The Palm Springs of Washington Monday, April 6, 2009

This weekend i went to Yakima to visit my brother and sister in law and attend Drew’s big #3 and Reid’s Baptism…phew! We left early Saturday morning and the drive was gorgeous! There are so few times that the Dalles is surrounded by green hills. They look like soft velvet pillows. When we were climbing up the Washington side of the gorge we got over the ridge and a baffling mystery for me was solved! I cant tell you how many times i have driven by a huge flatbed semi with an ENORMOUS white propeller on the back. i thought, largest plane prop in the world? NO! they are for  Wind Energy . These huge silent windmills all spinning in slow motion crossed the span of the hills as far as i could see in every direction. They are so beautiful and it was really exciting to think of all the energy they are creating without doing any damage to anything! Freen Energy from something the gorge provides best…too much wind!

 

Yakima was so warm and sunny. I loved visiting my family and reading my current obsession series (TWILIGHT) in the sunshine. i was so engrossed in the book that i went to bed last night with a wee burn on the nose which i got to enjoy until 130 when i finally forced myself to close the book and flip off the light. sigh.

Elizabeth Gilbert and Ann Patchett Thursday, February 12, 2009

Yet once again I had the pleasure to sit and listen to Elizabeth Gilbert share stories about her life and writing process. This time we got to up the ante as she shared the stage with Ann Patchett. As I took my seat in the cheap GA section about 3 feet from the ceiling, I wasn’t sure what to expect.
There were 2 big fat mushy chairs on the stage with a small table in between and a couple glasses of water. I imagined them with a bottle of wine and a fireplace in someone’s living room, maybe mine.  I didn’t realize how far up I was until these two tiny woman came out onto the stage and curled up in their chairs like cats, feet tucked beneath. I was already smiling.
I was there to witness the second meeting of two friends who had become friends over long poetic letters to each other. They were as excited as we were. They sat and just talked to each other. They praised each other and questioned each other. They questioned their own abilities and praised each other’s abilities. It was magical.
Again the topic of being childless came up. Both of these women had chosen to not be mothers. However both of these women also took their responsibilities as aunties very seriously. They understood that even if they remained in constant motion, they would produce 1/10th of the energy expended by a mother of one child. Therefore they felt it was their duty and privilege to be a power house for mothers and their children. I love that! I want to be a mother one day, but until then I want to give all the extra energy I have to those who are participating in the raising of our next generation. I am part of that process if I want to be and what a gift to everyone involved.
They also talked about their writing styles. Ann Patchett is an observer. She relishes her invisibility in the world and is still astounded by how invisible she really is, even to those who have seen her in public before. Liz Gilbert is in a cone of light. She enters a space and directs it to get what she needs for her story. She went to Maine to a small lobster island and had to bend the wills of these introverts to write her story. She also does so with a beauty and grace that makes people want to help her.
After EG and AP had chatted for about 30 minutes (MUCH TOO SHORT) they took questions from the audience. They had several insights about themselves and each other that were profound. One that I was intrigued with was a question for EG. Someone in the audience wanted some advice about traveling alone as a single woman. And how to do so without doing the typical tourist thing.
First EG said that women should dress modestly. She said that we should cover our arms and legs and our bellies. We are only alienating the women in other parts of the world that we want to connect with. She told a story about introducing a young Dutch woman dressed in a tank top and mini skirt to her medicine man and to this day she regrets not dressing her in sarongs from head to toe. The look on his wife’s face was devastating. She was tortured by this young half naked girl in her home. Dress modestly and behave modestly. She also said that we are all so concerned about being common that we are missing out on great things. If you have one week in Egypt and are so concerned about being a tourist that you miss seeing the Pyramids, you are foolish. Get on the bus with all the Germans and enjoy one of the wonders of the world. The greatest wonders of the world are some of the most popular so deal with it.
I was taken by this concept. I have done both. I have lived in a place with a kitchen and bought my own groceries and I have stayed in big lush hotels and hit all the hot spots. There is a time and a place for both ways of travel and both offer unimagined memories. Of course I want to have a one of a kind experience but even at the base of the pyramids amidst thousands of tourists from all over the world, it was a one of a kind experience because it was my experience…and I was the only one who got in a fight with the man on the camel and threw my “rock” on the ground. Of course I did.

The Magic and Wonder of Beast Monday, June 16, 2008

Last Friday night 3 of my most favorite girlfriends and I went to dinner at Beast in honor of my mom. I had heard about it and knew i was in for a treat with the prefix 6 course menu and wine pairings. I felt like i had been in a rut though. Portland has SO MANY amazing restaurants that i was getting snotty about my food and nothing had made me swoon in a long time. Apparently i didntneed to worry so much. Beast made me swoon with every single bite! I have never had such a meal so perfect in my life. This is why i love food so much.

I had also just finished a book called Julie and Julia in which the author spent a year recreating every single recipe in Julia Child’s masterpiece; Mastering the Art of French Cuisine. There are huge chapters in there about Aspics and organ meats galore. She tackled them and made sense of them, and if figured if she can cook aspic from a calf hoof and set it with a cold piece of foie gras, i could try anything.

Here is the Menu from Beast for Friday June 13th.
I think that the theme for this menu should be “Things That Melt in Your Mouth”"

First Course

Spring Carrot Soup with Fava Bean and Herb Salsa Verde
 - this soup was so divine that it melted into your taste buds before it left the spoon. and the fresh fava beans were just a tiny bit salty so they added the perfect accent. this is what soup should be

Second Course

CHARCUTERIE PLATE
i must preface this section by saying that this was the portion of the menu that i was terrified of. I HATE organ meat. I think it is one of the most disgusting things we eat and i dont understand why people think it is a delicacy…well until i ate here. Now i am a bit less afraid and also know that when done properly, it is mana from heaven. I am still salivating for the damn bon bons.

Foie Gras Bon-Bon
  – HOLY HELL! this little morsel was made with Vanilla Bean and Cognac. It had the texture of a chocolate truffle center and was so dense and delicate. None of the flavors were hidden. My friend Sami wasnt into it so i ate hers too. i want to eat this every single day of my life. Some dream of lounging on a chaise wearing silk and eating a box of chocolate bon bons, I will eat these, in a cardboard box next to the detroit train station if i must.
Chicken Liver Mousse with Seville Orange Marmalade
  – maybe you didnt know but I have never been a fan of the organ meats So this this little bite was a shock. It also melted in your mouth and didnt have  that horrid I am a liver after bite. Sami loved it until i told her what it was. It is amazing how our memories can affect us more then our taste buds. Case in point would be the following,
Steak Tartare with Quail Egg Toast
  -The Steak melted in my mouth but i still cant do the raw yolk. I know everyone tells me it is just like a complimentary sauce but i have never been a fan of the yolk. This was the only thing on the entire menu i didnt lick off the plate. in fact i very systematically cut it away from the steak portion of the toast without breaking the yolk and tried to pawn it off on everyone else.
Pork and Liver Pate with Cherries and Pistachios
  – This was lovely. It reminded me of a really fancy but delicate sausage with all the nuts and fruit in it.

Rose Petal and Champagne Sorbet
-perfect timing to cleanse the pallet after all that rich meat. and so simple

Third Course

Riesling Braised Carlton Farms Pork Cheek
Porcini and Morel Turnover
Baby Nantes Carrots with Spring Herbs
  – What can i say? I am a pork loving fool. I cant get enough of it and when you braise it in Riesling…They gave us these serious steak knives but the meat just fell apart and melted in your mouth. The turnover was a buttery bit of heaven with perfectly diced cubes of fresh mushroom and the carrots were still crisp.

Fourth Course

Arugula Salad with Crushed Strawberries & Aged Balsamic Vinaigrette
with Shaved Humbolt Fog Goat Cheese
- we each got a pile of spicy arugula lightly dressed and topped with the lightest of goat cheeses. I LOVE arugula

Fifth Course

Selection of Cheeses with Poached Apricot, Candied Hazelnuts, Date, Salt and Pepper Shortbreads and Wildflower Honey
  – yes indeed, it DID just keep getting better. The Poached Apricot tasted exactly like my mom’s apricot pie (which i now need to make) and the cheeses were really strong!
we could have ended it here and been perfectly content but no, we had to persevere. I say that with glee

Sixth Course

Chocolate Covered Coconut Chiffon Petite Four
with Salted Caramel Ice-Cream
  – oh yes, it was as lovely as it sounds. This was served with a red dessert wine that complimented the salty chocolate and caramel goodness. It also wasnt as heavy as i had imagined. It was plenty rich, but wasnt the entire meal??

So that was it. it was, in my humble opinion, perfection. I have never had a prefix menu that paid such close attention to each detail. There was not one weak course. The wine pairings were perfect and so thoughtfully planned out. I went home and plotted what i had to sell so i could eat here each week.

Turn Your Oven On! Monday, April 28, 2008

As soon as you get home from work, turn your oven on at 450 degrees! This will get you in the right mindset to cook yourself and/ or your family a lovely meal. And, as she thoughtfully added, you can always turn it off again if you decide to make pasta. The simple act of entering your kitchen and turning on your oven is the first step even when you dont have a clue what to make. This was just one bit of wisdom i heard while attending a book event for Lynne Rossetto Kasper and her producer Sally Swift. I have always been a huge fan of The Splendid Table and on countless occasions her show got me back to Portland on Sunday evenings after a visit north. I always arrived starving and wanting to make some magnificent meal of which i had none of the right ingredients. I have the fondest memories of her Truffle show. The way she told us to grate a fresh truffle over a bowl of buttered pasta still makes me salivate. As she said, This is like food porn! As my friend Jenna commented after Lynne told us to make a pastry shell with just a little white wine and add dollops of fresh chevre and your big NW berries, drizzle the top with honey you have dredged in rosemary, she needed a cigarette.

We are lovers of food! We are foodies not only because we love food and we love the processes of selecting the recipes and picking our ingredients and breaking out the bowls and pans and wooden spoons and spices and and and, we are passionate about our food most importantly because we can be. We have the luxury of good ingredients at our fingertips. Not everyone in this country of ours, or even our own city, has the opportunity to be so lucky.

i came away from her event with a bit of humility and gratitude, a gorgeous book full of irreplaceable bits of wisdom and recipes and a HUGE grin. The last thing i heard her say as i was walking out the door was, Don’t worry about a table cloth on this table, i am the type of person who will stand up and take it with me. AMEN SISTER!

She is coming back in August!!

You Sew Girl Monday, April 21, 2008

my friend Kaatje gave me a book a couple years back called You Grow Girl. It is my adorable garden girl bible. The book is chalked full of really useful gardening information as well as some super cute craft projects for the gardener in all of us. This weekend I finally used that gasp $14 a yard fabric i just had to buy and made my You Grow Girl Garden Apron.

I cant wait until it stops sleeting and i can get out in my handy apron and garden!

too short to be a skirt…for most of us anyway, too long to be a belt…must be a You Grow Girl Gardening Apron!

Gratitude and Genuis Friday, April 4, 2008

Last night i had the honor of attending a lecture given by Elizabeth Gilbert. I dont know if i read her book at the perfect moment in my life or if i could have read it at any point and loved it so much but love it i do! I have reread it twice through and randomly at points thereafter.

I wish i could just rewrite her entire lecture right here for you because it was poignant, charming, graceful and direct. She used her stories to answer all of the questions we have, how is her marriage to the Brazilian? what is her meditation practice like now? What it is like to be Elizabeth Gilbert every single day? She left us all with the peace of mind that she is human, she is a woman who has been guided by her Genius and that she is very very happy. She said that her prayers used to be please, please, please and now they are thank you thank you thank you. She said there is a place for gratitude in life and for her, that is now.

She has actually been asked how she is ever going to top EPL and how she can stand the pressure of that failure? good god! can you imagine? of course we all have something that we think about that way but she said, we also all know that sometimes something happens and we are not entirely responsible for its result. When she was 8 she was writing in her journal about her sledding adventure that day and wrote it was like riding a thoroughbred who had been stung by a bee. After she wrote that, she thought HEY that is a great analogy! where did that come from?? She didnt write a best seller on purpose, it happened to her and she has no idea how to repeat that. but her life will not be guided by the destruction of her previous works solely to top that with something better. How did we become a people who always needs to create the new and never seen before? why isnt one best seller enough, she thought after To Kill a Mockingbird was published with such acclaim, Harper Lee should have been permitted to garden or watch pay per view for the rest of her life! Why after creating one of the most important pieces of literature in our history, was that not enough for one person to accomplish. Maybe it was someone else’s turn.

Her ideas of Genius were glorious. She said that before the renaissance period, Genius was a gift like god entering your body and creating through you. she equated it to the Whirling Dervishes who would get into such a religious frenzy that people would watch them and shout Allah! Allah! Allah! , saying that is God, that is what he is. When the Moors entered Spain they brought this frenzy of dancing with them and that is where we now get Ole! Ole! when something is worked into a frenzy of excitement. It is the genius coming out through a person to create something. She also said that people believed that a genius (like Genie) would be passed down in a home through a family. Like the Kennedy family had a genius for Politics or the Fonda family has a genius for acting.
And because your genius is something that is separate from you and flows through you, it also protects you from the brunt of disapproval and praise. It is different from a muse, who is a person who inspires your genius, genius is more like the embodiment of god. She had an interview with Tom Waits who told her that he was in dialog with his creative genius.
He was driving on the LA freeway one day and an amazing rift came into his head and he had to yell, cant you see that i am driving here? if you are serious about this, then come back to me when i have time to listen to you.
How incredibly empowering to have a dialog with your genius instead of feeling isolated and obsessed with pulling creativity from your self.

Liz, felt that it was at that point, when we placed the Genius as self, that artists and poets and writers began to go crazy. it is never thought about twice if an artist is a junky or a poet depressed or a writer a drunk. but why does it have to be this way? She was told by a teacher that she was a good writer but would never be a great writer because she hadnt suffered enough.

She advised us all is to be very very gentle with ourselves. She knows we all have to go through our rites of passage but we should all be permitted to create our our rituals to pass through those harsh rites as unscathed as possible. Make them something that is personal and meaningful to us each. When a friend who had never married battled the idea that she had never become an adult because she hadnt passed the rite of bride, she came to terms with it and created a ritual. She constructed beautiful boats of paper and took them down to the water and lit them on fire and let them go. She let the idea of bride go and married her own life. Liz chose never to have children and after struggling with that rite as a woman she became a butterfly. She became an auntie that is fleeting in life andlasts only for 1 generation and is gone but in that time her efforts are endless and powerful. She is empowered by her ability to be the support and the strength others may need. She said there are stories all over the world about The Great Aunt and 30% of women in the world in all walks of life choose not to enter the gene pool. It is not a matter of selfishness or selflessness but a matter of choice and to have the power to create meaning from our choices, even though some of our choices are not self-imposed.

Finally, dont always go looking for the negative and the bad and the difficult because let me tell you that stuff has your address and knows where you live and when you are home alone. It has no problem finding you all by itself, enjoy the life you are given, it is the only one we have this time around. This time around.

What a lady!

The Egg Moon Friday, March 21, 2008

HAPPY SPRING!!

Apparently yesterday was the first day of Spring but i am still celebrating today because yesterday’s early arrival caught me off guard!  Last night I went to my book club to talk about eggs…in many forms. We are celebrating the Egg Moon this month as we read in Jessica Prentice’s book, Full Moon Feast.  This is the time of year that hens begin to lay eggs again as the days grow longer and warmer. For people all over the world, this meant adding fresh eggs back into their routine diets. We are talking ducks, geese, fish, chickens, iguanas…you name it we eat it somewhere. Eggs are a major source of nutrition for all cultures and is one of the only staples that has no culinary  boundaries.

Five of us met to talk eggs and sustainability and the amazing if not bizarre world we live in today. All of us agree we live in a wonderful bubble called Portland that permits us to talk of such things with like-minded people.

note the spoon at the ready

Most importantly we had wonderful eggalicious foods. I captured it essence on GW’s plate because his was the prettiest. We had deviled eggs, a wonderful japanese egg custard, roasted pepper soufflé and a fermented black tea  that was really incredible! oh and that is home-made kimche and sauerkraut.

Next Month is the Milk Moon April 21st. mmmmmmmm yum!

sitting on my overturned soapbox eating chocolates now Wednesday, January 2, 2008

my my my was i upset or what? i am now humbly sitting in my overturned soapbox, asking for your forgiveness for my rage (although my points are still valid to me) and thinking happily about chocolates and snow instead.

I had a lovely weekend and sunday was the cherry on top! i should preface this by saying GO KICKER CHECK! when the sun shines in Portland in December and the mail brings fourth free money, it is a good day.

Sunday i took my little wad of cash and did some christmas shopping. I got down to our little Pearl district and headed straight to my favorite store in the world Anthropologies. i like to touch every single thing in there twice and then try on things i cant afford and then buy some little happy trinket for my efforts. I am sure they love me in there and assume i am a wandering lunatic as they count the laps i make. And it was snowing! And i was drinking an eggnog latte and feeling quite festive!

After finding a cute top, i went down to In Good Taste for the most gluttonous wonderful day of chocolate. we baked and whipped and melted and froze a variety of chocolate wonders, which we then got to eat! our plates were the size of chargers and we got full slabs of each delectable treat.  i wanted to take mine home and they looked at me like i was insane…i thought eating 8 full pieces of dessert was insane, even in the snow.

of course…i wrapped them in a very special tinfoil box that left people oohhhing and aahhing and maybe rolling their eyeballs, tucked them into my car for the ride home and after a sudden and unexpected stop on the freeway, i had a  chocolate in every form, all over my car…SO SAD! if you are lucky, i will remake my recipes for you and your loved ones

God and faith and talking bears, oh my! Friday, December 7, 2007

So i have to vent for a minute. I am so overwhelmed with something i cant put a name to, i have to write and say what the hell!

About 4 years ago i got a book for Christmas. My mom got it for me because she had heard it was a good book and “she thought the bear on the cover was really cute” This book of course has to be non-other then The Golden Compass. I read the trilogy with my mom and loved it! i thought it was beautifully written and had a unique twist on Christian religion without shoving it in your face. It played with the powers of good and evil, innocence lost and the fight for control over the afterlife. Did it reform my life? Did i read it and think OH MY GOD, I MUST GO AGAINST EVERYTHING I BELIEVE?…um no. i am not a robot.

I was raised catholic and although i am not a church-bound religious type,I had a great childhood and can appreciate it. I never felt brain-washed. I was never under the impression i would burn in hell for having an opinion or educating my brain with arguments for alternative beliefs, other world religions. It was considered an honor to be present for other religious rites, traditions and celebrations. One of my mom’s dearest friends is an atheist!

To this day, i gage right and wrong, i mean real right and wrong, based on the woman who raised me. She had a faith that would put most people to shame, and yet never once preached or poisoned the minds of those around her. She had no desire to do that. She had a profound respect for her own faith and more for the journey each of us takes to find our own faith. I struggled with it, i admit. I had my doubts. I broke her heart more then once i am sure, but she knew it wasn’t her place to push her beliefs on me. That would not teach me to have faith, it would force me to believe i was wrong if i didnt believe what she believed. Force-feeding people faith is like forcing a child to love parsnips. You can tell them they will grow blind or die if they doesnt eat them, and they may eat them out of fear ( i never did) but will be love them? will they respect or resent them? would you?

so back to my book, now a movie, and alas, now the focus of so much drama and relentless bashing, i am drawn to write! Written by an atheist, made into a movie without denomination, The Golden Compass has drawn attention from atheists, outraged by its lack of integrity for the original script, from the born again christians who feel violated by its lack of respect for GOD. i feel sad to defend those who have no faith in god but at least they are fighting for integrity. Why fight for god? cant he take care of himself? my mom never felt the need to fight for God. Maybe she fought for her right to believe in God but isnt that an internal struggle? Isnt that the foundation of faith? Isnt faith meant to be challenged and tried. Shouldnt a person discover their real faith personally, after fighting their own demons? does it make you a better person because you refuse to partake in something based on the verbal diarrhea dictated to you by a conservative blogger or a liberal atheist?

I say go see the damn move for the merits of the movie! enjoy it! if your faith in whatever you believe, is strong and your self-respect dictates it, you wont go home crumbling into a wilted ball of parsnips believing that your entire world is a lie. You will be stronger in your childlike delights to still enjoy talking bears and beautiful flying witches with magical powers and you will have passed yet another test of will.

Keep your opinions about how i will burn in hell to yourself because I dont buy it.  Or better yet, read it yourself and create your own opinion.

ok i will step off my soapbox now. i feel much better

MY LIBRARY CARD Saturday, October 20, 2007

I feel like I am 9. That is when i got my first library card and i went in, picked out books and they just gave them to me. I was dumbfounded. After that day i spent hours in the library, making it a daily ritual. After college, I lost my card. I just go to Powells and by used books for anything i am interested in. And now i have lots of great books but less money. But today, i went back to the library. I got a new card and found 4 books to prepare me for my trip to Costa Rica, 3 gorgeous brand new, spines haven’t even been cracked cookbooks and i have 2 books on hold that will just come to me one day. There is an entire chapter on Brussel Sprouts in one and an explanation about Costa Rican hot springs and mud baths in another. I got that same sparkly feeling i had at 9 when they slid them across the smooth counter and smiled telling me they were due back in 3 weeks. All for the price of happiness.

if i find any good recipes i will pass them on, promise.