This wine cost nine bucks. How do the Italians do it? Their economy is in shambles and the euro is killing the dollar. If this was French wine, it would cost $15 or $18. I’m not complaining, of course. I’m just continually and pleasantly surprised by the quality and value so many Italian wines offer.

The Farnese (purchased, available at Jimmy’s) was exactly what I was hoping for when I bought it. There is soft white fruit in the middle (an English critic described it as “gently fragrant,” which is why Engish wine writing is so much fun), low alcohol (12 percent), not a lot of acid, and a kind of stony finish. In this, it’s a wonderful antidote to all the mass-produced, turpentine-like pinot grigio that we’re told we’re supposed to like and that everyone seems to be making these days. Right, Drew B.?

Pair this not only with seafood, but spicy food. That’s what I did (chicken tamales with green sauce), and it worked wonderfully. And, for those of you keeping track of grape varieties, there is apparently a difference between the trebbiano grape and the grape that is called trebbiano in the Abruzzo region of Italy. The former is more or less ugni blanc, one of my old pals, while the latter is something called bombino bianco. Maybe I can get the Italian Wine Guy to explain the difference.

Can’t face the kitchen tonight? Let Enchilada’s do the cooking, and you’ll help the Lake Highlands High School senior class raise money for end-of-year activities. Enchilada’s Restaurant is located at 7050 Greenville Avenue, and if you put your receipt in the box marked LHHS Senior Class before you leave, owners Tony and Cindy Waldrop will kickback a percentage of your dinner to help pay for graduation, Baccalaureate and prom at the House of Blues. They’ll host again on March 20, April 17 and May 8. Congratulations and best wishes, Class of 2012!

Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday specials are aplenty at Aw Shucks (3601 Greenville) and Big Shucks (6232 Mockingbird).

Get $1 off a 1/2 pound crawfish (normally $6.99) and drink $2 Tecate beer and margaritas 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday.

When Kaley Conway taught first grade at White Rock Elementary a few years ago, she was much beloved by children and parents alike. Though the Richardson ISD promoted her to work in the REACH program, former students and their families, along with former co-workers at WRE, enjoyed keeping up with her via social media and occasional run-ins.

Out of the blue this fall, Kaley was rushed to the hospital with medicine-induced liver and kidney failure. She’s now had a liver transplant and is continuing to receive life-saving treatment at area hospitals. Though her attitude is rosy about continued challenges ahead, her medical bills stack up every day.

This Saturday – her 32nd birthday – a Flapjack Fundraiser has been organized from 8-10am at Applebee’s in Medallion Center. Tickets are $10 at the door, and Kaley is expected to make an appearance.

If you can’t make it then but you’d like to help, stop by the front office at WRE and pick up a bracelet in honor of Kaley. The suggested donation is $2, but Marcy Taylor will accept whatever you give.

You can read more about Kaley, including her own uplifting words of gratitude, in her blog here.

Now that the Timber Creek Chick-fil-A is officially open for business, it’s just a matter of weeks before the grand opening at DelTaco. Crews have been working feverishly inside and out at the Mexican fast food restaurant, delicately tiptoeing around the campers waiting in the parking lot for Chick-fil-A’s First 100 event last Thursday.

After that will be the new Cici’s Pizza, though inside installation of kitchen fixtures and furniture doesn’t yet appear to have begun. Shouldn’t take long, though, since the building’s shell is finished.

How do I know this? Intrepid reporting is how. OK, not really. Just drove by and saw this sign.

It seems the site that once housed the Grill and Deli Stop at 9918 Plano (near 635) will become a hibachi and sushi stop. Not sure what it looks like inside, but the facade appears to need a little love.

This place is right across the street from the longstanding Bobo China, so who knows?

Despite the rough exterior, this could be a good location if they do things right.

Oncor was outside working this morning, so perhaps they are firing up the utilities.

This is what the building looked like a few years ago.

I will keep you posted as I learn more.

Here's the permit hanging on the door.

Christie Berry McCabe’s 4th grade students at Spring Creek Elementary in Richardson ISD say she’s a sweetie. Their parents appreciate the creative ways she finds to make learning fun for her students. Now, Christie is taking all that sweetness and creativity and combining it with her second love – baking – to create a new business called Daily Dose of Sweet.

Christie learned to bake at home with her mom, Barbara, and her three sisters, all Lake Highlands grads (Katie 2000, Natalie 2006 and Martie 2012). “When we were little, we would go to my grandma’s house before Thanksgiving, and all the girls would bake the desserts,” she told me. “Then, when I went to college (she, like the rest of the Berry girls, are proud Baylor Bears), I started baking on my own for friends and roommates. When I graduated, I discovered the world of baking blogs, and I was hooked. Since then, I haven’t stopped baking and testing out my own recipes.”

Christie is starting her business small, offering birthday cakes and party treats made after-school and on weekends for friends and folks who hear by word-of-mouth. She also does cupcakes and wedding sweets, and she says her favorite things to bake and her best sellers are her decorated sugar cookies.

Christie is married to LH 2005 grad Taylor McCabe, and he takes the photos for her baking blog. (He admits he’s had to double-up on his work out schedule since becoming her number one taste-tester.)

You can check out Daily Dose of Sweet here and see Taylor’s beautiful photography of non-food subjects here.

The holiday that must not be named is next week. You want to buy sparkling wine. But sparkling wine, being sparkling wine, is expensive and confusing.

Not to worry. I am on the job, as always, looking out for everyone caught between bubbly’s rock and hard place. The Bertrand ($15, sample) is sparkling wine from France that isn’t made in Champagne, which is why it’s one-third the price of entry-level Champagne. Better yet, it has much more than one-third of the quality, and is a tremendous value.

It’s made using the same method as Champagne, and it uses more or less the same grapes (including pinot noir, which is not common in sparkling wine made in France outside of Champagne). That’s one reason why it delivers so much value; its grapes are grown in the Limoux region in the Languedoc, where land is a fraction of the price of Champagne.

This is not as simple a wine as its price would indicate; the pinot noir gives it an edge that others don’t have. Look for very crisp apple fruit and an impressively long finish (lemon zest, maybe?). And you can impress everyone with your bubbly knowledge: If the wine says Cremant on the label, as this does, that means it’s sparkling wine made in the traditional method but not in Champagne. Highly recommended, and sure to impress whoever needs impressing next week.

Vapiano restaurant is a little outside Lake Highlands, but if you enjoy their delicious pizza, pasta or panini this Thursday, you’ll have a chance to help others in need. The Mockingbird Station restaurant is kicking back 10% of your total bill all day to support the Wesley-Rankin Community Center.

Wesley-Rankin serves the diverse West Dallas community, providing a wide variety of programming for children, youth, adults and families. For more than 75 years they’ve offered a loving, supportive alternative to a street-life of crime, poverty and despair.

Vapiano will host live music for the special event, and the offer is good for lunch or dinner from 10am to 10pm. You can dine on the bright, airy restaurant side with big picture windows allowing a view of progress on the Bush Library, or you can lounge in the hip bar area on cushy red couches while watching sports on the big screen. Either way, be sure to mention Wesley-Rankin when you pay.