Feeling a little blue this weekend having not been able to celebrate the holidays with family in California due to booked engagements, I pulled myself together and caught the 7:45 out of Pasco to Phoenix.

I had agreed to speak to a room of guests at a Cancer Foundation Benefit in Scottsdale. Next day, I rented a car, put the case of Walla Walla wines I'd lugged along with me into the trunk, and headed out across the desert for Hollywood's winter playground, Palm Springs.

I was booked to present a demonstration class to celebrities on the making of flatbread and chutney at an Alice Cooper-ho...