Walla Walla Washington to Kalamazoo

Here is a list of places I would like to visit next (and have never been) in somewhat of an order:

1. The Grand Canyon
2. Denmark including the Karen Blixen Museum
3. Montréal for French everything
4. British Columbia (a trip I'd like to take with my brother) and trips to islands.
5. Maine coast to look east to Europa, find sea glass, and haunt the shore towns. I would wear beautiful foreign silk scarves on my head when standing in the fierce wind on the bluffs. I would take a beakerful of sand and label it for display in my home.
6. Charleston and Savannah for local color and dunes

Summer Solstice

Unlike most people in the U.S., I'm heading away from the shore. Approximately 475 miles away if the odometer serves. My nephew's birthday is on Sunday. He will be one. We are all gathering for cupcakes. The next day, Donn and Nancy will be there and we'll celebrate once more with a baseball cake and gifties.

Armed for the journey: Eggs, Beans and Crumpets by P.G. Wodehouse read by Jonathan Cecil. (I was so taken with Young Men in Spats that I'm giving this one a go.) Sesame crackers, seedless red grapes, celery, m&ms, a fig bar, and water.

Most looked forward to stop on the way: Williams-Sonoma outlet in Primm, NV.

Deck chair leisure: Middlemarch (all 747 pages of it) by George Eliot and The Sea Runners by Ivan Doig (a wildcard). I have a respectable paperback issue from the library and the font and layout are intensely magnetic to me. I want to read it no matter what it says.

Recipes we may sample: ranch dressing (this region is known to use only ranch; I want to see what they think of a housemade version), sweet corn salsa, watermelon sorbet, a variety of chocolate cakes (in view of my mother's birthday on 7-7-07), alice waters's coleslaw (yummers), coconut milk pudding rolls (on a special occasion morning).

Baggage: gently used clothes (laundry), cameras, a hanging pocket I am going to paint and turn into a spice rack, the makings of memory books for Bodie and Maysen (both birthdays), a summer wrap for an evening venture, an ice cream maker (they have one but I am used to mine), lemons, red pepper flakes, honey, balsamic vinegar, pineapple shampoo and conditioner, a choice of swimsuits (I finally let go the old rags of yesteryear and paid several successful visits to Marshalls and Ross).

Entertainment: Ratatouille, The Matchmaker (at the Shakespearean Festival . . . yes, I know it's not Shakespearean), Joseph . . . Dreamcoat, water fun, watching Bodie, holding Bodie, smiling at Bodie.

What is your favorite route to travel?

Share Your Table

I returned to San Diego with a suitcase of twice worn outfits, the urge to read Year of Wonders, find potato gnocchetti at Trader Joe’s, buy anything red, watch Casino Royale, make magnets, and organize my shoes. That is what great people do for you. Susie, Rachel B, and I spent a never to be forgotten three days in Washington together. We covered Seattle, Olympia, and the Olympic peninsula braving wind and rain. At Pike Place we ate melting macaroni and cheese (Beecher’s Handmade Cheese), French pastries, mini hot doughnuts. Needless to say, it was gourmand. We dined at Café Flora (vegetarian), Rosey’s on Rogers, and Aqua Verde. The euro hot chocolate at Trophy: Cupcakes and Party was 3 ounces of Wonka bliss. I ate a gorgeous coconut cupcake and Susie chose a lemony flower. Ahh, confections.

I stopped first in the Bay Area for quality time with bakeries, restaurants, public transit. Thrilling. I visited Chez Panisse, Tartine Bakery, Zuni Café. In the Ferry Market Building there was The Slanted Door (modern Vietnamese), Miette Pâtisserie, Cowgirl Creamery, and Lulu Petite. There was the de Young Museum, Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, and Muir Woods. It was my first foray to Marin, land of MFK Fisher and Skywalker folk. I will describe it as woodsy countryside with coastline. I kept half a round of cheese in my handbag for much of this visit along with 16 lbs of change from transit machines. The best thing at Tartine (not including the strong croissant) is the rocher. Now you know. Take advantage of this.

On my next visit to this region I will hit Point Reyes, the SF Center for the Book, SF MOMA, and more restaurants and bakeries. You can see I could easily be helicoptered in. On a subsequent visit to Washington I will pluck and eat blackberries.

It was a sumptuous occasion: rich in friends and nourishment. Rachel B. gathered oysters for a stew on Sunday night. She taught Susie and I how to shuck them and we supped at 11 pm after our day up and down the peninsula. We visited the co-op where she volunteers to package cheese once a week. It is a greener city. At Tartine, I drank hot chocolate and ate a croissant at a large kitchen table with studying students, a laptop user, and a newspaper. The laptop user kindly offered me the other half of his scone. Had I not been stuffed to the gills, I would have conceded.

In a Nutshell: Thanksgiving with the Indians

Flights: amazingly well spent and pleasing. I used to not sleep in planes; now I can for a couple hours.

Movies and TV viewed en route: Quand J’étais Chanteur (The Singer) featuring Gérard Depardieu as an aged lounge singer opposite his young love interest. I watched bits of this repeatedly and finally admitted he is an endearing character.
The Page Turner (also French), a mean-spirited film of a young pianist who is disillusioned during a recital/judging and gives up the piano. She later comes into the life of a family (the pianist mother being the one who dissed her at the judging) as a nanny and ruins their lives through treachery. She turns composition pages for this woman at a piano performance, hence the title.
The Break-up with Jennifer A. and Vince V. I tired of their constant bickering but approved the performances of the art shop receptionist and Jennifer A’s “brother.”
Fifteen minutes of Pirates II. Did not enjoy this and thought I would have nightmares of the tentacles. Yick.
One whole episode of MacGyver and a bit of The Love Boat (Doc was jumping up and down on a mini tramp by the pool. All the men had on tiny shorts. Long shorts are a pleasing change).

Illegality: snapping two pictures inside the Taj Mahal. My guide hissed to quickly take a picture of the inlaid stones while he shone a flashlight on them. I obeyed but these images will not implicate me being that I needed a flash (had my bulky camera with me).

What a huge proponent of light packing wishes she had packed: a nail brush (I simply walked outside and my nails became filthy) and a heel pumice (my poor feet were clad in sandals most of the trip (and most of my life); would that I could have filed them).

What I wish I hadn’t brought: multiple long pants and long sleeved shirts. The weather for the most part was hot and humid, especially in the south (Hawaii like climate). Knee-length skirts would have been perfect. (I had brought one and bought one there. I also wore long shorts some of the time.)

Bookshelf (in order of attack): Climbing the Mango Trees by Madhur Jaffrey (recent Knopf bio with recipes of the cookbook writer and actress); The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (winner of 2006 Man Booker Prize); half of V.S. Naipaul’s India: A Wounded Civilization; half of A Princess Remembers: The Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur (purchased in Mumbai on a recommendation after I had visited the Rambaugh Palace, now a hotel, in Jaipur).

Animal Fair: elephants, camels, goats, cows, bulls, monkeys, cats, dogs, birds, two dead rats, one or more live rats.

Casualty: one black hair clip (see also claw) that is integral to my being. It was mercilessly crushed on the flight from Delhi to Cochi.

Loss: black yoga pants used for running around. I believe they must have been left in Jaipur, hung out to dry (literally).

Flavorings acquired: two packets of black peppercorns and 10 vanilla beans (gift of Nimmy Paul, cooking instructor). Two packets of whole cardamom and one packet each of nutmegs and fenugreek.

Spices I wish I had bought (what can I say . . . I was overwhelmed): chili powder, curry powder, and black mustard seeds.

Other purchases: textiles (Gandhi proclaimed the answer to India’s ills is the spinning wheel) and two pieces of cookware, one aluminum pot and one steel uruli, a flat bowl for stovetop (I will try to post an image) for a combined weight of about 4 kilos.

Brought home: a taste for marble.

Birds of a Feather

This morning I breakfasted with four peacocks. They flew into the walled compound probably looking for water. They approached the pool but flew off without drinking. I was eating an omelet, toast, papaya, and Cadbury drinking chocolate. It is quite a Western breakfast but it was nourishing and will prepare me for the day. I am staying at Jasvilas in Jaipur. It is an oasis. As Rachel prepared me, this is a third world country. The people are very welcoming, non-threatening, and good. I point out this place is an oasis because the streets are a different thing, but not dangerous. I haven't minded the driving (from my back seat in the taxi). People seem to know what they are doing and no accidents yet. Horns a plenty. I spent the first four days in Mumbai (Bombay) which is the second largest city (I believe population) in the world, after Mexico City. It never appeared super overrun so it paints a broad swath and the worst slums are not where I was. Brad, Angelina, and I are visiting India.

At home, preparations continue for Thanksgiving, arguably a perfect holiday. Do let me know your plans and any menu successes. I plan to make Thanksgiving at Christmas. Cami presented me with a portable Thanksgiving feast: candied pecans, dried cranberries, pringles (potatoes), a pumpkin seed bar, an apple pie Larabar, and turkey jerky. I will eat royally. Perhaps you wish your feast was as pre-pared. I hope someone is baking an Indian pudding. This is what I will try in the coming days. Rachel B. made the best baked gingerbread ever a week ago. I will also make this. I don't see why we need pie with these deadlies. Historically wholesome. I wish you all well and heap big blessings.