Archive for January, 2011
Caravan of Dreams–Review
I have only a few days left before school starts and I’m pretty excited about it. I’m also waiting to see how I roll back into a curriculum. It’s been so long since I’ve been in to school, it will be interesting to see how I do. Next week, I’ll report on my first day and orientation. I’m sure I’ll be drowning in information. But on to the food.
Last night, I had dinner at Caravan of Dreams, an organic vegan restaurant. There was a time when labeling a restaurant “organic vegan” would have relegated that establishment to the “crunchy granola” crowd. Today, however, organic food is on the rise and “vegan” does not mean a slab of tofu on a bed of alfalfa sprouts chased with a glass of wheatgrass juice. Although you can still get that if that’s your pleasure, vegetarian cuisine has gone way beyond that. 
Soup! Mmm, Mmm, Good!
Hi, gang. January is National Soup Month. And why wouldn’t it be? In the summer, we may scream for ice cream, but in winter, soup is what really hits the spot. It’s warming, comforting, and re-energizing.
Frankly, I like soup any time of the year. Some look at me oddly when I eat it in the summer, but the fact is that eating hot soup (or any hot food) in summer actually adjusts your internal body temperature, making external heat more bearable. Then again, a lovely chilled soup can be quite refreshing in the sweltering summer heat.
The Next Phase
I’m the kind of person who keeps news to herself until such time that she feels it’s either necessary or safe to share the information. So I have some news that I’ve shared with very few people since it happened in November, but I’m ready to go public. In 2½ weeks, I start culinary school.
I’ve published a cookbook, been a freelance food writer and restaurant reviewer, and have had my own personal chef service. Now, as Emeril Lagasse says, I’m cranking it up a notch. I’m going for the degree.
Some might say that I’ve done this backwards, that I should have gone to culinary school first, then written a cookbook, started a food blog, etc., etc. But, then, I’ve never done anything the logical way. And when I have, for whatever reason, it never really worked out the way I anticipated.
Food Holidays All Year Long!
Hi, all. A very Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you all have started out the year on a good note and that the rest of the year is a happy one.
The Italian Tribune has reviewed my book, What, No Meat? Traditional Italian Cooking the Vegetarian Way, in their December 23, 2010, edition. It was a good one, so maybe I’ll get a couple of sales. 
It would have been great if the review had come out a couple of months earlier, in time for Christmas sales. But I guess you can’t have everything. I’ll take the review, no matter when it comes out! So far, it’s not on their website—I’m hoping that they do eventually post it.
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If you’ve visited me here before, you may know that from time to time, I talk about food holidays. I address them individually as they come up. But since it’s the beginning of the year, I thought I’d say a few words about food holidays in general, and point ahead to what we have to look forward to in the coming 12 months.
