Diligent Women are Beautiful

Food Writing Class

I love to eat, shoot, and write.  I am getting picky on what I eat, how to shoot, but I still have a hard time to write.  Writing is hard for me.  How to make readers feel the same way I feel through words?  It is hard to writing in my native Chinese language and even harder in English.  Since I was born and educated in Chinese, I think it is easier for me to write in Chinese than English even though I have studied in American college for four years.  I can write research papers and legal real estate contracts which are required for my job, but writing for food is still hard.

I have always wanted to improve my English writing skills, especially for food and travel.  Recently I received a Continuing Studies catalog from Stanford University, and one of the classes is the Online Food Writing, 10 weeks from 1/14-3/23, limited to 17 students, registration starts on 12/3.  I am really interested in this class, but not sure my schedule would fit.  I post it here in case someone would be interested.

Food Writing: The Literary Gourmet (Online Course) (EGL 243 W)

If you love to eat, cook and read about great food, and you'd like to learn more about the many different forms of food writing, then this is the course for you. In this course, you will read a wide variety of food writing by some the most successful practitioners at work today, including former New York Times restaurant critic Ruth Reichl, food blogger and bestselling author Julie Powell, chef Anthony Bourdain, science and food writer Michael Pollan, and Vogue contributor Jeffrey Steingarten. Using their work as models, you will learn how to write restaurant reviews, how to test and develop written recipes, and how to write travel stories focused on food. You will also each write one personal essay and one magazine article in which food—either dining out or dining in—takes center stage. We will discuss practical aspects of the business as well, such as how to submit your short pieces to publications and how to write book proposals. This is an online writing workshop, so be prepared to respond to other students' writing in an editorial capacity, and to receive great feedback on your own.

Created in close partnership with the Stanford Creative Writing Program, this online course will be useful for students looking to improve their craft. Because this course can be taken anywhere, anytime, it is designed to be attractive to those students who live far from campus, or who lead busy lives and can benefit from the flexibility of the online format.

Malena Watrous
Former Stegner Fellow
Malena Watrous is a fiction and nonfiction writer based in San Francisco. She has taught creative writing at the University of San Francisco, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Iowa. She received an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and was a Truman Capote fellow. Her fiction has been published in such literary journals as Story Quarterly, TriQuarterly, and The Massachussetts Review, and her nonfiction has appeared on Salon.com, and in The Believer, Real Simple, Organic Style, and other magazines.

For other online writing classes, please click HERE.

Into the Wild

Have you read the book or seen the movie?  If you have not, I would suggest you stop reading this post and go read the book or watch the movie first so you and I are on the same page.  If you research this film/book, you will find something like this:

“This true story is about Christopher McCandless, who grew up in a wealthy family from West Virginia.  After graduating in the summer of 1990 from Emory University, with honors, McCandless ceased communicating with his family, gave away his life savings of $24,000 (the fund that was supposed to go toward his Harvard Law School) to OXFAM (an organization united for a more equitable world, searching to find solutions to poverty and injustice), abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet along with his ID, he changes his name and began his search for life’s meaning through a journey across the country.  He died some time in August 1992, and moose hunters in Alaska found his decomposed body in early September.  He was 24.”

Is that it?  Of course not; otherwise, I won’t spend time to write about it.

I watched the movie last night and now I can’t sleep because of too many thoughts in my head.  I loved this movie because it makes me think and feel, again.

I see both side of the criticism toward McCandless when I dig for more information online.  One side thinks he is stupid, unprepared, over confidence which caused his death and it is not worth the attention; the other side thinks he is a brave, strong, and kind man that makes readers rethink what mankind has become with materialism, violence and injustice.

Yes, I think it was a risky thing to do, going to live alone in Alaska when his backpack has only ten pounds of rice, a .22 caliber rifle, a camera, several boxes of rifle rounds, some camping gear, and a small selection of books including a field guide to the region's edible plants.  He took no maps or compass and didn’t study enough about the environment and survival knowledge.

However, life itself is unpredictable.  I totally understand why he didn’t do all these things that WE expect a normal hiker would do.  If he was well prepared with full gear and a lot of food, it wouldn’t be the challenge he is looking for nor would this book/movie have been made.  He could just stay home, do a weekend camping somewhere near home just like you and I.  He didn’t hurt anyone or bother anyone.  He needed to find the true meaning of life, of happiness, of mankind.  Yes, he made a few mistakes that cost his life (but we all make some mistakes everyday in life that could cost our life one day) but I am sure he didn’t regret what he has done even though the result was not what he had in mind.   

Whose is to blame for his death?  McCandless himself?  His parents?  Society?

I am not in the position to judge.  I know I don’t have the guts to do what he did but his spirit has an impact on how I feel about life.  How many people in their entire life have even once asked the important question – what is the meaningful life that I am going after – why am I working so hard?

Without the dedication of the book author Jon Krakauer and the movie director Sean Penn, we would not be able to know this story.  Both of them see McCandless’s story as something that reflects what they believe in humanity.  After introducing McCandless's tragic journey in an issue of the magazine Outside in January 1993, Jon Krakauer decided to extend on the story to make the novel ‘Into The Wild’ in 1996.  However, it took Sean Penn over a decade of care and communication with the McCandless family to convince them to make a movie from this story.  Out of all the filmmakers who showed interest in the McCandless story, from the very beginning Penn was the only one who sincerely wanted to present a true story more so than a story that was focused on selling movie tickets. (this was the last known photo of the real Chris McCandless, the undeveloped film from his camera. )

According to Penn’s interview with MoviesOnline, he said, “It’s about somebody who had a will that is so uncommon today, a lack of addiction to comfort, that is so uncommon and is so necessary to become common, or mankind won’t survive the next century.” The belief that consumerist human beings, not profit-driven class society, are responsible for the destruction of the environment is the film’s underlying subtext. The qualities he genuinely and legitimately admires, self-sacrifice and integrity, are relatively rare in America today not because the population has degenerated, but for definite historical and political reasons, including a stagnant and reactionary social climate, which deliberately encourages the opposite: selfishness and callousness.

Before he dies, he realized “happiness only true when shared,”  and the last words he wrote down were "I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!"  How many of us can say that?

Christopher J. McCandless (February 12, 1968 – August 1992).

It was a great story.  I am ready to watch it again and I hope you go pick up the book or go watch the movie.

#1: The author Jon Krakauer another book called Into Thin Air is also a good read.
#2: Behind the scene - read about the whole process of making this movie.
#3: Hear what this person has to say.

Cooking Swap

Last night, the night before Thanksgiving, we invited our friends, Mr. AB and Mrs. TB, over to do a cooking swap together.  The idea was because I have a few recipes I would like to try, but I need more people to help with the cooking and eating.  So we ask them if they are up for the challenge.

They came over around 6pm, I gave everyone a recipe with all the ingredients they needed to prepare the dish, boys on one side and girls on the other side, Chinese speaking on one side and English speaking on the other side, and the conversation began.  We prepared a few different types of cheeses and Prosciutto as appetizers to get us started.   

The menu for the night, we have a teaser, an appetizer, a soup and a dessert.

We started with Bacon-Wrapped Date as a teaser.  Mr. ME use a thick-cut bacon to wrap the pitted dates, skewer them and put them into the oven at 450F for about 20 minutes until the bacon was crispy.  We tried dates and dry figs, but the four of us favored the dates.  The sweetness from the date and the savory from the bacon -- the combination of taste was unbelievable (we ate them all before I realized I didn't take any photos).  We definitely will make this again. (the photo is from foodnetwork.com)

Next, Mr. AB prepared the Portobello mushrooms with pesto and pine nuts.  I love mushrooms, so I am always looking for mushroom recipes.  I have tried several and they all turn out great.  I don’t wash my mushrooms, just wipe them with a paper towel.  This is an easy dish to make since you can buy all the ingredients and just put them together to grill.  I was surprised to know Mrs. TB didn’t like mushrooms, but she ate it and liked these.

Mrs. TB prepared the Butternut squash soup with coconut and ginger in which I think was the most complicated recipe and it took the longest time - you need to bake them, cook them in a pot and then puree them; however, you can make it ahead of time.  Although the result was good, I don’t think I will make it again soon.   

Mr. ME prepared the Duck legs with mustard and candied orange as a main dish.  The recipe required duck breasts with kumquats but we couldn’t find them so we substituted with duck legs and oranges.  It still turned out great, but I think the taste with kumquats would be even better because of the bitterness from the kumquats. (sorry, forgot to take the photos again)   

I did the Parma-style carrot cakes for desserts and breakfast the next day.  It required an 8x10x12-inch baking dish, but I decided to use the muffin cups instead.  It has 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds which added a little interesting licorice taste. 

The conversation on the table was very interesting too.  Mr. AB is from Sweden who lived in Japan for 5 years and speaks Japanese; Mrs. TB is from China who lived in California for 3 years; Mr. ME is from the East Coast who lived in Taiwan for 4 years and speaks Chinese, and I am from Taiwan who lived in California for 7 years.

Because of our multicultural backgrounds, the topics were all over the place.  We talked about the BingLang Girls (檳榔西施) culture in Taiwan; the differences in karaoke between Japan, Taiwan and China; the impression of Chinese and Taiwanese toward each other; the possibility for the four of us to go to China and Taiwan together which would be 4 different passports.

We had a wonderful time together, cooking, tasting, and talking.  I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a good time together.

Las Vegas

My husband and I attended the International Real Estate Conference in Vegas last week.  The last time I was there was five years ago when we got married in The Venetian Hotel.  I felt it has changed a lot.  We stayed in the Paris Hotel this time because all the rooms in the Venetian hotel were booked.  Since we spent all day in the conference, dinner is the only time we had to enjoy a good meal and talk about the excitement of the show.  I didn’t do a lot of research before I left home, so this is a trial-and-error experience.

Our first dinner was at the Valetino in the Venetian Hotel.  It is located downstairs, near Delmonico.  It was not a pleasant dinning experience, neither the environment, nor the service or the food.  They had a big group that night, and our seats were right next to it with a metal curtain in between us and the party.  It was so loud that we couldn’t hear each other nor could the waiter hear us.  We waited so long for our waiter to come to our table.  He first asked my husband about the drink order (instead of asking the woman first), and when I told him what I want, he wouldn’t even bend his body to hear me so he says he can’t hear me.  I wanted him to ask the bartender to make a twist on the cosmo for me, but the waiter seemed not very up for it.

The food was not that great, compared to the price we paid.  We started with a crab salad with apple and potatoes.  I think the dressing doesn’t go with the salad, neither with the crab nor apple flavors.  If the apple was sliced would be better than being cut into strips.  The Gnocchi with meat sauce was good but not noteworthy.  I ordered the Halibut Steak with pan fried tomato and baked mini-potatoes.  The fish was good but not special, and I think if it was served with carrots or sweet potatoes or some greens it would be much better than baked mini-potatoes.

The second dinner was at Ah Sin in the Paris Hotel.  It serves Pacific rim food, which basically means a mix of Asian-style food.  The dinning environment and the service were nice but the food was not special.  As soon as I looked at the menu I knew we were not going to have something special because a good ‘real’ Chinese/Korean/Thai/Malaysian restaurant would have something better. 

The last dinner was at Enoteca San Marco in the Venetian Hotel.  It is located in the piazza and it is Mario Batali’s new restaurant, open for just six months.  This is the best meal we had in this trip, with a great dinning environment and good service.  We sat “outside”, at one of the marble-counter seats.  We could watch the appetizer chef preparing cheeses, prosciutto, olives, etc and could have a small talk with him.  We saw a tall hexagon shaped tank with clear glass windows standing in front of us.  We asked the appetizer chef about the contents and he told us they are curing their own meats such as salami and pancetta onsite by themselves in that hexagon-shaped tank. 

Our dinner started with Carne (sliced cured meats), so we had Prosciutto di Parma and Formaggi (cheeses) where we decided to have Pecorino Stagionato, Fontina Valle d’Aosta, and Robiola Bosina with house made bread and three different palate cleansers (black truffle honey, apricot with red pepper flakes, and cherry jam).  My favorite cheese was Pecorino Stagionato, a sheep’s milk that was aged 5-6 months from Toscana that was sharp and firm.  Our main courses were simple, a tomato, basil, bufala mozzarella thin crust pizza, and veal and ricotta meatballs on a bed of polenta.  They were delicious!

Weekend in Napa

My husband and I went to Napa for a weekend getaway with friends.  We stayed in The Chateau Hotel – the room is quite spacious, all the towels are white and soft, there is no fridge or microwave in the room but they do have free Wi-Fi internet and continental breakfast each day, outdoor sitting area and a convenient location.  The Starbucks, Target, and Trader Joe’s are just 1 mile away, and many restaurants are within walking distance to a 10-15 minutes drive.

We like to go where the locals go for meals, so we ask people who work at wineries where they go for dinner or lunches as our referrals.  And here I would like to share with you the places we went:

Bistro Don Giovanni (Napa)

The first night we went to Bistro Don Giovanni, about 10 minutes from the hotel.  It is very private looking from the street, with lighting on the ground next to bushes to guide you into the parking lot.  You pass through the outdoor patio where people are enjoying the al fresco dining to get into the entryway.  The main room is big with a high ceiling that makes it look even bigger.  We were there around 6:30pm (and it was already packed) without a reservation (not recommend) and were lucky to get a small table at the corner after waiting just a few minutes.   

We started with our drink – a glass of house Cabernet and Ciroc Vodka Champagne Cosmo which was cranberry juice with prosecco and ciroc vodka.  The pink color looks great and the taste is wonderful but I wish it was just a little bit sweeter.

Then we started with the Bistro Back Door Salad and I loved it.  It was Apple, Candied Walnuts, Shropshire Blue Cheese with Moscatel Vinaigrette.  The sweet from apples mixed with the bitter taste of Vinaigrette and saltiness from the cheese with fresh mixed green, it tasted so refreshing.  We were fighting over it and it only took a second for us to clean the plate.

Next, my husband had Risotto ai Funghi which was braised creekstone short ribs with melted leeks and black truffle pecorino, and I had Pan Roasted Petrale Sole which was lemon caper with butter and haricot verts.  We both loved what we ordered.  I like seafood with fresh and light taste, and he likes ribs, beef or lamb with heavy dark sauces.

To finish we had the Meyer Lemon Souffle Pudding Cake to sweeten our date for the night.  I personally think the size of the cake is a little bit too big and way too lemony.  I only had a few bites and that was enough for me.

Overall, we had a good time in this place.  The server was very friendly and quick even when the whole restaurant was full of people, the dishes were delicious, and the environment was comfortable.  Highly recommended!

Taylor’s Automatic Refresher (St. Helena)

Yesterday when we drove by an outdoor diner, the line was wrapped around the diner out to the street.  I was wondering what does this place serve to be this popular?  So after a local friend strongly recommend us to give it try, we had our lunch here the second day.  The diner is in the middle where left and right are parking lots, and they have a small front and a big backyard for outdoor sitting.  When the order is ready, they call you by name, not a number, which is very nice.

They have several selections of beer, wine by the glass, and milk shakes.  They have many choices of burgers – from a Texas burger to a Wisconsin burger, and the most interesting is the Ahi Burger.  People who don’t want burgers still have other choices such as fish and chips, chicken club, veggie burger, hot dogs, soup and salad, garlic fries, sweet potato fries and onion rings.  The food is good – I had the Ahi Burger with sweet potato fries and a chocolate shake, and my husband had the fish and chips with ice tea lemonade, but I felt it was a little bit pricey.

They have one in SF but I think the feeling would be different but hopefully the food is the same.

Bistro Jeanty (Yountville)

The second night we went to Bistro Jeanty, about 20 minutes from the hotel.  This place was packed at 6:30pm and again we didn’t have a reservation.  We waited about 30 minutes to get two seats at the bar.  We love to sit at the bar because it is cozy and we get to see all the action.  We had a lunch here with friends a long time ago and I had a good experience and memories.  However, the dinner tonight was a little bit disappointing.  The food was great, if you like the style.

We had Coq au Vin for me which was chicken, mushrooms, bacon red wine stew, and Daube de Boeuf for my husband which was beef stew, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots.  When the food came, I regret right away about my order – the dark brown looking sauce just killed my appetite.  I had two bites and send it back to pack it to go.  My husband was enjoying his meal, and ate my chicken the next day for dinner.  So I guess that it all depends on personal taste and what you order.

Bistro Fume

This one was recommend by my friends and it is walking distance from the hotel.  They said it was a good choice, so I post here for you to try.

- - - - - -
The Chateau Hotel    707-253-9300  4195 Solano Ave, Napa
Bistro Don Giovanni 707-224-3300  4110 Howard Lane, Napa (formerly Hwy 29)
Taylor’s Automatic Refresher 707-963-3486  933 Main St, St. Helena
Bistro Jeanty 707-944-0103  6510 Washington St, Yountville
Bistro Fume  707-257-1999  4050 Byway East, Napa

- more photos on my flickr