I alluded to my frugality last week and it’s collision with other aspects of my life. Since that wasn’t the right time or place to talk about it, I dedicated an entire podcast to it. Today I talk about strategies to live a better life with less impact. I find a lot of satisfaction in successful frugality.
Tag: Food
February 26, 2024 – The Electronic Addiction Problem
In 1998, there was a landmark settlement between four tobacco companies and what was deemed as deceptive and deviant practices against the taxpayers. Today, we have new threats developing in the open and we are willingly participating. I talk about the tactics that I see being used to keep us coming back.
October 24, 2022 – The Kitchen Counter Cooking School Followup
I found the book warranted more than a quick review. So, I decided to do a podcast as well. There is almost nothing more important to your health than what you put into your body. If you don’t know how to cook, you are going to be at the mercy of others. I also talk about my history of cooking and go a little deeper with my journey with food.
End Your Programming Routine: We are heavily programmed with food. We have memories tied to it, we are addicted to it and we need food in our lives. What we also need is knowledge base to make educated decisions for our relationship with food. If you are stuck in the food web, pick a few things to change. It may be that one of those build confidence to change others.
July 1, 2022 – Episode 4, The Spanish Table
I am going to end the week of Spain here. Today I am talking about how eating in Spain works. There are a fair number of etiquette and traditions that go along with it. I try to simplify and define the rules as I know it.
End Your Programming Routine: It was an absolute honor to be treated like family and share most meals with the Roca family during our vacation. I feel so privileged that we were invited to spend time and meals with family and friends. Many thanks to making this a great experience.
February 5, 2020 – Book Report: Amacord
A few days ago, I finished reading “Amacord: Marcella Remembers” by Marcella Hazan. This book was selected by the Left Coast Culinary Club to read for January 2020.
I have to admit that I had never heard of Marcella Hazan, probably because of my age. She was a contemporary to James Beard, Julia Child and Robert Mondavi (think 1960s through the 90s). This is a biography about her life and an ode to Italian cooking, culture and living through food.
It is interesting to read a biography when you have no context or even a particular interest in the author or subject. It is probably a ‘You had to be there’ moment because we live in an era where not many things are exotic or unavailable. At the very least items or spices can be ordered on Amazon and the instruction is on Youtube. But during Marcella’s heyday, Italian cuisine and techniques were foreign to most Americans and northern Europeans.
The book jumps around a bit when it comes to a strict timeline, but it is organized in a way that the chapters are broken into phases in life and career which are presented mutually exclusive to the overlap in years. Even though I have been to Italy, I suspect that Italian cooking is much deeper and richer than pasta. Since this is not a cookbook, she alludes to that varied cuisine, but never really gets into recipes.
The chapter that I found most interesting was titled “How to Not get Rich: 1972-1993”. This talks about her various attempts to build branding outside of her cookbooks and teaching, think food products or manufacturing. I will summarize the outcome as she was unwilling to compromise on overall quality to meet the price thresholds to bring products to market. But, I got the feel from reading the book that her life was extremely fulfilling in living in the United States and Italy, pursuing her passion of teaching an building deep friendships with like minded people.
What I would say to that is that we are all in our journey of validation and fulfillment. From where I sit, that sounds pretty rich to me. When I get to my twillight, I think that I would rather be in Marcella’s seat than wealthy.
If you like culinary history or Italian food, you will probably like this book. I enjoyed the peak at a different era and I definitely like to read about success stories. It has inspired me to look a little deeper into Italian food in the future.
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