Penny Parker On The Town: Wine paired with Girl Scout Cookies

Imagine a Girl Scout Thin Mint with a Vina Eguia Rioja.

Or, perhaps, a TYDY Sauvignon Blanc with Savannah Smiles.

Then there’s an insouciant Les Grandes Roches White Burgundy with Trefoils.

It was all part of a wine and Girl Scout cookies pairing put on by wine and grocery master Pete Marczyk and PR pros Wendy Aiello and Leanna Clark (who hosted the event in her lovely 1939 home last week) as part of a cookie-selling drive for the Girl Scouts.

However Marczyk mastered the event, it worked. Women left with order forms filled out for wine and with boxes of various types of Girl Scout cookies.

A good time was had by all.

Chili  or chile time

On Sunday, I was one of the judges of a chili (or chile) cook-off at the Celtic Tavern, 1801 Blake St.

And if you’re thinking that was an easy day’s work, think again. We tasted 22 different chiles made with all kinds of ingredients and toppings.

The winners for the cook-off were:

Red Chili: Pam Shanahan with “Cincinnati Red.”

Green Chili: Erik and Sean Trujillo with “Team Trujillo.”

Veggie Chili: Zach Burk with “Vegetarian Chili Delight.”

Celebrity Chili: The Brown Palace Hotel with “White Rooster.”

Peoples’ Choice Winner: The Brown Palace Hotel with “White Rooster.”

The whole event was a fundraiser for The MaxFund Animal Adoption Center, the no-kill Denver animal shelter.

New car show

Come browse hundreds of the year’s new vehicles, meet Miss Colorado at the Cadillac display, get a first look at the 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA,  Jaguar F-Type, and check out some of the elite 40 MPG Club members all at the Denver Auto Show.

So come sit in the cars, pop the hoods, inspect the trunks, and kick the tires March 20-24. Tickets are on sale: http://denverconvention.com/events/details/denver-auto-show1?utm_source=Newsletter+March+2013&utm_campaign=March+2013+Newsletter&utm_medium=email.

Swoon over Swoozie’s

Swoozie’s, the darling gift and stationery store at 589 Fillmore St., is hosting a one-year anniversary party from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday with a 20 percent discount on all purchases plus a give back to four local charities.

Four high profile women: Jamie Angelich for Excelsior Youth Center, Edie Marks for Cancer League of Colorado, Susan Kiely for Women With a Cause and Judi Wolf for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, will raise money for their charities while encouraging their supporters to shop.

The public is invited to stop by, save money on purchases, enjoy a glass of pink bubbly and some fine fare from Three Tomatoes Catering, plus learn about the charities.

Pig out

Tender Belly, the local pork purveyor, is the official provider for all the heritage breed pigs for this year’s Cochon555, which brings together five chefs, five pigs and five winemakers.

Do not miss it when this one-of-a-kind traveling culinary competition and tasting event comes to the Four Seasons Resort Vail and marks a culinary milestone with its Fifth Anniversary Tour.

Created to promote a national conversation around the sustainable farming of heritage-breed pigs, each event challenges five local chefs to prepare a menu from the entirety of one 200-pound family-raised heritage breed of pig, nose-to-tail provided by Tender Belly.

Twenty judges and 400 guests help decide the winning chef by voting on “best bite of the day”. The winner will be crowned the Prince or Princess of Porc and will compete at the Grand Cochon event at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen on June 16.

The super-star chefs are: Alex Siedel of Fruition, “Top Chef” winner Hosea Rosenberg, Jason Harrison of Flame Restaurant in The Four Seasons Vail, Kelly Liken chef/owner of Kelly Liken restaurant in Vail and Lon Symensa chef/partner in ChoLon in Denver.

Tickets are $200 for VIP with a 4 p.m. admission, or $125 for general admission at 5 p.m.

Purchase tickets at www.cochon555.com.

Here’s the link to the event page: www.amusecochon.com/2013/vail.

New to the event this year is the launch of a cocktail competition called “Punch Kings” featuring Breckenridge Bourbon, prepared by six local bartenders, plus the new TarTare Bar for the VIP hour. All attendees will enjoy butcher demonstrations, sustainable oysters, creative pork dishes from all the chefs, a visit to the Manhattan Bar or new Chupito Bar featuring Mezcals, plus the Cheese Bar.

Beer from Anchor Brewing, pork-spikes desserts and a digestif will close out the evening.

Best-dressed challenge

Vanity Fair magazine ushers the international best-dressed list into the digital age with the International Best-Dressed Challenge where the magazine invites readers to nominate themselves and others for the 2013 list.

Recognized the world over as the definitive and authoritative roster of style leaders, the 73-year-old International Best-Dressed Challenge – one man and one woman – will be announced in a new category on the 2013 list to be revealed in the September issue of Vanity Fair.

Those who think they have what it takes (or know someone who does) can enter by using the hashtag #vfbestdressed on photos they post to Instagram, Twitter or Trendabl. They also can upload photos directly from their computer or mobile phone and from Facebook or Instagram albums at www.vf.com/bestdressed.

Vanity Fair’s partners for this program are Giorgio Armani, Neiman Marcus and Clinique.

“Fashion has become more liberated thanks in no small part to the Internet and social media,” said Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter. “We’re excited about bringing the iconic International Best-Dressed List into the digital age.”

Each week a group of Vanity Fair editors will pick their favorite looks from the latest batch of submissions. These selections will be presented in a weekly curated slide show.

Additionally, a monthly award will go to the entrant who has received the most “likes” from viewers in the photo gallery.

The deadline for final entries is June 30, when the International Best-Dressed List selection committee will review all submissions. The two winners will appear in the September 2013 issue of Vanity Fair.

Eavesdropping on two men at Gaetano’s: “We have eight or 10 movies in the basket.”

“It’s not called in the basket, it’s in the can.”

Did you hear that I have a new column, “Mile High Life,” in Colorado Community Media’s 17 weekly newspapers circling Denver? Be sure to like my Facebook page! Also, here’s where you go to get my column emailed to you Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I’m now the social-media liaison for the Mile High Chapter of the Colorado Restaurant Association, so read my latest restaurant news there. My email: penny@blacktie-llc.com.