Friday, September 30, 2011

Profile: Ruth Reichl, writer and foodie

Former editor in chief of Gourmet Magazine for ten years, Ruth Reichl is one of my very favorite food celebs. She was the restaurant critic of the The New York Times, (1993-1999),  restaurant critic and food editor of the Los Angeles Times (1984-1993) and co-owner and cook of the collective restaurant The Swallow from 1974 to 1977. She played a part in the culinary revolution that took place in Berkeley, California.

She is the author of the best-selling memoirs Tender at the Bone, Comfort Me with Apples, and Garlic and Sapphires, and Not Becoming My Mother and Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way.

She is executive producer of the two-time James Beard Award-winning Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie, which airs on public television across the country, and the editor of the Modern Library Food Series. Before coming to Gourmet, she was the restaurant critic for the New York Times, receiving six James Beard Awards for her work. She lectures frequently on food and culture.

I have two of her memoirs, Tender At The Bone and Comfort Me With Apples. Both were wonderful. She is an accomplished writer and both memoirs are filled with charming and interesting anecdotes about her life and her family. I found the following interview online where she talks about the future of media and artisans as new stars on a really interesting site called Eater


Her resume goes on and on and she continues to be in the forefront of the food community. She lives in New York City with her husband, Michael Singer, a television news producer, and their son.

Here's a recipe from her very first book, a cookbook titled A Feastiary, 2004

Orange Oatmeal Cake


Ingredients

1/2 cups orange juice

1 cup oatmeal, uncooked

1 stick butter

1/2 cup molasses or brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 3/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon grated orange rind

1 cup chopped walnuts, if you want

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bring orange juice to a boil, pour over oats and set aside. Cream butter with sugar. Add molasses. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients, then add to butter alternately with oats. Add orange rind and nuts. Bake in large greased baking pan (13 by 9 inches) for 40 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes, then spread with the following topping.


Icing

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 stick butter

1 tablespoon orange juice

grated rind of one orange

1 cup dried sweetened coconut

1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped


Mix first 4 ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring. Add coconut and nuts, spread on cake and put under broiler for one minute.


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Friday, September 23, 2011

 

 I have just joined a blogging challenge which starts today. The idea is the creation of Julie Isaac, author and content creation coach, who has a blog at Blog.Writing Spirit.com/  I hope you'll check it out. The challenge is open to anyone who want to start blogging more regularly and would benefit by having to be accountable on a regular basis. Today is the first day of the second challenge so if you want to get in on it you need to join asap.

I do a lot of blogging and so sometimes I need a little push to keep up with all I've given myself to do. I have four blogs (only three in this challenge) and blog for the Bed and Breakfast Association of Kentucky. I know this seem like a lot, but it keeps me writing a good part of the day, around 4-5 hours. Since I am writing articles for three on-line magazines and finishing up a memoir, it's important that I write continually.

I have been an owner/Innkeeper at a small bed and breakfast in Louisville, KY. It's the perfect business if you want to pursue other avenues, like writing, at the same time. I'm home all day most days, I have housekeepers and assistants who help me in the business, and I can stay in my office near a phone writing all day. I need to be near a phone to take reservations and business calls. I can be on the computer writing at the same time.


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Sunday, September 18, 2011

Blogger Ball #7

Welcome to my book blog. I am a writer, editor, educator, musician, and small business owner. I have been
Welcome to the SheWrites Blogger Ball!
innkeeping at my bed and breakfast in Louisville KY for the past 17 years.  I am passionate about women's issues, the arts, and life in general...and  I love to blog. I'm working on a memoir now and have been trying to start reading more and reviewing books that appeal to me. I want to get back to reading memoirs again, as I'm in the throes of re-writing mine. Any suggestions for memoirs written by creative, adventurous and strong women will be more than appreciated. I love Ruth Reichl's books. She writes, as I do about people and food, as does Maya Angelou.

I hope you enjoy your visit.

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A personal essay on Sue Monk Kidd

I was first introduced to Sue Monk Kidd's writing through  The Secret Life of Bees and was immediately hooked on her style, her truth, and her honesty. To me, if I were to aspire to be like another write (and I don't) it might be her.

Today I went to Amazon to check out another book, a memoir suggested to me by a She Writes writer and Publisher. I want to return to my memoir reading before I finish rewriting and tightening my own memoir. I found the book and plopped it in my shopping cart, but couldn't leave before surfing around a bit to see what other treasures I might run into.

And up came Sue Monk Kidd's page.  Glancing across her titles, I was drawn to When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions. I looked inside and read most of the first chapter, loving every minute of her beautiful prose...so straight forward and well written...so captivating....and oh so depressing. 

I want so much to buy the book but don't know if I can tolerate the in-depth feelings of someone on a spiritual journey. I'm thinking out of the depths of hell into the light. And it's the hell part that bothers me. It actually gives me anxiety to think about reading it. But my intuition tells me, there will finally be an uplifting message on the other side of all of that angst. 

I am not a religious person, but I am always looking for the truth...everywhere...within myself and in the hearts of others. I always leave room for learning and discovering something I was missing. What would you do?


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Thursday, September 8, 2011

Anybody care that Fashion Week started today?

Anna Dello Russo and fast fashion may not seem like a likely pairing, but somehow Macy’s managed to get the Vogue Nippon editor and street style star on board to guest-edit a collection. To ADR herself, however, the partnership did not seem so far fetched.

“They called me six months ago, to propose to me this collaboration and of course, I was honored,“ she said thoughtfully while sitting in a suite at the Mondrian Soho, “It was a new challenge for me, exploring a different market and using my knowledge in this way, but I am an editor. Editor’s the right term for my work with Macy’s because I edit pieces."(Sara Leon for the Huffington Post)
.........Continue reading

“Designers have taken a painterly approach to fall 2011 by artfully combining bright colors with staple neutrals, reminiscent of how an artist would construct a stunning work of art,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Much like a painter's masterpiece, there is a certain romance to this season's palette.”  Stylist is doing a series called Pantone Color of the Week. They have taken swatches from the company's Fall Color Report and translated it to fashion and beauty. This week they are focusing on "... Emberglow -- a mashup of coral, pumpkin and salmon tones." Check it out here.



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