Going on a summer vacation isn’t a unique concept. But a group of food bloggers vacationing together? It’s a somewhat unusual idea, considering how our friendships all began.
We started as strangers with a common bond. We got to know each other over website pages. We forged friendships over Twitter and the occasional get together. Press trips and conferences followed. But rare are the times when we food professionals come together without an conference or PR event to motivate long periods of time together. Unfamiliar are moments that aren’t devoted to networking, talking technology, and sharing food stories.
We’ve perfected the art of eating together. But a vacation?
The plan was simple. A small group of food blogging friends–Matt Armendariz, Adam Pearson, Maggy Keet, and Gaby Dalkin–would gather together at a retro-house in Palm Springs for a mini-vacation. There would be no agenda and no to-do list. We would be without PR wranglers and our time together would be devoid of “break out sessions”. The only objective was to spend time together and relax by the pool.
Later, I would find out there would be wigs. But more on that later.
#PSSalon
I’ve spent my entire artistic career quietly dreaming of a day when I would be invited to sit at a table with great thinkers, writers, artists and confidantes. I never could find my fellows in the performing world. I failed to locate true collaborators in film school. Was my dreamy ideal of a 17th century salon–a place where great thinkers and artists would come together to inspire, critique, and develop their craft–a pipe dream?
Truth be told, it wasn’t until I joined the food blogging community almost four years ago, that I began to experience a modern academy. How we food bloggers influence, encourage, and drive each other to achieve great things through our online work and social media maneuvering is something to behold. It is exactly what I had been yearning for all these years.
It wasn’t until I took my place at that gaping-holed dining room table in Palm Springs with the likes of Matt Armendariz, award winning photographer and designer; Adam Pearson, a professional food stylist; Gaby Dalkin, a personal chef, driven business woman, and online personality; Maggy Keet, a writer, visionary, and co-founder of the non-profit Bloggers without Borders–that I realized that the hashtag #PSSalon was a true representation of what was happening. We didn’t push. We didn’t schedule. We just let things happen. We coaxed each other to investigate our motives and our professional opinions. We explored hard topics, engaged in witty banter, and artistic criticism.
Palm Springs Salon became a 2011 version of the 1920’s Algonquin Table.
One of Three money saving recipes that will help you stretch your dollar!
Nowadays, most people’s budgets don’t have much room for the extras, especially big luxury items. If you have things in your life that you want to save your pennies for–a new car, a big piece of furniture, a trip to a food blogging conference, or even fattening up your savings account–stretching your dollars in the kitchen is important. Since eating out seems like an impossible indulgence with your hard earned bucks, you need to get crafty with the way you approach your daily costs.
Being frugal doesn’t mean you have to stop enjoying yourself in the kitchen. As a matter of fact, I look at budgetary limitations as a formalized culinary challenge. I pretend I’m a participant on Iron Chef with the featured ingredient of NO MONEY! and see just how far I can stretch my menu with basic pantry items. I’ve found what works best for my budget menu planning is to keep two things in mind: 1) cook meals that can be eaten at any time of the day and 2) use simple pantry items as the base ingredients for dishes. When I cook a meal that can double as breakfast, lunch, or dinner, less time is spent in the kitchen and more time can be spent doing the things that need to get done.
Thanks to the great people at Foodbuzz.com, I’ve been given the opportunity to share with you a handful of easy recipes in this month’s Foodbuzz 24×24. My goal: help you save money so you can afford to do the things you want to do–like attend this year’s Food Buzz Conference in San Francisco. What’s even better, these three recipes make perfect road trip or airplane snacks so you can save your dollars at the airport when you’re flying (to San Francisco).
Homemade granola
Oats
Oats are a perfect inexpensive pantry item that can double as a main ingredient for several meals during the day. Oatmeal for breakfast, granola for a midday snack, or even as the crumble for a dessert fruit crisp.
This granola recipe is an equally tasty but less expensive version of a previous granola I posted on this site several months ago. This is my favorite version of this recipe because it costs less and leaves me room to spend money elsewhere. I eat this granola dry, as a snack, and sprinkle a handful over Athena’s Greek Yogurt for a decadent breakfast, lunch or dinner. Oh, and the granola is great over ice cream, too!
Chef’s tip: Use the left over oats to make oatmeal for breakfast the rest of the week.
1 cup whole cane sugar (I used Trader Joe’s organic evaporated cane sugar)
3 oz organic maple syrup
3 oz organic agave syrup
4 cups rolled oats
1 ½ cups coconut, unsweetened
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries (or other dried fruit)
Optional: generous pinch of salt
Preheat your oven to 350º. Adjust the top rack to the middle of the oven. Whisk sugar, syrups, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan over medium heat until almost smooth. In a large bowl pour syrup over the oats and coconut*. Stir gently with a wood spoon until it is completely mixed throughout. Pour mixture onto a sheet tray covered with parchment paper. Bake in the oven for twenty minutes, or until almost golden. Remove from oven. Let cool. Add dried fruit after you break up the granola into loose bits and large pieces. Enjoy immediately or store for later use.
Can be stored in an air-tight container for several weeks.
*if you don’t want your granola to be too sweet use less of the sugar/syrup mixture.
Potato and Egg Frittata aka Spanish Tortilla
Eggs
I don’t know if you’ll agree with me on this, but having breakfast for dinner is just downright fun. So when I asked Adam C. Pearson, my rock star food stylist friend, what kind of egg dish he would recommend I make for this budget post, he suggested I make a Spanish Tortilla. Turns out this dish–which took some explaining for me to understand that a Spanish Tortilla is basically an egg and potato frittata that’s served room temperature and sliced like a pie–is a perfect any time meal. This simple dish is a perfect thing to slice up, drop into a zip-lock bag and take to the office (or to the airport).
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Potato and Egg Frittata aka Spanish Tortilla
Contrary to the sound of it, a Spanish Tortilla doesn’t actually have any tortillas in it whatsoever–just eggs, potato and any other tasty ingredients you care to add.
6 medium potatoes, diced
1 large onions, thinly sliced
*1/4 cup diced ham (or 2 slices of thickly cut bacon, diced)
1/4 cup milk
8 eggs
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Directions
In a large bowl, mix the potatoes and onions with a pinch of salt. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large non-stick frying pan. Fry the potatoes and onions on low heat. Cover with a lid for 5-10 minutes to let them soften. Turn up the heat for another 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the stove.
Meanwhile, break the eggs into a medium bowl. Add a pinch of salt and milk. Whisk until frothy. Add the potatoes and onion mixture to the eggs and mix well. Using a clean frying pan, heat the oil on a high heat. Pour in the egg mixture, move it around in the pan to help the eggs to rise. Fry until the bottom begins to brown. Being careful not to burn yourself, place a large plate over the top of the sauté pan so that you can flip the frittata. Slide the uncooked side back into the pan to cook the entire tortilla for another minute or two. Turn off the heat and let set in the pan for a few minutes. Serve sliced with green salad.
Chef’s tip: The extra 2 eggs can be used with a previous scheduled meal. Add a fried egg to a pizza, a hamburger, or a bowl of fried rice and suddenly you’re eating a luxury meal. Drop an egg into a bowl of simple chicken stock and you’re eating like an Italian Grandma.
*This dish is simply wonderful without the pork, but it certainly gives this dish plenty of great flavor. If you can’t find an affordable ham steak at your butcher’s counter, you can substitute the ham with diced bacon, which can be cut to order into two thick slices (so you don’t have to buy an entire package of sliced bacon) and kept at a reasonable cost.
Butter Lettuce and Turkey Sausage Pasta
Pasta
Pasta is one of the main bargain meal staples in most homes. No matter what you’re upbringing, you probably have a pretty good idea how inexpensive pasta can be when creating a satisfying meal. You don’t need to resort to jarred sauces or powdered cheese to create an inexpensive pasta dish, though. As a matter of fact, some of the most delicious pasta dishes can be made with just three ingredients.
This pasta dish’s unique ingredients makes for an exceptional meal that won’t taste like a re-hashed meal or yesterday’s leftovers.
Chef’s Tip: This dish is great warm or served cold. Transform any leftover lettuce you have on hand into a salad.
[print_link] Pasta with Leeks and Turkey Sausage
Modified from a recipe from Martha Stewart
1 box of pasta (shells or twists work best)
1 lb of turkey sausage
3-4 leeks, white and light-green parts only, halved lengthwise, cut into 1/4-inch slices, rinsed well, and drained
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons butter
1 head of butter (bibb) lettuce, washed and torn into pieces.
Course salt and Pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan, for serving
*Reserve one cup of pasta water
Directions
Bring to a boil a large pot of salted water for pasta.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook turkey sausage over medium-high heat. Break up the meat with a wooden spoon until browned, about 5 minutes. Add leeks to the skillet and cook until softened, 5 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring frequently, until mostly evaporated, 2 minutes. Stir in butter and season to taste with salt and pepper.
When pasta water is at a rolling boil, cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve 1 cup pasta water. Drain pasta and return to pot. Add the sausage and leek mixture. Toss gently to combine. Add the torn lettuce (use no more than 3-4 cups of torn lettuce) to the pasta with enough pasta water to create a “light sauce” that coats the pasta. Toss. Serve with Parmesan on the side.
I hope you’ve found some inspiration and useful advice that can help you use a handful of basic pantry items to stretch your budget, please your palate, and make you feel like you’re not skimping.
That’s not a question most people have the chance to think about on a daily basis. But if you’re Sophie Chiche, the curator of the inspiring website, Life By Me, you get to contemplate that question every day. On the colorful pages of Life By Me, you’ll find readable interviews from contributors from all walks of life. Sophie documents great conversations with Nobel Peace Prize recipients, massage therapists, designers, visionary leaders, teachers, fellow blogger Chris Gillebeau, and people like me.
What is most meaningful to you in your life?
The speed of today’s modern world has many people devoting their time to the daily monotonous tasks. Without an internal compass driving you to find meaning in the small gestures or be useful in all your actions, the daily task of keeping on top of the bills, showing up to work on time, answering emails, and putting food on the table will grind you down. But small tasks can take on a whole new significance if done with the purpose of giving, devotion, and commitment.
Life is a precious commodity. Why fill up all the spaces with meaningless tasks?
I recently had the good fortune to answer Sophie’s big question of meaning, thanks to a friend who put in a good word for me. I urge you to clear a few minutes from your busy day to spend some time looking around this inspirational online resource. If you’re interested in finding out how I answered the big question of meaning, swing by the website and read my interview here.
Do yourself a favor and pay a visit to Life By Me. Sophie and her team have created a beautiful website that sparks hope, creativity, and a desire to find meaning in the small and big moments. Life By Me makes you want to take positive action in your life to create significance.
Is what’s meaningful to you an ever-changing target?
Or does one thing in your life give you purpose?
Couldn’t find the words this week. The truth couldn’t come through. There was a moment when I thought I would rather not post than create paper-thin architecture of a few words to hold up a recipe. Instead, images came. Colors, shapes, and textures spoke to me. I grabbed my iPad and started painting with my SketchBook Pro app. I followed the muses. I kept the internal editor at bay.
Sometimes this is how creativity comes. Who am I to say no?
So this week, I give you a recipe in rosy pinks, creamy greens, and clotted white. I’ll let the simple flavors of summer speak for themselves. Make this salad. It’s simple but the textures and flavors are profound.
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Cucumber, Watermelon, Mint, and Feta Salad
1 small watermelon, cubed
1 cucumber, cubed
4 branches of mint, trimmed of stems. Only leaves.
1/2 a block of feta, a little less than a cup
2 tablespoons of EVO
Sprinkle of S&P
Optional: Hot sauce
Try to keep all the cubes of the ingredients the same size. Mix the watermelon and the cucumber together and then add pieces of feta and mint. Mix. Drizzle with a little oil. This salad tastes best if all the ingredients are cold. Enjoy.
In just a few short years since food blogging became an established sub-group of the blogging world, an online community of mavericks blazed a path through the wild west of online food writing. Trend setting men and women like Elise Bauer of Simply Recipes, David Lebovitz, Pim Techamuanvivit of Chez Pim, and Shauna Ahern of Gluten Free Girl pioneered an entirely new way of looking at and documenting their experience with the food.
Their work began simply. With time, however, they began to innovate, create, and establish the groundwork for an entire genre. Thanks to their early efforts, where there was once nothing but desert, there grew whole communities of food obsessed artists, consumers, and everything in between.
Recognizing the need for modernization, newspapers like the New York Times and Los Angeles Times brought food reporting online. Magazines added internet features. Media sites like Serious Eats and Eater popped up as impromptu news sources and gossip columns. Businesses that recognized the financial potential of harnessing the power of public opinion, they created online reviewing sites like Citysearch and Yelp.
The internet was the New World and in short time it was colonized with innovative new food writers, food photographers and stylists, online reviewers, gossips, and opinionated commenters. Innovation begat breakthroughs. In very little time the once small community of “food bloggers” multiplied at great speed.
And yet, there was very little talk about responsibility.
The Food Blog Code of Ethics
Back in early 2009, in a little corner booth at a Los Angeles restaurant, my friend Leah Greenstein and I—two food writers and restaurant professionals—discussed our observation of a disturbing trend within the restaurant community. Inside the kitchens and dining rooms of restaurants across the country, owners, chefs, and service professionals seem to have a mounting distrust of anyone calling themselves a food blogger. We recognized that the restaurant professionals’ swelling dislike of the online food blogging community was due in part to reckless and irresponsible conduct from people who published their views and opinions online. Yelpers wrote reviews with the intention of destroying businesses. Bloggers used their websites as a threat to do harm to restaurants or a business’ reputation.
Leah and I were frightened of what seemed to be coming: an inevitable war between a lawless group of online publishers and the establishment (restaurant professionals, food reviewers, and the law). Rather than be damaged by the reckless acts of others, Leah and I set out to write our own set of guiding principles that carved out a path on the higher ground of ethics. We hoped our manifesto would inspire us and perhaps others, to think about the power and responsibilities of online publishing on a daily basis.
Turns out, our manifesto did get a lot of people talking (and arguing). It spread through the internet like wildfire across an open prairie. Along the way we might have gotten a little scorched, but the positive results outweighed the challenges.
Soon after, the FTC stepped in to represent the first arm of the US Law. The Federal Trade Commission threatened suit against businesses that failed to reveal their financial dealings with influential online publishers. Suddenly, blogs, websites, and even profit-driven media sites began disclosing corporate sponsorships and posting their own code of ethics. Food blogging conference halls buzzed with people having heated debates over the limits of language to protect them from being prosecuted, ridiculed, or devalued for not disclosing freebies, trips, samples, give aways, and other gifts.
In many ways, the Wild West of the food blogging world began to seem a little more civil.
That is, until the mavericks became online celebrities. That’s when the trolls arrived. Hate-mongering individuals who spewed spiteful comments and emails from false accounts began popping up all across the internet.
Then Twitter came along. Twitter opened up whole new territories like a speeding train through the early gold mining towns of the Wild West. Those who did not have time to blog, had time for Tweets. Suddenly, anyone with a thought about food or restaurants could express themselves with lightening fast results. As the speed of everything online increased, the attention to responsibility and accountability dwindled. Who had time to think about the responsibilities of what they had to say? It was just 140 characters. How much trouble could they get in?
Friends, I see before us another turning point. Though the Wild West of the blogosphere may look a lot less untamed than it once was, many of its inhabitants are still feral.
No matter how much a person might say they don’t have to play by anyone’s rules, one thing is clear: No one is above the law. It doesn’t matter if you are a commenter, a blogger, a Twitter star, or even an editor of a gossip rag, eventually you will be held accountable for your actions. Courts and government agencies are building cases against the uncivilized. We are expected to be civil. We should take it upon ourselves to be responsible, accountable, and honorable before someone takes that right to self-govern away from us.
Consider this, if you create anything that goes online, you have power. If you have power, you have responsibility.
So, in hopes up giving the original Food Blog Code of Ethics a bit of a sprucing up, Leah and I got together to make it a little bit more contemporary (and short).
Today I am moderating a panel at the Western Foodservice and Hospitality Expo with Brad Metzger of Brad Metzger Restaurant Solutions, to speak about the relationship between online food writers and chefs. If you happen to live in (or near) San Diego, please come by and join in on the conversation.
“I was thirsty you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in.”
When many of us in the food blogging community learned of the tragic loss of Jennifer Perillo’s husband, Mikey, we felt the compelling need to give something of ourselves. We banned together in great numbers and reached out to each other and to Jennie with prayers, words of hope, and images of compassion. Thousands of us followed Jennie’s simple suggestion of baking a peanut butter pie in remembrance of her beloved. The baking and sharing words of support via the #apieforMikey Twitter meme, soothed our collective ache of grief.
Late Friday night I received an email from my big-hearted friend, Shauna from Gluten Free Girl. She asked via a moving letter if a handful of trusted friends would be available to help participate in an effort to raise money for Jennie. Her email explained that with Mikey gone, Jennie faces some rather significant challenges in the not-so-distant future. Their medical insurance will end in December. The policy’s monthly renewal rate will cost more than the family’s monthly mortgage.
Shauna suggested we offer up gifts of ourselves–a service, a food item, a piece of art–for a fund raising auction. Thanks to the assistance of a non-profit organization called Bloggers Without Borders, every item auctioned off will result in real dollars to be donated into a fund created specifically for Jennifer and her two little girls.
In case you haven’t heard of Bloggers Without Borders yet, it’s because it is a newly formed non-profit organization for bloggers, by bloggers. Co-founded by my friend and accountability partner, Maggy Keet (Three Many Cooks) and Erika Pineda-Ghanny (Ivory Hut), this non-profit organization strives to use the diverse resources of bloggers to help other bloggers and people in need.
You can follow what’s happening on Twitter with #AFundforJennie. #AFundforJennie is a call to action for anyone willing to give generously of themselves via donations of money or of items of self. This fundraiser is our chance to step beyond what feels comfortable and give in a more substantive way.
To make a direct donation now, click that big BWOB DONATE button above.
A piece of me for a friend in need
As a restaurant consultant, I am in the business of service. I help restaurant owners and leadership teams focus on their long-term vision for their business, empower staff, and educate teams on how to give great service to customers. The more I teach the art of customer service, the more I realize that the work I do has roots in the ancient teachings of compassion and generosity. Great spiritual teachers throughout the ages teach the need to make a purposeful effort to improve the conditions of others. The lesson is simple: if we want to have happy and fruitful in business and in our lives, we have to be generous of spirit and give of ourselves authentically.
So when you live a life of service, there isn’t space for hesitating when you are called to be of assistance to a friend in need. All there is room for is YES, WHEN, and HOW MUCH. You just do it. Continue reading “Acts of Compassion #AFundForJennie”
It takes courage, strength, hope, and help to make your Big Dreams come true
The Big Dream is hard to achieve when you don’t have anyone but yourself to rely on. You need strength, talent, and motivation to fulfill your desires, but self-will can only get you so far. If you want to be successful in realizing your Big Dream, you better have a few key people in your corner.
Just watch an Oscar speech and you’ll get an idea of just how many people it takes to make one person reach their Big Dream. Friends, family, colleagues, technology crews, and even wardrobe people become essential in making something as simple as acting work.
Who will you need to rely on to make your Big Dream come to fruition? Are you strong enough to ask for help? Who can you trust to give you honest feedback and keep you on point? Because let’s face it, the road to success is too difficult to navigate on your own. There are twists in the road, surprising perils, and unforeseen challenges on the way to The Big Dream.
Accountability team
An accountability team might be small (one person might be all you really need) or comprehensive (a handful of friends and colleagues who you trust), and be available to you for advice, perspective, mentoring, and guidance. The quantity of helpers isn’t nearly important as the quality of the people, because these individuals will demand that you stay true to your word and deliver on your promises. They must be strong-willed folk who won’t be distracted by excuses and will call your bluff. Your accountability team must be trust worthy, true to their word, and able to offer insightful advice that will push you to go further than you thought you could.
If you think you might want or need an accountability team, the first step is to identify The Big Dream. Got it? Great. Next up, decide if you are ready to make the commitment to support someone else on their road to success. If you can’t give 100 per cent to someone else, then there’s no expecting someone to give the same to you. Accountability teams only work if both parties are willing to put in the hard work. Are you prepared to show up prepared, ready, and excited every time you make an accountability date? Are you prepared to be accountable for the things you say you’re going to do?
Reaching out to others to ask for help and guidance isn’t always an easy thing to do. You’ll have to be vulnerable. You’ll need to have trust or faith in the people you turn to. You’ll have to be willing to take advice. You’ll need to share secrets or personal information. You’ll have to be humble enough to accept critical suggestions and feedback. You’ll have to give credit to others for their help.
“If a you drop a big enough rock into still waters, the ripples will spread out wide enough to rock a boat clear across the lake.”
–Pema Chodron
Jennifer Perillo’s life changed this Sunday when she lost her husband Mikey from a sudden heart attack. Like a meteor striking the ocean, the magnitude of this food writer’s loss sent ripples of grief across the food community as friends shared their sadness for Jennifer and her family. People who knew Jennifer well–and even perfect strangers–felt those waves of heartache collide with their every-day serenity within minutes of receiving the news.
I’ve spent the past few days praying for Jennifer and her girls. I’ve written ten different letters to Jenny and erased most of them, worrying I’d mess it all up some how. I watched a beautiful video of Jennifer’s husband dancing with his little girl and surrendered to fat tears. I ate a Geo plum on the back stoop of my apartment and watched how the sunlight glistened on its blushy pulp. I enjoyed the sweet perfume of the morning breeze. I cried, talked to friends, and reconnected with loved ones.I made two simple sandwiches of avocado and tomato and waited for my husband to come home. I thanked God for the chance to have another day.
Right now, ripples of sadness and hope emanate across the country from a single point in New York. Thousands of people connected by words and shared experiences, feel the impact of the waves of grief for Jennifer and her two little girls. Today, however, in kitchens across the country, people are turning their grief into hope by baking up a version of Mikey’s favorite peanut butter pie in a show of support.
Regardless if you are a baker or not, or have time to bake up a pie, today is exactly the right day to think about giving a little extra love to the people you care about. Do something simple, honest, and true today for your beloved ones. Make a peanut butter pie. Make an open faced sandwich with tomatoes from your garden. Kiss a forehead. Hug a friend. Pat your dog. Savor every bite and each sweet breath.
My prayers are with Jennifer and her family. I pray for grace, love, and healing for everyone who feels these ripples of grief.
Heirloom Tomato and Avocado Sandwich
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An Avocado and Heirloom Tomato Sandwich for Jennifer P.
Pumpernickle bread, sliced and toasted (or your favorite bread)
Avocado, all ripe and halved
Heirloom tomato, also ripe and sliced thick
Mayo, the best you’ve got
Crystal hot sauce (or anything with a kick)
Maldon sea salt
Fresh black pepper
Toast your bread. Slather it with mayonnaise. Spoon out half of an avocado for each large slice of bread. Sprinkle with hot sauce. Top with a tomato slice. Garnish with salt and pepper. Serve open faced. Eat slowly.
Leading a Visioning and Branding Workshop with the Ra Pour leadership team
The faster our society gets, the looser we get with our systems. We cut corners. We text and walk. We don’t read the recipe through to the end before we start cooking. We go to the grocery store without a shopping list. We show up to popular restaurants without a reservation. We don’t prof proof read. We start a blog without knowing what we’re really blogging about.
We let the sparkly light-show of the PROMISE OF SUCCESS blind us to the realities of the work required to achieve victory. We get distracted by the siren song of PROFIT and FAVORABLE OUTCOME and forget to create a set of guidelines or a structured plan to get us where we want to go.
The famous movie tagline “Build it and they will come,” is a great first act twist, but it isn’t what you’d call a solid business plan.
Look, most people don’t find the words “actionable objectives” and “sustainable culture” sexy. But I do. Because if you want to be successful in life or business, you have to know the steps that are required to get you where you want to go.
Not planning, organizing, creating a set of guidelines, or charting a course for success is why many great people and wonderful ideas fail. Businesses collapse. Movies with great first acts fall apart by the end of the second act. Restaurants shutter after a year. Overnight successes crash and burn under the pressure. Blogs are born, go strong for months with an unending steam of daily posts, and then spontaneously die. Continue reading “Service 101: Slow Down and Vision Your Life (or Business)”
Even though this blog is about the food industry, it’s also about exploring the world behind food. Past the great meals, restaurants, the work, and relationships with talented chefs–there’s the deep stuff that goes on between meals that’s vulnerable and important. The more I write about living a life in the service industry, the more I understand that all this service stuff has some pretty profound lessons to teach. I’m beginning to understand that at the core of the service industry are some fundamental truths that apply to just about everything. Life is all about service.
So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that I’ve been dreaming about service lately. These aren’t the old fashioned anxiety dreams about restaurants that never close, or tables that never get taken care of. The dreams I’m having are more like intensive courses in philosophy that show me the meaning behind service. So I guess you could say I’m tapping into something bigger than me.
I think I might be onto something. Because here’s the thing, when I woke up from an intense nap the other day, I felt like I had been given a gift. While I was sleeping I got a message about what life is all about. And the message was pretty simple.
The key to life is service.
The dream had me buzzing for hours after I woke up. I felt a gentle and purposeful nudge that got me to the computer and compelled me to write–despite the fear that maybe you wouldn’t understand what I needed to say. Despite several drafts and the desire to delete this whole thing, I feel the need to tell you what I learned. Because I think this could help a few people.
What the heck does the key to life is service mean?
The key to happiness is service doesn’t mean everyone should drop what they’re doing and start waiting tables or work in restaurants. What I think it means is that no matter what you do for a living, it’s good to remember that at the core of what you do is service. Your work may feel like it’s to produce a certain product on time or deliver a specific kind of service in a reliable way. But the real truth is, your work is to serve the needs of someone else.
By definition, to be of service means one must actively help another or do work for someone else. So, regardless of the end goal or result of your personal work, everyone’s job hinges on an idea or a process to aid others. No matter what you do for a living–be you a scientist, an architect, a rock musician, a banker, a fisherman, a politician, a medical professional, a parent, or a baker, you name it–your role is to help people. Being of service should be the reason behind everything we do.
Whether or not we’re aware of it, we’re all in the business of being of service to one another.
I think the reason why so many of us are unhappy at our jobs is that we’ve forgotten this piece of the equation. In the rush to get our work done, we by-passed the primary goal of our work. Rather than keep in mind that our goal is to make other people’s lives better in some small or meaningful way, we focus on the minutia. Deadlines, emails, conference calls, technology, difficult bosses, co-workers that get on our nerves, and long hours take our focus off the true end goal and rearranges our priorities.
One of the main goals of being of service, is to give to the customer what they want.
The problem is, many people in this world aren’t exactly clear on what exactly that is. Customers–people like you and me–get mucked up by all the No’s, the Should’s, and the Can not’s. We have a hard time getting to what we want and need because we don’t really understand what we will allow ourselves to have.
Helping a Customer Get What They WantGood service requires listening to the guest's needs. Specific questions help reveal details of what the guest likes.Unfortunately, customers aren't always able to articulate what they want. Customers know what they don't want. Asking customers questions about preferences give servers clues as to what will make the guest happy. Sometimes, guests know what they DO NOT want, more than what they ACTUALLY are looking for.
Summer time is the season to make the most of the great weather and have fun. Whether you’re taking road trip, swimming at a faraway swimming hole, or captaining a boat for a few hours, personal time outs are incredibly soothing for our busy lives. My husband and I decided to take a fast trip up north to Santa Barbara for a day to celebrate time off, each other, and the serenity that only new environs can give. Two hours in the car and a $90 motel stay isn’t a lot of time to invest for a mini-vacation. Oh, the dividends! Continue reading “Santa Barbara Weekend Getaway: a Brief Video”
A great trip lingers with you long after you return home. A successful vacation is one where memories are unpacked long after the suitcase is emptied and the laundry is done. For me, the best journeys are the ones that get inside my heart and rearranging things.
It’s been more than a week since I came back from Louisiana and I’m starting to realize that my trip reorganized a few things in my life while I was away: I’ve got new beautiful friendships to foster and a whole new set of cravings to grapple with.
Since my return to LA, my imagination whirls over gems of stories of the Louisiana food world. My daily routine is peppered with flavored memories of diners, ice cream shops, a water-side bar where the locals cook up craw fish outside under a tent, and the all-night beignet restaurant littered with empty plates covered in powdered sugar.
Food isn’t just a meal in New Orleans, it’s a way of life.
Of all the states I’ve visited, I have never been to any other American city where its inhabitants are so closely aware of their cultural history and culinary traditions.
New Orleans is a mélange of spicy cultures (French Canadian, Spanish, Africans, English, German, Italians, and Native American) that has created a uniquely colorful people with strong ties to family, food traditions and a shared heritage. I was charmed by the stone-lined sidewalks, Creole townhouses with iron-worked balconies, and hotels like the French Quarter’s Bourbon Orleans Hotel that have marketing materials that tout ghoulish history more than amenities. Brass bands paraded through the streets as second-liners [see glossary, below] danced a two step and waved handkerchiefs over their heads in celebration of marriage.
New Orleans after a rain storm
Always, the locals repeated this constant refrain: indulge in the city’s most famous dishes and forget about the caloric aftermath.
Regulars at Camillia Grill
The food tour
For almost one full week, the food blogging tour of Louisiana was given unlimited access to culinary professionals and abundant samples of the state’s culinary bounty. Luckily for our bellies, our itinerary of eating started slow. But as the days went on we managed to shock even ourselves–professional eaters that we are–by the sheer amount of food we were able to consume.
On our first night in the city, Blake Killian, the man behind BlakeMakes, summoned us to our first dinner at Bistro Maison de Ville. Bow-tied waiters served a multi-course dinner dedicated to the theme of showcasing the best of Louisiana seafood. Course after course, we marveled at the freshness of the seafood and the firm texture of the perfectly cooked shrimp.
Camillia Grill
Camellia Grill’s exterior signage
The following morning I joined a small, ambitious group of professional eaters (Chichi Wang, Maggy Keet, and Daniel Delany) to sneak in an extra meal before our first official eating excursion of the day. Daniel lead us to Camillia Grill, an all-day favorite with the locals since 1946. We ordered a few classics, including a show-stopping stack of pecan-studded pancakes. I don’t often shorten my words here at Food Woolf, but OMG.
Pecan pancake with maple syrup
After polishing off a Manhattan Omelet (corned beef hash, cheddar cheese and potato stuffed eggs) and pecan pancakes, we staggered through the oppressive heat with swaying bellies. We gathered together under the watchful eye of Blake for a festival celebrating Creole Tomatoes, Cajun Zydeco music, and Louisiana Seafood.
“When you think of all the news you’ve seen about Louisiana, what images flash through your mind?” asked Mike Voisin, a seventh-generation Louisiana oysterman. Voisin, the CEO of Motivatit Oysters, paced around the air-conditioned conference room as he spoke to his visiting guests.
An assortment of bloggers and food writers from across the States–hand-picked to observe Louisiana’s seafood industries and partake in the state’s diverse food culture–sat around the conference room table conjuring up images: submerged homes, flood-stranded dogs, desperate men and women on rooftops waving white sheets for help, oil-slicked wildlife, and tar-soaked birds.
“We are not what the perception of what the media has made us,” Voisin said. Despite the fact that almost one hundred percent of the state’s fisheries are open and functioning and have passed national and state testing for health and safety, much of the seafood buying public fear the Gulf-state’s products aren’t safe to eat. According to Voisin, the unprecedented attention of the media has given Louisiana’s seafood industry a bad reputation.
“It’s kind of hard to get that image of an oil slicked pelican out of your mind when you’ve seen it a million times, isn’t it?” Voisin said. “Louisiana has a branding problem…We have shrimp, crabs, and oysters but what we don’t have are people willing to buy.”
The uniquely difficult challenge facing the Louisiana seafood industry is exactly why Louisiana Seafood Promotions and Marketing Board decided they needed to reach out to consumers in a revolutionary way–through food.
An Invitation to see the real Louisiana
When it comes to news headlines, a couple of things sell really well: natural disasters, tragic loss of life, celebrity gossip, hero stories, and adorable animals. When one single news event touches all these aspects with one soaring narrative, it’s a media goldmine.
Blame it on the perfect storm of natural disasters that’s befallen Louisiana over the past seven years, but the state has certainly been the source of a lot of headline news. With Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and Deep Water Horizon’s oil spill in April of 2010, international media teams swooped into the coastal state to document the disasters. Stories of tragedy, redemption, faith, hope, celebrity interest, and distress were easy to find in this Creole/Cajun state.
Thanks to a huge influx of money to the state of Louisiana, much progress has been made in just one year since the oil spill. Houses and businesses have been rebuilt, fisheries and rice fields are producing again, and tourism is improving (According to the tourism board, the state earned 5.3 billion dollars in tourism last year). Yet despite the positive changes and commitment to becoming a strong and successful state, Louisiana’s seafood industry is struggling.
Seeing a problem, Louisiana’s Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board did some research and quickly realized the general public couldn’t get over the horrifying images of the past so easily. So, in order to change perceptions about the seafood and motivate people to start buying Louisiana seafood again, they began devising a different sort of plan to get the word out.
Rather than coming up with slick slogans, cunning advertising, or a give away contest, the Seafood Board decided to call upon a handful of trusted voices in the food world to come and experience Louisiana from a culinary and cultural point of view. Who better to get the word out about a food crisis than a bunch of hungry and inquisitive food bloggers?
Bloggers (Amateur Gourmet, Serious Eats, Family Fresh Cooking, and Three Many Cooks) observe the day’s blue crab catch.
I’m a film school grad, but you wouldn’t know it from reading this site. You’ve never read any drafts of my screenplays, I don’t rant about movies, and you’ve certainly never seen any short films. But the times they are a changing, my friends.
Don’t worry. I’m not looking to change the way I do things around here, but when I realized I could shoot and edit great photos and even make a short film with my iPhone, I started to re-think my Luddite ways. Why not take advantage of all this new-fangled technology that’s at my finger tips (literally). I can not and will not slip into default mode of being a slow adopter of new technology. No sir!
So taking a cue from all my tech-savvy food blogging buddies, I join the world of amateur video. And it’s about time.
Now before you spend the two plus minutes watching my humble video post, I should mention that the subject of this short is about a five day trip to New Orleans I just got back from. Thanks to the generosity of Louisiana Seafood Board, I was flown to Louisiana (along with a handful of this country’s top food bloggers) for a tour of New Orleans’ culinary scene and Louisiana’s fisheries and seafood processing plants. The excursion was designed to show us (and give us tastes of) all the great seafood that Louisiana has to offer.
It was an incredible trip that has my mind spinning, stomach extended, and photo library brimming with so many incredible photos I’ve been struggling to figure out where to begin. So rather than start off with an extra long essay on the subject of Louisiana seafood, I thought I’d start you off with a brief visual teaser of what’s to come.
So without any further ado, I present to you my first iPhone short film.
Food Blog Masters trip to New Orleans
*Full Disclosure: My trip was furnished by the Louisiana Seafood Board. I was not paid to supply any opinions or material on the behalf of the organization or the state of Louisiana.
No matter what, food factors into everything I do.
Travel, work, play, politics, religion, health, business, family, love–you name it, my perspective is influenced by my relationship with food. No matter how distant the matter may be from food, some how I’ll work a tasty morsel into the subject line.
Even my pre-trip beauty regime is centered around food.
So before I leave for a trip to New Orleans* I thought I’d share with you a couple of food-based tricks I’ve found for keeping my skin happy and healthy before a long flight.
As you probably already know, taking a long flight can really dehydrate your skin. Drinking water is an obvious way to fight the affects of several hours in a pressurized cabin but moisturizing your skin before, during and after the flight is key. So now that I’m getting older and my face is prone to drying out rather easily, I make sure to do a super-moisturizing mask before I arrive at the airport.
So before you hop that flight, be sure to open up your fridge and grab a few key ingredients to make a moisturizing mask.
It was the summer between my junior and senior year and I was away at a summer youth music school. My parents were getting a divorce, my home life was a mess, and I was happy to spend almost two months with other kids my age focusing on the one thing I really loved: music.
I spent the summer working hard on my vocal performance. I auditioned for groups and tried out for the privilege of private lessons. I didn’t make the special chorus but I did qualify for one-on-one sessions with a vocal coach. I was excited. I was going to grow as a performer.
By the end of the summer I had learned more than I had ever bargained for. I even fell in love. On the last day of camp, hundreds of students and teachers gathered in an auditorium at the University of New Hampshire for a final ceremony.
I wore a loose tee shirt and a jean skirt as I sat in my seat feeling butterflies. I desperately hoped I’d be given an award. I wanted something to prove to the world around me that all of my hard work that summer was good. Really good.
Despite the fact I had rather low self-esteem, I did feel with some certainty that I would get an award. I just knew I had achieved something great. I had matured as a young woman, a student, and as a performer. But as the awards ceremony stretched out, I started to doubt my intuition. Hadn’t I proven my commitment and my passion for music?
Near the end of the awards ceremony, when it seemed as if all the awards had been handed out, the chairwoman of the vocal department stepped up to the podium. She cleared her throat before reading some handwritten words from a small note card.
“And lastly,” she said, “we have an award for this one very special person who worked hard, was committed to learning, and grew in leaps and bounds…The award for most improved singer of this year’s Summer Youth Music School is Brooke Burton.”
“The Most Improved” Award? I sat in my seat completely dumbfounded. I was struck by the thought that maybe the faculty had created the prize in a last minute show of pity. The self-loathing teenager I was–the person who told herself that her body was too square to be attractive and that the deep tone of my contralto voice was too manly–became undeniably uncomfortable in this long hoped for moment. I began to sweat through my tee. I was terrified.
Someone elbowed me to go up and take the award. I could barely feel my feet underneath me as I walked up to the stage. That’s it, I thought to myself. Now everyone knew the cold, honest truth. I was a terrible singer, only made better by a lot of hard work.
I felt humiliated by the award. Because when you’re seventeen years old and full of self-doubt, humility and pride is a hard thing to come by. Humiliation is what shows up, trucked in by the dumpster. “I guess I really sucked,” I said when I got back to my seat. I said it because I half believed it and also so that that person sitting next to me wouldn’t say it to me first.
Some rather grandiose dreams spring to life from the enjoyment of a single morsel. At least, that’s how it works in this odd little brain of mine. One really good bite and an aspiring career is launched, imaginary restaurants are born, and desired franchises are launched.
Maybe you experience magical thinking, too?
It starts with a recipe and technique. You’ve worked on perfecting a particular food item for a long while and then, after much effort, art and science come together and make magic on the plate.
You regard what you created. You feel satisfied and proud. (And maybe a little bit hungry.) You take a bite. Your senses sparkle with excitement. Your mouth enlivens with activity. Neurons fire with glee.
Then, maybe a few moments later, someone across from you–a loved one or a cherished friend who joins you in this special meal–remarks “wow, this is really good.” Your beloved might continue and say something that stokes the fires of imagination even more with something inflammatory like the words “this is restaurant quality,” or “I’d pay good money for this.”
And then that’s it. Your pride rallies. Your over-active imagination kicks into high gear.
You picture the scenarios: you’ll start your own business, open a little bakery or a restaurant, begin a little catering company, quit your job, and do this thing you love so much for a living. You’ll cook, inspire, and change lives with a perfect scone, a great sandwich, a mouth watering steak, the perfect poached egg or an extraordinary dessert.
In the equation of life, I liked to put myself on the gaping side of the greater than symbol. To be greater than was the only option I could fathom. It was the strongest position to play. I was an army of one. I was the captain of my destiny. I was greater than any challenge. Should the test or dispute be too great for me, I ran from it. That’s why I avoided baking for so long. I walked away from the possibility of being less than a fallen cake, less than a dense loaf of bread, or less than a failed dessert.
But then I decided to do things a little differently. I started to run towards my fear. When I got too scared, I began to say so and ask for help. I might be strong, but I’m not bigger than the world around me. By admitting my weaknesses and owning up to my vulnerability rather than running away from it, I began to perceive the world in a new way. I started to see my life change. And not just in little ways. I stopped looking at fear as a closed door or a finite choice of NO, and began regarding fear as the gateway to the infinite possibility of YES.
It’s almost funny how I used to approach baking. I would reverse brag, and talk myself down about my inability to make a crust. I’d tell fictional tales based on fears about how I was constitutionally incapable of putting flour and butter together to create anything that resembled pastry. And yet, just the other day, I did just that.
All it took was a little whole wheat and unbleached all-purpose flours, sugar, salt, egg, milk, butter, fruit and a large dose of confidence. The result: a mixed wheat crust that’s earthy, light, and agrodolce (sweet and sour) from the balance of sweet berries and tart rhubarb. One slice to my friends and they rolled their eyes with delight because I proved myself wrong. I CAN bake. I do have the power to transfer love and comfort to their belly through something as beautiful as a Rhubarb and Mixed Berry Crostata.
I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised by the cascading changes that are happening. These little efforts are beginning to add up to something bigger. Ever since I commenced dealing with the core basics (flour, water, perspective, etc.), everything else has followed.
Facing my fear of baking (and everything else in between) is a pivot point that’s bringing about wide and sweeping transformation. With every crostata, each tea cake, and all the baked goods I pull from my oven I can feel my perspective shift from a finite point of view to one that’s much more infinite.
In a simple word I say “YES”, yes to the infinite possibility of it all.
[print_link] Rhubarb and Mixed Fruit Crostata
Based on a recipe published in Bon Appetit by Karen DeMasco, Locanda Verde
8-10 servings, depending on how you cut it
Crust
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 ½ tbsp sugar
½ tsp kosher salt
1 ½ sticks chilled, unsalted butter. Cubed.
1 large egg
1 tbsp whole milk
Filling
¼ cup cornstarch
3 cups ½” thick sliced rhubarb
1 small container of raspberries
1 cup sliced strawberries
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg, beaten
Raw sugar or Turbinado sugar for finishing
For the crust:
Combine the flours, sugar, and salt in a processor. Blend for 6 seconds. Add butter and pulse until it is broken down into pea-sized pieces. Whisk egg and milk in a small bowl; add the mixture to the processor and pulse until moist clumps form. Gather the dough into a round ball and then flatten into a disk. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 ½ hours. This dough can be made up to two days ahead.
For the filling:
In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 3 tbsp of water; set aside. Combine the fruit, rhubarb and sugar in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat. Stir often while the sugar dissolves and the fruit juices are released, about 4 minutes. Stir in cornstarch liquid and bring to a boil (rhubarb will not be tender and will not be broken down). Transfer mixture to a bowl. Chill until cool, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400˚. Roll out dough onto floured parchment paper until it reaches a 12″ round. Brush the dough with beaten egg. Mound the filling in the center of the crust and gently spread it out, leaving enough of a border for you to fold back the edges to form a crust. Gently fold back the edges (about an inch or more) over filling; pleat as necessary. Side parchment with crostata onto a large rimmed baking sheet and bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling bubbly, about 45 minutes. Let crostata cool on a baking rack. Cut into wedges.
Serve as a breakfast snack or, for a fancy dessert, add whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
