Last month’s festival showcased some of the best chefs and wineries of Southern California throughout a two day culinary extravaganza.

Featured Food Network star chef Sara Moulton was captivatingly witty and entertaining. Sara enjoyed our California sunshine and explained, “As a New Yorker I love the mountains. I took a walk this morning and was dodging the grapefruit hanging from the trees versus pigeon poop.”

Sara met culinary legend Julia Child over a hard boiled egg and was sagely advised, “Never apologize, never explain.” This motto applies well to performing on a live reality show where dishes can stick, melt, burn or end up looking like sewage on a plate (i.e. Sandra Lee’s infamous Meatloaf).

According to Sara, another enlightening tidbit is that the best things that happen in food are usually a mistake such as potstickers and champagne. A Chinese Imperial Court Chef invented potstickers when he accidentally burnt a batch of dumplings. Because he didn’t have time to prepare more in time for the evening meal, the chef declared the dish to be a new special creation to the delight of the court. Monks formulated Champagne by discovering that a second fermentation process produced carbonation in wine. However, the reproducible process is credited to Sir George Etheredge of England. Sara’s version of invention by mistake was her “Warm Chocolate Cheesecake.” She was taste testing the recipe for her book, Everyday Family Dinners, but was too impatient to wait for the dessert to finish so opened the oven before the cake set and the result was ambrosial.

Don’t miss next year’s event! To learn more, visit palmdesertfoodandwine.com.