I’ve always wondered why street food was not as popular in the US. And then I started trying to understand health codes, land use policy, business permits, tax laws, risk management briefs, and sidewalk obstruction ordinances. I soon lost my appetite. The confusion was enough to make me give up on ever enjoying hot rice cakes while sitting on a plastic stool leaned up against a park wall or discovering the best roasted yams ever at the entrance to a post office. (more…)
I often receive emails about my blog, and a recent one from Dan had me thinking for a very long time. Although I wrote a reply to him directly, I’d also like to encourage a wider discussion.
It’s that time of the year again. Shorter days, colder nights and the realization that yet another year is slipping away.
For those of us who clutch to whatever hope we can find, it’s also the time to begin thinking about all the promises ahead for 2008. To help mark the months, calendars that inspire and move me are a basic necessity. How else to make the wall over my desk a place for change rather then an endless list of tasks?
The pot of chives was waiting for me in Moraga. Little did I know there was an entire afternoon of wonder in store for me when I went to pick it up.
With just his hands, a shovel and a wheelbarrow, 79-year old Ze’ev Vered has shaped seven terraces of gardens and orchards. Trees bearing pistachio, quince and pomegranate push up against the golden hills. A 6-foot cyclone fence that encircles his garden, to deter the insistent deer, has long been covered with the rambling vines of eight different varieties of grapes. The paths between each hand-weeded bed switch back several times, a steep trail that leads from one beautiful, delicious plant to another.
The invitation from Tim “Blind Muscat†Patterson was a two-part, April Fool’s proposition. First, we’d get to help him bottle a batch of rosé, a mongrel mix of this year’s Malbec, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Zinfandel. Then, there’d be the festive unbottling of the selfsame wine. What better way to celebrate Subterranean Cellars’ acquisition of water and electricity? The expansion of the patio and the recent arrival of a BBQ rig were additional excuses for an all-day drink-and-eat-fest.
Though far from a wine expert, I knew I’d be there when I read the menu’s magic words: pulled pork.
I have been up all night, my friends, in the quiet of my kitchen, sprinkling salt on shimmering slices of cucumber and watching the eggplant weep its bitterness. It is spring, and the winter stores are dwindling. read more…
