On Inspiration

I was over at Chinese Grandma today, a fantastic blog about my favorite things: children, food, and musing about life, when I came across a passage that really spoke to me. It was part of a speech that Elizabeth Gilbert, author of "Eat, Pray, Love" gave at the TED conference in 2009 on being a writer and where the inspiration to write great things comes from. She didn't totally identify with this poet's description of the way inspiration came to her but I did! Do you?



Kauai, HI


"I had this encounter recently where I met the extraordinary American poet Ruth Stone, who’s now in her 90s, but she’s been a poet her entire life and she told me that when she was growing up in rural Virginia, she would be out working in the fields, and she said she would feel and hear a poem coming at her from over the landscape. And she said it was like a thunderous train of air. And it would come barreling down at her over the landscape. And she felt it coming, because it would shake the earth under her feet. She knew that she had only one thing to do at that point, and that was to, in her words, “run like hell.” And she would run like hell to the house and she would be getting chased by this poem, and the whole deal was that she had to get to a piece of paper and a pencil fast enough so that when it thundered through her, she could collect it and grab it on the page. And other times she wouldn’t be fast enough, so she’d be running and running and running, and she wouldn’t get to the house and the poem would barrel through her and she would miss it and she said it would continue on across the landscape, looking, as she put it “for another poet.” And then there were these times — this is the piece I never forgot — she said that there were moments where she would almost miss it, right? So, she’s running to the house and she’s looking for the paper and the poem passes through her, and she grabs a pencil just as it’s going through her, and then she said, it was like she would reach out with her other hand and she would catch it. She would catch the poem by its tail, and she would pull it backwards into her body as she was transcribing on the page. And in these instances, the poem would come up on the page perfect and intact but backwards, from the last word to the first."

You can check out more great posts from Chinese Grandma here and read the entire transcript here.
Hope you have an inspired Wednesday!

Santa Fe Gourmet

I recently spent several days in Santa Fe for work.  I had no idea that this would be a town of foodies.  My absolute favorite restaurant was this little corner place named Cafe Pasquals that is dedicated to using fresh, seasonal, organic ingredients.  It's low on pretension and high on flavor, character, and friendly service.  I was lucky enough to stumble on this little gem during lunchtime the day I arrived in Santa Fe.  I ordered the Blue Lady Enchiladas - Jack cheese, grilled zucchini, red onions, wrapped in two corn tortillas and smothered in red chile sauce, served with black beans and cilantro rice.  If I had to choose a last meal, this would be in the running.  

The great news for all of us is that the owner has published several cookbooks:

Because my first meal was so tasty, I squeezed in one more visit there for breakfast on my last day in town.  Happily the restaurant offers half portions which means I got to taste more things on the menu.  I ordered a half portion of Maga's Cheese Blintzes and a half portion of MM's Papas Fritas; again I was not disappointed.  If you've managed to save room for dessert, I absolutely recommend the homemade Mexican Wedding Cookies!     

Fall Colors

I realize this isn't your typical fall foliage tour, but beautiful, seasonal colors were out in full force this weekend.

Had a great couple of days with my big sister:  Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, shopping, yoga, Keith Urban concert, amazing food, and an unexpectedly good movie.  I love our visits, see you again in a few weeks!

Neil Diamond

How much do you love the Neil Diamond?

He's really the whole package, sparkly outfits, moving stage show, classy back-up dancers, smart lyrics. . . Here are some of my favorite lines from the Neil Diamond song book:

"I am," I said
To no one there
An no one heard at all
Not even the chair

Soo, soolaimon
Soolai, soolai, soolaimon
Soo, soolaimon
Soolai, soolai, soolaimon
Soo, soolaimon
Soolai, soolai, soolaimon

Pack up the babies
Grab the old ladies
Everyone goes
Everyone knows
Brother Love's show

That was so much fun, let's do it again!

Check out this blog for more on Neil.

I love LA!

And who wouldn't?  It's beautiful, warm, sunny, and the food is amazing.

Spending a day at the beach in Malibu, playing football in the sand, catching up on my long reading list, snoozing a little, and cooling off in the water.  Just look at the smile on this girl:   

You can even find a bit of culture in LA.  These pictures are from the Getty Villa.  Make sure to spend a lot of time looking up, some of the best details are on the ceiling:

I never go hungry in LA.  Here are my top 3 restaurant choices:  1) Casablanca (flour tortilla are made fresh and served at your table with butter), 2) Cici's Cafe (try the Forget Me Not pancakes - strawberries, macadamia nuts and chocolate chip buttermilk pancakes with whipped cream - yum!), and 3) Sabroso (which appropriately means delicious).

And the sunsets are fantastic.  Here's the view we enjoyed during dinner one night:

So long for now, until we meet again my friend.  I'll miss you.

Friday Family Dinner and the Big Bad Mood

Vegetarian Recipes For Wolves, Print from Original Textile Art by AntheaArt on Etsy

 Can we be totally honest here? Hubster was in a very baaaad mood tonight. We are talking super-Grump! I don't know why, but anyway here I was, tired after a crazy work week which consisted of a a trip to Sacramento for a continuing ed. course, many meetings and of course, seeing patients. It also consisted of a late-night girl's night out and a nasty bladder infection that coincided with my 2 hour trip (I know, TMI!). So when I arrived home to a familiar fajita dinner, who was I to complain? The dinner conversation was, shall I say, not flowing, but Bella was happy, having just run through the sprinklers, so I started a chain-story. Have you tried this with a 4 year old? It tells you a lot about what is going on in their little mini-brains. Basically you take turns building on the story, making it up as you go along. Bella started the story with a daisy flower who was running away from the Big Bad Wolf (her favorite love-to-hate character).

 

Yellow Daisy Original Painting by DollgrinDesigns on Etsy




By the way, daisies CAN run, they use their roots! Who knew? So the daisy ran and climbed through a little girl's window and cuddled up with her for the night. It was a very suspenseful and action-packed story and in the end, of course the Big Bad Wolf was eaten by a crocodile after he was made to walk the plank of a pirate ship and the flower and the little girl remained best friends forever.



So now you think I'm going to say that hubby was much happier after this fun diversion but sadly, it was not so. At every dinner, our family likes to say 5 things we were grateful for that day. I know, how Oprah of us, right? Usually, after saying (out loud) 5 things you are grateful for, you can't possibly be in a bad mood anymore.Well, Hubby was, Sort-of... Win some, lose some, go to bed and start again tomorrow!

Fajitas

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Prep Time: 20 min

Inactive Prep Time: 8 hr 0 min

Cook Time: 11 min

Level: Easy
Serves: 6 servings (12 fajitas)

Ingredients

Marinade:

• 1 orange, juiced
• 2 limes, juiced
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 pounds skirt or flank steak, trimmed of fat (we had chicken breast instead)
• 1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• Guacamole, recipe follows
• Salsa Fresca, recipe follows
• 12 flour tortillas, warm

Directions

In a small bowl, whisk together marinade ingredients. Place steak in a shallow container, and pour marinade over it. Refrigerate, covered, 8 hours or overnight to tenderize meat. (We used chicken and just cooked it in this sauce instead of marinating)

Drain the marinade from the meat. Grill the steak in a ridged grill pan over medium-high he
at for 4 minutes each side. Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let stand.
In the same pan with the steak juices, add the bell peppers and onions. Saute the mixture for 3 minutes until the vegetables are limp. Thinly slice the steak against the grain on a diagonal.
Spread some guacamole on a tortilla, top with a few slices of steak, peppers and onions and salsa fresca. Roll up the tortilla to enclose the filling.
May also serve with sour cream and shredded cheese

Copyright 2011 Television Food Network G.P.

Just to update you on my French Skinny Experiment, today I ate a small bowl of yogurt with honey and blueberries for breakfast. I had a small bowl (a bit larger than a ramikin-size) of rice, beans, salsa and guacamole for lunch with a couple slices of baguette with butter, and 2 bites of a chocolate chip cookie. For dinner, one chicken fajita on a corn tortilla with lots of guacamole, a glass of wine and 5 mini peanut butter cups for dessert. Never hungry. Never felt deprived. I've been holding steady at my high school weight since late May. This is the best trick I've ever learned, I feel fantastic!






Master Baking

This year I thought it would be a good idea to 1) learn French and 2) master the skill of baking.  These goals were inspired by my love of Paris and by all the amazing bakeries around Greece and Turkey.  Kelly and Kendra will confirm that, upon my insistence, we went inside every bakery we passed.  The bread, pastries, baklava, etc. were all so beautifully displayed, and tasted as good as they looked.  My favorite were the old guys who baked hundreds (maybe thousands) of loaves of bread every morning at the bakery around the corner from our hotel in Turkey.  They would load them onto trucks early in the morning and by the evening every loaf was gone.  So back to my baking goal, I decided that I would initially start out to master morning buns and challah, and that these would become my "specialities."  The year started out strong, Barbara and I tried out at least 3 different challah recipes, so far none as good as the loaves for sale at Noe Valley Bakery right down the street from my house.  I started to loose steam, but shifted my focus to morning buns.  Well after reading several baking books, I realized that it's a 3 day process to make a proper morning bun.  Again, I thought of all the bakeries around San Francisco that make wonderful morning buns that can instantly be yours for a small, reasonable fee.  The dream all but died at this point.  Then Barbara found a baking class offered through Groupon.  We signed up for a beginning "starter" class at Victoria bakery in the Mission.  I've made a lot of bread in my lifetime, mostly quick breads, pizza dough, and some yeast breads.  But I'd never made a bread from a starter.  What a fun new process.  We learned to make our own starter and took one home to "feed."  Did you know that starters need to be fed daily!  It's like a Tamagotchi or one of those flour sacks they give you in high school to carry around to teach parenting responsibility.  My starter was born on 8.21.11 and is named Manny.  He'll be ready for his first loaf in about a week.  I'll let you know how it goes.  While Barbara continues to travel every week for work, I'm also babysitting her starter, Penelope.  Wish me luck, this seems like a lot of responsibility.    

Manny