musings about food, travel, creativity and life
Last weekend, the student in me was one happy camper. I attended two cooking classes. One was on croissant making, held at Sur La Table in Carmel. I love eating croissants, pain au chocolat especially, so why not learn to bake them? Right! After the […]
Orange is the color of the season. Our local Earthbound Farms Market is a center for natural sculptures of all configurations of pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. And I wanted to join the fun by bringing orange to the table this week. I did […]
This week I’ve been culling my book collection. In the process, I’ve rediscovered one stunning book that was given to us by our niece many Christmases ago. It’s Food Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 Extraordinary Places to Eat Around the Globe. The hungry gypsy in […]
I just visited the Mediterranean! Well, almost. What I did do was read The Forest Feast Mediterranean by Erin Gleeson. It’s her latest release in a series of vegetarian cookbooks. This book is a delight. It is a colorful blend of recipes, illustrated by watercolors, […]
I’m on a new adventure: how to experience my home territory in fresh, fun and inspiring ways. As a part of that, I happened onto an e-mail announcing cooking classes at our very own, newly renovated Sur La Table store in Carmel. Quite a few […]
“Good food with friends and family is the cure of souls.” (from a Leigh Standley Curly Girl cocktail napkin) It was a very warm day on the Peninsula and I had a series of in-town appointments. Highlighting the day, though, were three events with […]
How could I not go to a talk entitled, “What Makes Humans Happy?” This talk was presented in Ketchum, Idaho a few weeks ago by Laurie Santos, Yale University Professor of Psychology. Her course called “Psychology and the Good Life” is apparently the most popular […]
Saying “A woman’s place is in the kitchen” might cause a stir. But I just finished a book called A Woman’s Place (2019) that addresses that concept in a unique, positive, and assertive way. “Yes,” the authors say, a woman’s place is in the kitchen–as […]
Summer can be a lovely mix of this and that–the familiar, the new; rest, excitement. A fullness. Trees and flowers are at their best. Festivals and picnics abound. And wine shelves overflow with pink rosés from around the world. “Rosé” says summer to me. Pretty, […]
It was that kind of week. A sad one, with our American flags again at half-mast, with words and images that made our hearts ache and our minds wonder–what can we do to be a part of a solution to all of the violence, loss […]
Madison inspires me. I love the university vibe, even though it is mellower in the summer–and hotter and muggier. Bicyclists are out in full force; music and food festivals abound; sailboats, kayaks and rowing shells sweep by on Lake Mendota. And–one of the best and […]
Here we are in Wisconsin with all of its treasures. First there are the friends–inspirations, all. And the food they share with us around their respective home tables…from white fish and trout at Lake Superior, to ratatouille fixed in a new Instapot, to a new […]
“On the road again,” and we found ourselves “on the shores of Gitche Gumee,” Longfellow’s rendition of the Native American Ojibwe name for Lake Superior. To begin our Midwest adventure, we landed in Minneapolis and then drove to Duluth, Minnesota–a first-time visit for us–along roads […]
This week I was able to “bring joy to the table” in the form of special food items from my growing-up years in San Francisco. One was a lemon from a tree my father planted in the backyard of our San Francisco home over 50 […]
My favorite morning beverage is a caffè latte with homemade almond milk. After I assemble my first cup, I travel out to our porch, take in the valley view, settle on the green love seat that was my mom and dad’s and take that first […]