I distinctly recall a certain drawer my Dad kept that always drew my curiosity. He kept it closed and on the rare occasion when I glimpsed him open that and heard the wood scrape against wood, I might spy a sneak of silvered packaging or a bright color wrapping. He might pull out a bulbous… Continue reading Never Sated: Dark Chocolate Food Memories
Category: Notes from the Kitchen
Cooking with Tea
Green Tea Granola- it’s not exactly what you might think of when cooking with tea. Cooking with tea might conjure up thoughts and notions of Tea Smoked Duck. While I’m a fan of this delicacy, there are so many other variations of how to cook with tea. Robert Wemischner wrote a cookbook on it that… Continue reading Cooking with Tea
Building a Cookbook Collection
“I don’t have time to cook.” “I don’t know how to cook.” I’m looking at you and starting a series over the next three months inclined to get you aproned up and game on. You and I might have something in common. I work a more than full time job and have a list of… Continue reading Building a Cookbook Collection
In the closet
I have been a prodigious reader since I can remember. My first stab at writing fiction came at the expense of a pen named Percy woven into fabled exploits. I found chunky books satisfying and slender ones easy to slip into and out of with the deft skill of a model in between turns on… Continue reading In the closet
Releasing Your Inner Aussie
The life of a writer is at once solitary and demanding of community- at least mine is. During my stint getting my MFA, we would gather together at the campus pub after the day was done to dance, to talk and just unwind. Often, I would get the itch to leave the social in favor… Continue reading Releasing Your Inner Aussie
Influence and Accountability
Do no harm. While this statement summons thoughts of the medical field, I would like to consider a broader use of how it applies to the following questions: what does it mean to “do no harm” if you are a public figure and what does it mean to “do no harm” to yourself? Let’s take… Continue reading Influence and Accountability
Here and there
Something has gotten me by the craw, something that’s worked me into a frothy lather of words and spittle. I have written and re-written it, taking great pains to speak directly and then equal pains to curve the directness into more of a polite rendering of what one poetry mentor described as my “penchant for… Continue reading Here and there
Twenty four hours to kill in Trieste
24 hours in Trieste, Italy. Our cruise ship had not been able to put us on the return flight the day we returned to port. Tired and with a surprise treat of 24 hours left in Italy, we decided to drop off our bags in the hotel where the cruise ship put us up before… Continue reading Twenty four hours to kill in Trieste
The Rise and Fall of a Young Speller
From a young age, I fancied myself an avid speller. I jokingly believed that it had something to do with 18 letters of a linguistically head scratching long name and as many letters of the alphabet that can be squeezed in. It might have also been because I was a good reader. Once a teacher… Continue reading The Rise and Fall of a Young Speller
The Long Walk Out of the Darkness
If you scan many bucket lists, you might find the words “run a marathon” on them. I do not delude myself to include it on mine particularly after a chat with the Mister reminded me that the original marathoner died after his 26.2. No thanks. I will happily cheer on my cousin Jacqueline as she… Continue reading The Long Walk Out of the Darkness
Dwelling in between
When you’re homesick, you look for something to stifle the pang. Shortly after starting my first job and in what I perceived at the time would be a temporary assignment before making a big move overseas, I found myself in that curious space of dwelling in the in between. Sure, I’d lived in California for… Continue reading Dwelling in between
Pulling back the curtain & the allure of the grand reveal
I carted myself cross-town yesterday to take part in an annual rite of passage: the Fancy Food show. On the bus, among the other worker bees dwelling in San Francisco, I plotted my day by starting with poetry before experiencing the surge of sensory stimuli I have come to expect from any tradeshow. Taking the… Continue reading Pulling back the curtain & the allure of the grand reveal