sunday at the oakland Museum

The exhibit was a retrospective of art from 100 years at the California college of Art and Crafts. I love the Squeak Carnwath, the Manuel Neri, the Nathan Olivera... but after taking a portrait of significant by the koi pond,I was mesmerized by the sight of colors and patterns,water,whiskers,bars and reflections...

august in November

went to the opening of a wonderfully talented artist named Sherry Olsen. Sherry is a famous ceramicist but her fine art is just as special and haunting. It feels raw ,complex, dark and gentle. She was showing with a couple of other people, who used the traditionnal indigo techniques from japan in wonderful new items of clothing,and others who created little voodoo dolls like mobiles of indigo remnants with human hair. Japanese sake in mini glass bowls and artful baskets of radishes and sushi felt like an extension of the art.
August ,541 college avenue, Oakland CA 94618

glam dot

a day in the country

It is a bit of a drive, specially when you encounter tons of traffic on the way back, and when you arrive home, exhausted and your nerves on edge. The Sonoma Valley, north of San Francisco is always a treat for the eyes and soul. Even under working conditions and with the loud buzz of leaves blowers and lawn mowers breaking the silence of the vineyards. After all ,all these beautiful estates need to be primped. But I couldn't resist taking a few snaps to give a flavor of fall, of foods I cooked, of colors, of beauty.

party

Let's pop up the champagne cork, and drink the alchemist breuvage,bubbles bursting in animated pattern in the back of the thoat. Its efffervesence bringing the meaning of life to the lips:short, full of surprises,glorious, exquisite and glowing.

in the hands of Buddha

Last week at the market,I bumped against a bin of Buddha's hands. These wild fruits made their first curtain call a few years ago and I was mesmerized by the weird, probing tapered fingers. Now, it is in the Berkeley grocery store,bins full of them, california mainstream.foodie heaven in the relentless search for the new, the unique, the hidden, the exotic.. My firiend June candies the exotic citrus peel but what else to do with it ? Anyway, I was daydreaming , imagining an orchard, somewhere in California, where the fruit was finally coming to maturity. What does the tree must look like , I ask ? Only to stumble ( once more) onto a dwarf tree at the nursery. I was not looking for a citrus tree then but for some ground cover, Buddha called and took me by his long curly nails to the pretty tree with its huge yellow ornaments.

pome-grenada

I am trying to come up with recipes with the little ruby fruit. The one from the Midlle east that (I think) gave its name to the Spanish city of Grenada. The fruit takes work and paper towels to blot the area but it is so worth it:Tasty, bracing, pretty and good for you besides. I had some puff dough left over, so I cut very rustically some circles and topped them with with a mixture of goat cheese, mint,salt, pepper and pomegranate seeds. 15 minutes in the oven. apetizer for fall.By the way, I most appreciate comments on anything or everything.

egg salad

I do not like eggs.never did.viscous,mostly, when they are " a la coque", in their shells. But for some odd reason, blame it on advancing age or what, but lately I have developped I have a terrible fondness for egg salad sandwich. Me, who doesn't love sandwiches, the way Americans do. I would prefer a tartine, anyday, like another compatriote at: http://www.latartinegourmande.com/, but after all, I will have this egg salad on an open face and cut it with knife ans fork. There.

Start by getting your olive oil nice and hot, add some smoked paprika powder and salt and plop your peppers (dried, otherwise the oil will splatter) and let them do their caramelization alone for a while,turn after you have checked your e-mails, and at the last minute, scatter some chopped garlic, and toss.In the meantime, cook your eggs a la Julia to get them perfect each time,and mix some mayonnaise, salt and pepper.that is IT.Toast your nice slice of bread, smear your egg concoction,top with a tower of mingling sweet peepers and presto.a delicious, hearty lunch.

a visit chez Lulufrank

I finally made a date with daughter so visit her new digs:Industrial Oakland, Bart trains overhead, big trucks making wide right turns unto side street where I finally park, right next to the family owned Thai restaurant, tucked cosily in the old foundry complex, called Vulcan, that is home to about 100 artists. We sit on the deck of the restaurant and share a couple of Thai ice teas, and I get a little more of a sense of where she lives and how. It feels safe, despite the area,and behind the gate, is a little village of funky doorways and garden patios, where art is always prevalent.After a maze of factory coridors covered in paintings, we get to her place, where she has a loft bedroom, that feels like a nest, tucked up a tiny staircase.Below, in the common area, pandemonium:the other tenants deal in junk, and boxes of it, bicycles, buddhas and piles of such allow a narrow path to the kitchen.We listen to her new music, and she tells me how much she loves Biolay, the new French singer-composer.Afterwards, we walk around to the dog park and loop back to the parking lot. We have fun taking pictures of the village that reminds her of Mexico, even if she has never visited the country, yet.