I haven't quite finished the book but I'm amazed Chez Panisse survived and still serves meals. It definitely is the product of a group effort, a family.
The opening night in August 1971 was a disaster. There were plenty of diners but not enough food.
"There were still fifty people waiting in the street. 'I'm sorry, ' Alice called to them. 'We just don't have anymore food. Come back tomorrow.'"
It sounds like they had never cooked the duck recipe they were serving so the timing was an unknown quantity. The sauce reportedly contained cigarette ash from the chef, Victoria Kroyer, a UC Berkeley philosophy graduate who liked to cook at home. Ah-h-h the perfect person to hire for a new and ground breaking restaurant.
Even from the beginning it seems Alice Waters is picking people with skill but she will be able to call the shots, pick the menu items and have the final say.
Surprising Jeremiah Tower lasted as long as he did. I'm amazed at his ability to cook on a diet of champagne and cocaine. They must have had a lot of cooking accidents, mitts and sleeves on fire. But great food.
I'm going to read JT's book about all time called "California Dish".
More to come...
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
present meets the past...
History. I like the idea of a man, an historian, reconstructing his grandparents lives because they seem more interesting than his own and perhaps he would learn something about himself. Comparing the past and present characters is a wonderful device. Sometimes the voice seemed awkward (so here I am judging the wonderful Wallace Stegner but isn't this what blogs are all about?) when Lyman is trying to put words into his grandmother's mouth or imagining what she might be thinking but I guess I got used to it. It stopped bothering me.
Stegner did get in trouble because he based his grandmother's character on a real artist/writer named, Mary Hollock Foote. He was accused of plagiarism. I recently read that he felt he "borrowed" these relatives.
Living in the Old West. This book gives a vivid account of living in the "old west". I read it years ago and the one scene that stayed in my memory is the stage coach ride to the New Almaden mine. For the first time I really thought about how uncomfortable and dirty travel would be. In later parts of the book there is more train travel but even that must have been pretty uncomfortable.
What does it take to succeed in the Old West? I think Oliver is a sympathtic character. So what did it take to suceed? Education, connections, skill or just lots of luck. He has some great ideas, the cement process and the irrigation plan in Idaho. He just doesn't have that luck part.
Mothers doing what is best for the children. I can really appreciate the drama Susan goes through when she has to constantly put her "family" ,the children first in her plans. A job for Oliver in South America is out of the question because she didn't feel safe taking a small child there. A wise decision or not? Who's to know.
Stegner writes about his own life: " By getting scarlet fever, I had balked my father's dream of going to Alaska and digging up the baseball-sized nuggets. Then there was a bad time. You (his mother) left my father , or he you; nobody ever told me. But Cece (his older brother) and I found ourselves in a Seattle orphans' home, put there while you worked at Bon Marche"
Mrs Elliott accuses Susan of running Oliver's life: "Of course you make the decisions. You tell him how his life is to go. If you didn't, you'd be up in the Andes right now." Does she run his life?
The big dream. Oliver has big ideas but they just don't work out. Is it his personality? Ideas before there time. What's going on here? Should he have given up on the Big Ditch long before he's beaten down and drinking too much?
Forgiveness. So will Lyman forgive his wife? Susan and Oliver live in Grass Valley together at the end of their life.
"But he never forgave her." I said. "She broke something she couldn't mend. I all the years I lived with them I never saw them kiss, I never saw them put their arms around each other, I never saw them touch!"
That's really sad.
Western Literature. "and you will find that it is a book not about the place but about motion, not about fulfillment but about desire. There is always a seeking, generally unsatisfied."
That just about sums it up.
WOW! What a great read.
JML
Stegner did get in trouble because he based his grandmother's character on a real artist/writer named, Mary Hollock Foote. He was accused of plagiarism. I recently read that he felt he "borrowed" these relatives.
Living in the Old West. This book gives a vivid account of living in the "old west". I read it years ago and the one scene that stayed in my memory is the stage coach ride to the New Almaden mine. For the first time I really thought about how uncomfortable and dirty travel would be. In later parts of the book there is more train travel but even that must have been pretty uncomfortable.
What does it take to succeed in the Old West? I think Oliver is a sympathtic character. So what did it take to suceed? Education, connections, skill or just lots of luck. He has some great ideas, the cement process and the irrigation plan in Idaho. He just doesn't have that luck part.
Mothers doing what is best for the children. I can really appreciate the drama Susan goes through when she has to constantly put her "family" ,the children first in her plans. A job for Oliver in South America is out of the question because she didn't feel safe taking a small child there. A wise decision or not? Who's to know.
Stegner writes about his own life: " By getting scarlet fever, I had balked my father's dream of going to Alaska and digging up the baseball-sized nuggets. Then there was a bad time. You (his mother) left my father , or he you; nobody ever told me. But Cece (his older brother) and I found ourselves in a Seattle orphans' home, put there while you worked at Bon Marche"
Mrs Elliott accuses Susan of running Oliver's life: "Of course you make the decisions. You tell him how his life is to go. If you didn't, you'd be up in the Andes right now." Does she run his life?
The big dream. Oliver has big ideas but they just don't work out. Is it his personality? Ideas before there time. What's going on here? Should he have given up on the Big Ditch long before he's beaten down and drinking too much?
Forgiveness. So will Lyman forgive his wife? Susan and Oliver live in Grass Valley together at the end of their life.
"But he never forgave her." I said. "She broke something she couldn't mend. I all the years I lived with them I never saw them kiss, I never saw them put their arms around each other, I never saw them touch!"
That's really sad.
Western Literature. "and you will find that it is a book not about the place but about motion, not about fulfillment but about desire. There is always a seeking, generally unsatisfied."
That just about sums it up.
WOW! What a great read.
JML
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
human nature?
So why did I think I would be spending my summer sitting quietly and reading our book for hours and hours?
I do keep The Pocket Dalai Lama with me so I can read a few pages when I'm waiting to pick up Emily. I keep wondering, will I be able to read more and less after she gets a drivers' license? I'm highlighting and putting stickey notes on most pages.
The one quote which jumped out at me is "human nature is basically good, gentle and unaggressive." The Dalai Lama has not worked at a pre-school with 3 & 4 year old boys. Perhaps children are different in Tibet.
"In Buddhism, any thought, feeling or mental state that undermines our peace of mind from within-all negative thoughts and emotions such as anger, pride, lust, greed, envy and so on, are considered to be afflictions."
So how does the Dalai Lama get through the day? He must have people shopping and cooking for him. He doesn't have children or drive on the freeway. I bet he doesn't have a drivers' license. Are there highways in Tibet?
At this point I think I would need to be wrapped up in bubble pack and placed in a dark closet to achieve peace of mind day after day. A few days at the Sonoma Mission Inn might help also.
"Anger is the real destroyer of our good human qualities, an enemy with a weapon cannot destroy these qualities, but anger can. Anger is our real enemy."
Hm-m-m-m. Not be angry. That's something to think about. That's like a day without caffeine.
Maybe I'm just not Buddhist material.
I actually have started to read "The World's Religions" but I also picked up a copy of "The Illustrated World's Religions" so I'm bouncing back and forth. The text is interesting but dense. I'll read some pages, come back in a few days, read the pages again and am surprised to find highlighting on the page , which means I read it but I don't remember it. Very slow progress.
"To be sure India has not made pleasure her highest good, but this is differnt from condemning enjoyment. To the person who wants pleasure, India says in effect: Go after it-there is nothing wrong with it: it is one of the four legitimate ends of life."
After growing up as a Presbyterian/Christian I read this and thought, "WOW" they actually get to talk about pleasure. It's actually encouraged. That's not one of those words Presbyterians toss around a lot.
Emily tells me she read early Christians were rejecting Rome/Roman ideals so "pleasure" was not an activity they supported. They saw what it did to the Romans.
Talking about pleasure, I think I understand Salman Rushdie's style of writing more with just the little bit of reading on Hinduism. It's like a window into the world he is writing about.
"All of us dwell on the brink of the infinite ocean of life's creative power. We carry it within us: supreme strength, the fullness of wisdom, unquenchable joy."
wishing you all pleasure, Jane
I do keep The Pocket Dalai Lama with me so I can read a few pages when I'm waiting to pick up Emily. I keep wondering, will I be able to read more and less after she gets a drivers' license? I'm highlighting and putting stickey notes on most pages.
The one quote which jumped out at me is "human nature is basically good, gentle and unaggressive." The Dalai Lama has not worked at a pre-school with 3 & 4 year old boys. Perhaps children are different in Tibet.
"In Buddhism, any thought, feeling or mental state that undermines our peace of mind from within-all negative thoughts and emotions such as anger, pride, lust, greed, envy and so on, are considered to be afflictions."
So how does the Dalai Lama get through the day? He must have people shopping and cooking for him. He doesn't have children or drive on the freeway. I bet he doesn't have a drivers' license. Are there highways in Tibet?
At this point I think I would need to be wrapped up in bubble pack and placed in a dark closet to achieve peace of mind day after day. A few days at the Sonoma Mission Inn might help also.
"Anger is the real destroyer of our good human qualities, an enemy with a weapon cannot destroy these qualities, but anger can. Anger is our real enemy."
Hm-m-m-m. Not be angry. That's something to think about. That's like a day without caffeine.
Maybe I'm just not Buddhist material.
I actually have started to read "The World's Religions" but I also picked up a copy of "The Illustrated World's Religions" so I'm bouncing back and forth. The text is interesting but dense. I'll read some pages, come back in a few days, read the pages again and am surprised to find highlighting on the page , which means I read it but I don't remember it. Very slow progress.
"To be sure India has not made pleasure her highest good, but this is differnt from condemning enjoyment. To the person who wants pleasure, India says in effect: Go after it-there is nothing wrong with it: it is one of the four legitimate ends of life."
After growing up as a Presbyterian/Christian I read this and thought, "WOW" they actually get to talk about pleasure. It's actually encouraged. That's not one of those words Presbyterians toss around a lot.
Emily tells me she read early Christians were rejecting Rome/Roman ideals so "pleasure" was not an activity they supported. They saw what it did to the Romans.
Talking about pleasure, I think I understand Salman Rushdie's style of writing more with just the little bit of reading on Hinduism. It's like a window into the world he is writing about.
"All of us dwell on the brink of the infinite ocean of life's creative power. We carry it within us: supreme strength, the fullness of wisdom, unquenchable joy."
wishing you all pleasure, Jane
Friday, June 13, 2008
Impatience
The summer blog begins...jump right in!
After reading the introduction of "The World's Religions" I immediately skipped to chapter 2 on Buddhism because this is the religion we had decided to focus on. I'm impatient. It took a few a pages to realize I would benefit from reading chapter 1 on Hinduism. So this is where I am now.
I know nothing about Hinduism also, so this is time well spent.
I did get far enough in the Buddhism chapter to find out Siddhartha is "Buddha's" first name in his before life. Ah-ha-ha, I thought, "Siddhartha" the novel by Herman Hesse. Someone brought a copy to the group last Friday. When it was held up there was group recognition and approval but that is because everyone in their before life has read it. It was the "in" book right up there with "Trout Fishing in America." Of course I saw a girl at my high school with a copy of "Trout Fishing" and I felt sorry for her because I thought she was forced to read fishing regulations for some science class.
I admit I did not read "Siddhartha" at Woodside High School. I was not cool. I was in the drama crowd. I studied Broadway musical comedies and not enlightenment or journeys of discovery.
"Man of La Mancha" was the big hit on Broadway and I would dash home to hear Richard Kiely sing "The Impossible Dream" one more time.
I wrote an American History final based entirely on the musical "1776". High school was easier back then.
Name dropping! Kenny Ortega, the director/producer of High School Musical 1 & 2 was MY director and choreographer for shows with Redwood City Civic Light Opera. A theatre company started by kids and for kids. He was a cheer leader and student at Sequoia High School.
So what does all of this have to do with Buddhism? Since it's too soon to have much to say about our "suggested book", I'm asking when and why did you read "Siddhartha" and if you didn't...why not? Perhaps you know people who read it or were about to read it but got distracted. There must be some good stories out there.
"Young people", Cathy C, Sarah and McKenna are excused from this assignment.
Jane
After reading the introduction of "The World's Religions" I immediately skipped to chapter 2 on Buddhism because this is the religion we had decided to focus on. I'm impatient. It took a few a pages to realize I would benefit from reading chapter 1 on Hinduism. So this is where I am now.
I know nothing about Hinduism also, so this is time well spent.
I did get far enough in the Buddhism chapter to find out Siddhartha is "Buddha's" first name in his before life. Ah-ha-ha, I thought, "Siddhartha" the novel by Herman Hesse. Someone brought a copy to the group last Friday. When it was held up there was group recognition and approval but that is because everyone in their before life has read it. It was the "in" book right up there with "Trout Fishing in America." Of course I saw a girl at my high school with a copy of "Trout Fishing" and I felt sorry for her because I thought she was forced to read fishing regulations for some science class.
I admit I did not read "Siddhartha" at Woodside High School. I was not cool. I was in the drama crowd. I studied Broadway musical comedies and not enlightenment or journeys of discovery.
"Man of La Mancha" was the big hit on Broadway and I would dash home to hear Richard Kiely sing "The Impossible Dream" one more time.
I wrote an American History final based entirely on the musical "1776". High school was easier back then.
Name dropping! Kenny Ortega, the director/producer of High School Musical 1 & 2 was MY director and choreographer for shows with Redwood City Civic Light Opera. A theatre company started by kids and for kids. He was a cheer leader and student at Sequoia High School.
So what does all of this have to do with Buddhism? Since it's too soon to have much to say about our "suggested book", I'm asking when and why did you read "Siddhartha" and if you didn't...why not? Perhaps you know people who read it or were about to read it but got distracted. There must be some good stories out there.
"Young people", Cathy C, Sarah and McKenna are excused from this assignment.
Jane
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