Gin can be a polarizing spirit. With the exception of a few gin and tonics, I've always avoided it; however, a bunch of new gins on the market have converted me into a gin lover. One such gin, Right gin, is my current favorite.

Recently, I was invited to a seminar hosted at the brand's loft, here in San Francisco. The event was put on by Nirvino, the awesome social-drinking website that let's you rate cocktails and wine, and led by bad-boy bartender Josh Harris of 15 Romolo. Harris discussed the essentials to building a home bar and walked us through a blind gin-tasting.

To find out more about the tasting and check out all my images from the event, keep reading

Meet Malia and Sasha Obama, first children — and future gelato makers? While President Obama was in Rome, Italy, for a G-8 summit, the US embassy contacted the Italian capital's most renowned gelato parlor, Giolitti, to arrange an insider's ice cream tour for the commander in chief's daughters. At the historic gelateria, Malia, 11, and Sasha, 8, donned aprons to become frozen-dessert makers for the afternoon. The sisters, accompanied by their grandmother, made blackberry and banana gelato. According to parlor owner Nazareno Giolitti, "Right after they made gelato, they tasted it straight from the machine, and the youngest one said, "It really tastes like blackberries." The girls, who Giolitti said "ate with great gusto," left with a whopping 6.6 pounds each of their ice cream, and took some home for the first lady.

Giolitti later showed a local television station a tub of some of the blackberry flavor the Obama girls created, saying that the leftover ice cream was immediately picked up by customers who wanted their cones filled with it. If I were him, I would have sold it for a killing on eBay.

Are you as envious as I am that the Obama girls had the opportunity of a lifetime at Rome's most famous gelateria?

Mediterranean-style pasta salad has quickly become one of my picnic staples. It's super easy to make a huge batch and tastes better after the flavors have mixed for a few hours. When making pasta salad, I prefer to employ orzo. There's something about the small, rice-like shape that makes the salad seem modern and more glamorous. This recipe is my own invention: it uses two types of tomatoes, olives, green onions, and feta cheese. The dressing is a simple red wine vinaigrette. Feel free to look at the recipe as inspiration for your own pasta salad. Whatever you do, be sure to make a large batch because this salad is an ideal portable lunch! To check out the recipe, read more