Aren't these cranberries gorgeous?

I don't actually like raw cranberries that much. They are too sour for my taste. I did, however, make an amazing Cranberry Orange Cornmeal Cake last month for an employee holiday party. It didn't have just orange or cranberry or cornmeal, either--which, for the record, are all beautiful ingredients. It had ricotta and maple syrup as well. It was a mix between corn bread, cheesecake and a cranberry orange muffin and one coworker wanted the recipe plus the leftovers. Thanks Luisa from The Wednesday Chef!

Today I found out that President Lincoln was a poet. I got to introduce Ronald C. White Jr. for his new book A. Lincoln and Dr. White explained and read aloud some of Lincoln's key speeches. He compared some lines written by someone else to the words Lincoln actually used. The audience, me included, began to understand the poetics that Lincoln employed in his speeches. In fact, this speech that someone else helped him write was for his Inaugural address and it was the only speech Lincoln did not write entirely on his own. This discussion renewed in me an admiration for words and all the beautiful and fun things you can do with them. Even White's lecture was eloquently constructed.
Here is a small example.

Lincoln's one-time speech writer suggests saying: I close.
Lincoln decides to say: I am loathe to close.

Say it out loud. Ronald White made the audience do it. I am loathe to close elongates the phrase and loathe and close are so rhythmic together.

I too am loathe to close, but writing about words makes me want to spend time with my ever-expanding stacks of books.

Oh yeah, and Happy 200th Lincoln, I know it's coming up!

Peaceful Transfer of Power

I watched the Inauguration today in my pajamas. It was special to see all of the former presidents and first ladies walking down the aisle. And to see President Obama and Vice-President Bidden sworn into office. As always, Obama's speech was inspiring, honest, and thorough. What stayed with me most, though, was the phrase that was repeated to describe this day: A Peaceful Transfer of Power.

Let it be that.

January 19, 2009

Today, I went to a celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life. On stage, actors recreated some of King's most impactful speeches. It struck me that the majority of nods and claps of agreement came from the excerpts of his "The Importance of Vietnam" speech. I'd like to quote parts of this speech here and contemplate the meaning of these words at this time in our history, and most importantly on this day in our history.

"Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover when the issues at hand seem as perplexed as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move on.

"Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. And we must rejoice as well, for surely this is the first time in our nation's history that a significant number of its religious leaders have chosen to move beyond the prophesying of smooth patriotism to the high grounds of a firm dissent based upon the mandates of conscience and the reading of history. Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movement well and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us."

-April 4, 1967

For the whole speech and other prominent speeches, please visit blackpast.org

I am back from New York now. Walking through the airport, I realized that I hadn't been on a trip by myself since I went to France in 2006. So much has changed since then. Even though my trip to New York was only 10 days and not in a foreign country, all of the ingredients that made France so special were there. I did it all on my own. I saw things I had never seen before that took me outside of my own reality. New York is a world unto itself. Everything that I know and am comfortable with suddenly disseminated. New York is dark and grungy and at the same time fast-paced and glamorous. It is rich in history and culture. Yet, it is somehow mundane and 'every-day.' I don't quite know why we romanticize it so much.

Mostly, I am grateful that I stayed with friends. I love my friends.


Here's a Rilke sonnet, just because I'm in that mood.

29

Silent friend of many distances,
feel how your breath is still expanding space.
Let yourself peal among the beams
of dark belfries. Whatever preys

on you will grow strong from this nourishment.
Know transformation through and through.
What experience has been most painful to you?
If the drinking's bitter, turn to wine.

In this vast night, be the magic power
at your senses' intersection,
the meaning of their strange encounter.

And if the earthly has forgotten
you, say to the still earth: I flow.
To the rushing water speak: I am.

New York, New York

I'm in New York. Brooklyn, actually. But this photo is the Lower East Side.
They brought Stumptown Coffee all the way out here. Just for me to have a nice cappuccino. It was very nice. I had a spicy pickle, too. That was a little more of the local flavor than a cross-country cappuccino.

Happy New Year!!!
How and Where are you celebrating?

One More Time

Do I need to say it again?

Yes, I think I do.

Happy Holidays

Handy-Craft

So far, all my birthday presents this year have been hand-crafted. That or cookbooks. Which really amounts to the same thing. Cookbooks just perpetuate the cycle of giving and getting homemade. Here are a few things I got:

A felted birdie by my friend ew. Look at it's cute little hat!!

A beautiful necklace with a rhinestone and pounded metal by Amy Bixby, bought at Venue.

Not pictured presents include a shiny silver necklace with an orange glass bead by Laura Bee; A felted pouch with an A on it, complete with felted bacon, eggs, birthday cake and eggplant made by my friend kw; An apron with blue and green prints of birds by KIM (very needed and very cute); a black clay bowl with red paint on the inside from From The Heart Pottery; a painted calabash bought and made in Saint Martin's; caramel brownies and sweet home-made cards.

I had a great two-day birthday. The first day (birthday eve, shall we say?) my friends at work spoiled me with sweets and presents and lunch. In the evening more friends of mine met me for dinner and a concert. The night was complete with many slips and slides in the snow. As I posted earlier, on my birthday I walked in the snow. It was so fresh and bright and beautiful. My family took me to Divine for dinner. A high class Greek restaurant where every flavor blends perfectly in every dish. We sat in a private room upstairs that felt like someones dining room with big burning candles and window drapes. My mom ordered a rosemary martini-simply sprigs of Rosemary in vodka. It was oily and herby and went well with her roasted lamb. My favorite dish was the salty, savory Arugula-Calamari salad. Mmm. I was grateful that everyone could make it out in this surprising Seattle snow storm.

My cookbook gifts are:



















Ina Garten's new Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics and Tom Kime's Street Food. Surely I will be showing you yummy and inspiring foods from both these books in the weeks to come.

'Tis the season for giving, too, n'est-ce pas? This year I've made (with the help of my new choclatier Dad)......drumroll.......plug your ears if you expect to receive a present from me.....Chocolate Bark!!!

Not any old Chocolate Bark, no. I used three different types of chocolate and the chocolate was tempered like you would the couverture of a truffle. It is crispy and crunchy and perfectly shiny! The dark chocolate was a 55% semi-sweet that I added toasted Macadamia nuts and bittersweet chocolate chips to. To the milk chocolate I added dark chocolate nibs and dried cranberries, little crunchy bits of bitter chocolate contrasted the squishy bitter cranberry in texture and complimented it in taste. Of course, with the white chocolate I made the Ole' standby peppermint bark. The most crunchy and seasonal of them all. All chocolates were Calebout. I layered them from dark to light and wrapped them in cellophane with a bow. Simple and decadent, just how it should be.

December 19

Today is my birthday.

I walked in the snow.

And am going to dinner soon.

Just Some Mid-Week Inspiration...

...Too keep your wheels turning.