb. 21st.  He'll be cooking on Stage B in the Grand Tasting Village from 11:15am - 12:00 noon, as well as debuting his queso fundido burger (!!) at the Burger Bash and preparing a Frontera signature dish at the Grand Tasting.

Profiles of Frontera Farmers Foundation recipients.  For those of you who are not familiar with our foundation, FFF provides capital improvement grants to sustainable family farms in the Midwest; over the past few years we've given away over $500,000 dollars to struggling farms, helping them to become more profitable.  We raise all the money to support these grants by hosting a blowout event with an indoor farmer's market at the restaurant (Frontera chefs cooking along side local farmers to create some incredible food !), and later that day, a sit-down dinner with a truly unique silent auction. This year's benefit will be on Sunday, June 14th.  Check out the website for more information on the mission of the foundation.  Info for this year's event will be posted on the main page of the web site at the end of April or beginning of May.

Kitchen gadget adventure. I have to confess that I love gadgets, so I'm always on the lookout for what's new. The gadget I'm in love with this month is the new scraper paddle attachment for the KitchenAid stand mixer. There are actually two different manufacturers that are offering this paddle. I bought the one from Chef's Catalog. It's made to fit various models. There's also another one from SideSwipe that Cook's Illustrated has rated as their favorite.

Our Library. We are constantly adding new books to our collection. I'll update you on which cookbooks and travel books we're considering as additions to our library.

Real home cooking with Rick. From time to time, Rick will jot down a recipe he's created for their Sunday night dinners at home. It's all hands on deck so these recipes make for great family dinners where everyone can participate.

Wine and food pairings. Our award winning sommelier, Jill Gubesch, will share her recommendations on wines, wine pairings and what's happening in the wine world.

Cocktail time. We'll hear from Jen Barozzini about what's new in terms of our drink menu. Right now it's the revival of our incredible Blood Orange Margarita. Yum!  I've adapted the recipe so you can enjoy this margarita at home.

Q & A. I'll include at least one blog question that I think would be of general interest. We answer all kinds of questions from techniques, to where to buy specialty items, to travel.  It's well worth checking out.

New Recipes from the Test Kitchen. We're debuting a new section on the web site under recipes. Here you'll find the recipes that I'm currently testing for our next volume of "Mexican Everyday." Check out this new section on Feb. 7th. The first recipes I'll post would be great for a Valentine's Day dinner.

We're really excited about the launch of this newsletter as you can tell. I'd love to get your input on what else you'd like to see. Stay tuned for our next installment at the end of February.

Sincerely,

Deb Silberstein

Test Kitchen Director/Web Site Culinary Director

Newsletter@fronteragrill.net

P.S. On a personal note, check out Habitat Restore. It's a division of Habitat that's all over the U.S. There's a list of locations and items that they will accept for donation. The money that they raise goes into building more houses. I just donated all my kitchen cabinets, and the store near me even came to pick them up from my house. Not only am I not adding to the landfills, but I feel good about donating something that someone can use and also raising money for charity.