Harvest Grape Bread and a Tribute to Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher
January 8, 2010 
This bread is one of my favorite things to serve as an appetizer with some wine, cheese and olives. It's a pull-apart bread that is scented with cinnamon and cardamom and is slightly sweet, made with a little milk and sugar. It's really delicious. I got the recipe several years ago out of one of my favorite all time books, "Love by the Glass" by Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher, the long time wine writers for the Wall Street Journal. Their column, which ran for twelve years, was called "Tastings" and Brian and I religiously read it. In addition to writing about wine, John and Dottie always snuck in little bits about their own life and children and if you were a long time reader, you got to feel like you knew them a little. After I read their book, which is really a memoir of their life together, their love of wine and some favorite recipes, I really felt like I knew them. I've read "Love by the Glass" three times over the last few years and it's more charming and funny every time I read it. So we were stunned this past week when we read, at the bottom of their column, these words:
"This is our 579th—and last—"Tastings" column. The past 12 years—a full case!—have been a joy, not because of the wine but because we had an opportunity to meet so many of you, both in person and virtually. Thank you."
Huh? We couldn't believe it. No explanation, nothing. I haven't been able to find any information on what happened or what they are going to do now. Their Facebook page is just full of people expressing good wishes to them, but no word from them. Hopefully, they will resurface on the web somewhere with their excellent writing. Until then, I think I'll curl up with their book again and reread some of their fun stories. This bread was their most requested recipe.
