Holiday Crafting

Christmas window displays around the City have inspired me!  Here is one of my recent creations.  I think one year we should have a rule that all gifts have to be homemade.  What do you think?!

Fall Soups

There's a crispness in the air and what better way to cozy up to the new colder weather than with a hot bowl of soup.  Here's one I adapted from an old Williams Sonoma Thanksgiving cookbook:

Butternut Squash Chowder

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh sage, plus small sage leaves for garnish
• 3 tsp. kosher salt, plus more, to taste
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper, plus more, to taste
• 2 russet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 32 oz. pureed butternut squash
• 1/2 cup skim milk

Directions:

In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the onion, chopped sage, salt and pepper, stirring occasionally, just until the onions are soft, 5 to 6 minutes.  Stir in the potatoes, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes.

Add the wine and simmer, stirring to scrape up the browned bits, for 1 to 2 minutes.  Add the broth and bring just to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low and gently simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 12 minutes.

Add the butternut squash puree and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the milk and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper.

Ladle the chowder into warmed bowls and garnish with sage leaves.  Serve immediately.  Serves 6 to 8.

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.