you are very lucky to have grown up in that area. That is my favorite place in the US. I first visited and fell in love with Carmel by the sea 1973 , stayed in a hotel ( holiday inn?) courtesy of US Bureau of Standards and Technology. There I met some of the most intelligent and powerful man in our decade ( Shockley, Inventor of transistor, Singh Kapany, Inventor of Fiberoptic, inventor of jet engine, and of course, CEO of Monsanto who took us out to dinner an since then, we became conservationist learning how this rich man was taught by his son to conserve otherwise the earth would be gone during our children’s lifetime. I still am very conservative in my treatment of paper and recycle everything that I can . Returned again 1990’s several times when we started our sculpture collection. Carmel was the place to go!! I love all those quaint shops hidden here and there, the food, the drive along Rt 1 to Hearst castle and the last time, 2000 from Carmel again to Portland, Oregon. My lasting memories are those of the windswept Monterey cypress which gave me the inspiration to come home, plant a black pine tree pruning it to look windswept. AHH. MEMORIES! You are very lucky indeed.
was different since I was out of my. usual stock.
Snowed in since Saturday. Made a pot of red sauce last night .Pasta again tonight. It’s starting to rain . I’ll be able to make it to the store tomorrow. I have plenty of food . It’s just the wine supply is getting a little low . Lol
Take care and stay warm.
Yes, i did not realize how lucky i was to grow up hiking and camping the parks of big sur and with such awesome farmer markets and beautiful area until i moved away…
Which makes visiting even more precious for me! I appreciate it in a new different way.
Clean out the fridge night since tomorrow is the weekly trash pick up.
A little leftover Stroganoff over the last of the rice. A teacups worth of New Year’s day greens and the other evenings roasted carrots. Still a little hungry - I’m eyeing the last two slices of raisin bread as a dessert option!
I have a soft spot for snack foods in fun shapes…! No such thing when i was a kid, and I don’t have a kid of my own so, ya know, YOLO or whatever. 
I hope you feel better soon!
And i vote your adult son makes YOU dinner, especially if you’re not well lately
Snowed in is only “fun” for so long without wine!! Careful driving I’m sure with rain also will be icy mess on the roads
Toasted raisin bread with peanut butter is magical…
Well, seems my boss has no more budget for keeping me longer freelance and whole company not allowed to hire new full time for first quarter of 2019. So thurs is my last day for now, and if they get money for me they will call.
Til then days of living out of suitcase are coming to a close for now- as is too much delivery dinners!
Hard to believe this is a different salad from last night- nearly the same except they of course ignored my no feta comments.
Tonight i need chocolate. Was glad to see my favorite bar was available!
Lotta upheaval. Hang in there!
I’m sorry the work can’t be renewed at this time. But I imagine it will be nice to be able to cook and eat good meals daily!
On the plus side, the Philly gig did expose your work to a new group of people. Expanding networks is always good. 
When one door closes a new one will open, and perhaps lead to a new, refreshing and better path, as it seems the experience in Philadelphia did!
I am sure you have gotten to this point in your career because you are good.
thank you.
My order of Duck ( was told not to order before Jan 3, and first shipping Jan 7, so expecting it to arrive today or tomorrow Fed Ex. I am very impressed with the site as I do love maple farm’s half duck that I always by from Costco. I also buy D’artagnan’s duck breast and confit from our Giant s well as Duck saucisson.
For any body interested, I think quite reasonable. I ordered duck bacon, ground duck ( to substitute for ground pork in my siomai, pot sticker and spring rolls), duck strips for stir frying , duck appetizer ( tenders, full cook wing drummettes, quesadilla etc) They were very candid informing. me that half duck is cheaper from Costco and of course, I can always get D’artagnan’s duck from Giant.
http://www.mapleleaffarms.com
Upcoming - a cheat’s version of Cornish pasties.
Shortcrust pastry - I’m using 50/50 lard/butter. The main cheat is that it uses a tin of cooked stew beef, to which I add very finely chopped potato, onion & carrot. 30 minutes in the oven at 200. The recipe makes four - two for tonight, two for the freezer. It always makes me wonder just how long I’ve been cooking this - 25 years maybe - the recipe still gives weights in pounds and ounces as well as metric (and that certainly dates it !).
Tomorrow evening - a trip to the mall to buy books for our forthcoming annual “fly and flop” holiday to Tenerife. Trashy crime fiction sounds right for the books. As for dinner, one of the several restaurants there - most probably Tampopo, an east asian place
Enjoy your holiday!
