Culinary Muse

A DAY IN BERKELEY

Sometimes I just have to get out of the City but not so far away that I lose sight of the San Francisco skyline. On days like this I head over to Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto for shoe shopping, shortbread cookies, lunch and a view with roses.

The only thing better than a good piece of chocolate is a great pair of shoes. First stop: EARTHLY GOODS. Don’t let the Eco-Berkeley name fool you. This is no Earth Mama store. Along with a complete line of Eileen Fischer clothes they carry a great line of authentically reproduced vintage shoes from REMIX VINTAGE SHOES Los Angeles. And darn if those cute black and white spectators didn’t have my name on them. With shopping bag tossed over my arm and new shoes on my feet I walked (strutted actually) over to CESAR for lunch. A cool glass of rose wine, some hot fried potato wedges dusted with cumin seed and a small ramekin of salt cod and potato cazuela (a cod and potato spread) were enough to refuel and launch me on my way to more shopping.

SWEET WEEK

It has been quite the sweet week for the Culinary Muse. After the mention of our ‘How to Taste Chocolate’ parties hit the internet via DAILY CANDY the phone has been a’ ringing. Click here to view Tuesday’s live segment on ABC’s VIEW FROM THE BAY . It was a great glimpse into what live television is all about. And let us tell you that it is not for the faint hearted or slow witted. To watch a television production crew arrive and figure out how they are going to present their information to an audience, live, in less than two hours, is something to behold. It is always a thrill to watch professionals in action which is what made Tuesday even more exciting.

If you are interested in learning more about the ‘How to taste chocolate’ class given by ‘Cocoa Tutor’ Karletta Moniz send us an email at km@culinarymuse.com

Noe Knit is the wonderful knitting shop that was featured and can be contacted at www.noeknit.com .They just received their shipment of luxurious fall yarns. Even if you are not a knitter today you will want to be by the time you leave the shop. Guaranteed.

THE MUSE ON ABC

The Muse takes her 'How to Taste Chocolate' class to the airwaves.  Watch ABC, Channel 7 today at 3 pm on 'View from the Bay' to see us live as we taste our way through a flight of chocolate!

REMEMBER MODIGLIANI

Today is Alex Fife’s 51^st birthday. I would like to imagine that if he was still alive we would have had a nice morning chat on the phone before he headed off to teach his fifth grade class in East Los Angeles. One of his favorite lessons was on Homer Simpson. Did the children know who Homer was named after? And did they know who Homer, the philosopher, was? And by the end of the lesson the children would be speaking Greek and drawing pictures on the sides of containers to tell their own stories of the hunt. Because Alex was clever that way. And so creative. We met when we were tour guides at the University Art Museum at Berkeley. The first time I noticed him he was bounding through a gallery (he had an extra little bounce in every step) with a pack of children in tow, his long bangs falling down over one eye. Playing the Pied Piper he could get the coolest kid in a class to pretend to be George Washington crossing the Delaware. The next thing you knew there were 13 year olds asking when they could come back to the museum to see Alex.

DAILY CANDY, THANK YOU!

The Muse would like to thank DAILY CANDY for today's posting about our chocolate tastings. Won't you join us?

A CARE PACKAGE

A woman walks into the gourmet food shop. She is in her mid to late forties, casually dressed in jeans and an Indian print top. She smiles to be friendly but her eyes show that she is carrying a deep worry inside. She explains her mission to the sales clerk. She is putting together a box of food for her friend who is a helicopter pilot in the Gulf. He loves to eat. The food needs to be able to travel well, stand up to heat and not contain any alcohol. Could the clerk help her? Could she describe the flavors contained in each jar? She begins to fill her basket. Sun-dried tomato spread, nicoise olive tapenade, pure raspberry preserves, grilled artichokes preserved in olive oil, pistachio cantucci. This will do just fine, she says. Yes, says the clerk, I am sure he will just love these. And when the woman leaves with her bag full of tissue wrapped jars the clerk wonders how many other mothers and fathers and girl friends and sisters and brothers across the world are doing the same thing for their soldiers so far from home.