A Tribute

My family has always called me Little Liv, a nickname from the days when I was the youngest cousin. Fast forward about 20 years, my first day at my first "real" job. My first stop, Holiday Wine Cellars in Escondido where I was introduced to the wine buyer and his assistant, two people I came to know and love dearly. But back to that first meeting, where the duo grilled me on wines and asked mequestions they knew I couldn't answer. Although I was somewhat intimidated, I knew I had found two kindred spirits and Holiday became one of my favorite stops. Peter always had something clever for me, a new recipe, a bag of homemade jerky, a taste of his famous hummus (this was the man who coined the term guac-ummus, a glorious marriage of guacamole and hummus) or, on several occasions "mad-livs" he had made especially for me. Our friendship grew and I came to think of Peter not as a customer but as a friend. Not to say that we didn't have our moments and the occasional fights over allocations, recipes, or what might be, in our opinion, the best way to do something. These arguments only deepened our friendship and somewhere along the line Peter began to refer to me as Little Liv, going so far as to doctor up a bottle of wine to reflect this moniker.

Peter, you will be missed. Greatly. Deeply. By many. This blog's for you, my friend.