Diligent Women are Beautiful

Continuing Studies

I love to learn new things because it keeps me fresh and happy.  I love California because we have the best environment with the best people around here which provide us with the greatest resources available to everyone.  We have wonderful weather year round to do anything we want at any given time.  Just the sense of that energy makes every day a fantastic day!!

I just received a Continuing Studies catalog from Stanford University for Spring 08 which is from April to June.  I saw a couple of interesting classes and would like to share with you.  I don't know if I have the time to take those classes, but if you do, please take a full advantage of it.  If you do, please come share with us about your experience.

First of all, it's about Photography, of course.  In this Self-Publishing Your Photographic Book (ART 127) course, students will learn to edit and sequence their photos, decide on a title and text, make layout and design decisions, consider production and marketing options—in short, everything necessary to produce a beautiful, professional, hard-cover photo book. Final books will be printed and bound by Edition One Studios. The last class meeting will be a book-signing party at Modernbook Gallery in Palo Alto on June 12.  If you have been shooting for a while, you must have some beautiful photos that you want to make into a photo coffee table book. Don't know how?? This class will surely get you started.

Second of all, it will be Food Writing again.  This Food Writing from Soup to Nuts (EGL 243) course introduces many aspects of food writing: restaurant reviewing, magazine and newspaper articles, recipes, publicity, book proposals, cookbooks, food history, and memoir. Readings include culinary writers from M.F.K. Fisher and Ruth Reichl to Michael Pollan. Assignments are based on real food-writing situations and provide practice in research, writing, and exploring opportunities for publication in various media. Students will receive personalized, detailed feedback on each assignment and will be encouraged to develop a personal voice in relating food to their life experiences.  This is not an online class and the instructor is different than last quarter as well.  If you didn't make it last time, don't miss it again!!

You do like to travel, don't you?  Other than my mom and my brothers, I don't know anyone on earth who doesn't like to travel,  a chance to smell different air, taste different food and doing something that you never get a chance to do back home.  This quarter they offer a Travel Writing (EGL 145 W) online course.  Why is it that we must leave home in order to know ourselves? How does place inform our understanding of ourselves and the world? This online course explores the writing of the traveler—essays of place, exploration, and excavation. But you do not need to go far to write about place; the festival in your hometown, the view from your back porch, or the memory of traveling with your grandmother when you were a child all serve as perfect catalysts. We will use Best American Travel Writing 2006 as our guide, taking cues from its essays on how to structure, organize, and propel a travel piece. But for the most part, this class will function as a workshop. Students will write several short pieces to explore different aspects of technique and approach throughout the term. The course will culminate with every student writing a full-length essay, and receiving thorough critique from the class to help hone it for publication.

I made a wish to myself a few years ago that I want to be a very influential person and use my influence to have a positive impact on society.  I told myself it may take ten, even twenty years to achieve that goal but I know I will be that person one day.  So the next class I found is very interesting - Increasing Your Influencing Skills (WSP 131) Command and control used to be effective for creating change and achieving outcomes across an organization. Today, we are finding ourselves in the midst of a brand new game. Whether you work in a matrix organization or across functional silos, you may face the need to influence without having authority or hierarchical power. It is no longer effective simply to mandate how you need others to perform. This poses a challenge particularly when it comes to aligning interests and creating common goals and objectives. In a supportive environment and through practical activities and exercises, we will refine our influencing skills, hone our capacity to engage other people, and expand our sphere of influence. In the end, we will learn to effectively communicate organizational needs in a way that creates receptivity and engagement.  This is a one-day class, held on 5/17 from 9:30 to 5:00pm.

If you are interested in Real Estate, maybe a homeowner-want-to-be, maybe an investor-want-to-be, or maybe a Real-Estate-Agent-want-to-be, you might want to consider to take this class - Residential Real Estate: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (BUS 76) Mark Twain said, "Buy land; they're not making it anymore." In this course, we will examine the pitfalls and opportunities to watch out for if you are tempted to heed Twain’s call. After providing some general background on real estate and discussing some of the unique aspects of today’s market, we will provide a conceptual framework for use in the purchase or sale of a personal residence or residential investment real estate. This course will help demystify elements of a transaction while highlighting the most critical issues. Topics will include property valuation, financing, investment issues, title reports, title insurance, property inspections, mandatory disclosures, risk management, staging, marketing, Internet marketing, and special issues for seniors. This course is designed for individual investors, homeowners, prospective homeowners, and persons considering a career in real estate sales.  This class has two instructors and their background is impressive.  I am sure you will learn first hand information on Real Estate.   

Illuminating Edibles

I saw a really good article on Studio Photography Magazine on Jan 2008 issue talked about Food Photography.  In the end of the article, they also has a photo that show the set-up of camera, subject, lighting, and reflector which gives you a better idea how everything work. Enjoy it!

Illuminating Edibles . . . Shooting Fine Fare in Its Best Possible Light by Patrick Wadley

All still lifes require considerable lighting expertise and discipline, but food photography has its own special challenges. Unlike jewelry, toasters, or apparel, food moves. It shrinks, expands, shifts, melts, and changes shape and color. On the set, you need to work quickly, and, depending on the type of food, you may need multiple setups to get the perfect shot. Before setting the first light, there are some preliminaries to think about.

The most important aspect of food photography is preparation. There are three essential areas that demand attention: understanding the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) rules about "truth-in-advertising," knowing how to deal with the client or art director, and recognizing the value of a good food stylist.

The FTC regulates advertising and sets policies for the protection of consumers. These policies and rules affect verbal and visual advertising claims. There is a lot of information about truth-in-advertising at www.ftc.gov, but in a nutshell, "Advertising must be truthful and nondeceptive." This means you cannot misrepresent a product in an image or in writing.

. . . . . Keep Reading

The East meets West Married Couple Meetup Group

I am Taiwanese, and my husband is white American.  Since we are an interracial couple, we have many friends who are also interracial couples.  I found that interracial couples over all are a very interesting combination because Eastern culture and values are very different from Westerner’s.  The one thing I found in my marriage is that we don’t make assumptions of things in life because we know we are different – language, values, mentalities, perspectives, eating hobbies, etc.  I also found that those differences gave us interesting interaction toward everyday life.  We are always learning about each other, not only as individuals but also as a country or culture. 

So I started looking around to see if there are other social groups focused on people like us.  I joined two photography groups on Meetup.com but didn’t see any Asian and White couples in the group.  So I am thinking why not starting a group myself and see how many people are interested.  2008 is a good year to start something new so I set up my first meetup group called “The East meets West Married Couple Meetup Group” which has 22 members so far. 

We had our first meetup event today at John’s XLNT Food in downtown Willow Glen for breakfast.  We had five couples show up which was very nice.  We had four American husbands, one Swedish husband with two Chinese wives, one Taiwanese, one Singaporean and one Vietnamese-American wife.  Since this is our fist meetup, we started very gently on conversations.  We start with where people live and where they work, etc.  This didn’t last long because by the end of the breakfast, we have all kinds of subjects and conversations going on, and our voice and laughter was also getting louder.  It was a great time and I am sure next time we meet would be even more fun. 

Building a strong and supportive friendship takes time and effort.  I left my long time friends in Taiwan and start over again in the States.  This is my 8th year in the States and I finally start seeing the fruit of the seeds I planted when I moved to here.  I have started having friends here that I have known for quite some time.  I start to feel belonging. 

I start to feel that here is my home.

As my husband would say, “You have come a loooooong way, baby.”

Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) Designation

Home Staging has become very popular in the real estate industry in recent years.  Thanks to HGTV and other design/decorating TV shows, more and more homeowners recognize the importance of home staging.  In fact, home staging started around the 1970s but it was not until the 1990s when it really grew in popularity.  In today’s market, the homes that have been staged sell faster and for more money than those that have not been staged.  However, not every seller has the budget for Professional Staging but I still want to find a way to help them to get top-dollar for their home.

Home staging is not like the model home in a brand new house or condo community.  Home staging is a marketing tool and a necessary step taken prior to putting a house on the market for sale by de-cluttering, depersonalizing, rearrange furniture, re-accessorizing and making it smell better while homeowners are still living in the house (or by renting furniture for vacant homes).  Staging works, because it helps buyers to visualize what can actually be done with the place.

Therefore, I signed up for an Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) for Realtor class with the intent to serve my clients better.  The class was taught by Barb Schwarz, the creator of Staged Home.  Barb has been featured on 20/20, the Today Show, ABC, CBS, FOX 8, etc and she also written several books on Home Staging.  Many people think staging is about remodeling or re-decorating which is personalizing the home, but it is not.  The key to staging is to de-personalize by taking down family photos, personal collections, awards, certificates, etc, and redefine the purpose of each room by rearranging furniture.

Depending on your budget, sellers can hire a Realtor who has an ASP Designation to provide you with a DIY staging plan to save money or you can hire an ASP Stager to stage your house for you. 

Who doesn’t like to see a house that looks like a model home?  As a Realtor, I love to show staged homes to my clients because it feels good to walk in the house and it helps my clients to see how they can live in the house where each room has a clear function.  Since you don’t get a chance to have a first impression twice, how a house looks is a very important key to getting the house sold.  The National average shows that price reduction range from 5-10% when a house is not selling, so it would be better for a seller to invest that money in staging before the home comes on the market to see it is sold more quickly.   

Home is the biggest investment in most people’s life and a car is the second biggest investment.  Most of us would invest some time and money to detail our car before we put it on the market for sale.  So why wouldn’t we invest some time and money to detail our house before the sale??  Think about this for a second, most of buyers today are looking for houses through the Internet first.  They look at the photos online first to decide if they want to go to see that house.  If the house isn’t staged, and combine that with the fact that most Realtors don’t know much about proper photographic techniques, what do you think the chances are that you’re home is making a good first impression?

If you can’t get buyers in the door, you are not going to sell the house.

(Photo courtesy of StagedHome.com) 

Food Styling Workshop 2

I went to LA for a 3-day Food Styling Workshop in October 2007 and it was a lot of fun.  So I went to LA again last weekend for a 2-day Master Food Styling Workshop.  This time the classroom was at Surface, a restaurant supply and gourmet food store with a huge selection of stuff.  They also have a small café on site that provide coffee, drinks, sandwiches, salads, etc.  In the back of the store, they have a big industrial kitchen with commercial appliances with plenty of seating area, which is good for a cooking class.

I drove from San Jose to LA taking highway 5; however, I would not recommend you to do that in January and I would not do that again either.  On Highway 5, the weather between Lebec to Santa Clarita (about 30 miles, which is about one and a half hours outside of LA) is very bad – not only did it have heavy snow on the nearby mountain and ice on the shoulder, but also is lots of fog and rain.  So I drove 101 back home.  Next time, I would fly to Santa Monica, take a taxi to The Culver Hotel, and walk 10 minutes to the classroom. 

We had about 18 students this time (two are male, very rare) and about a hand full of students are from October’s workshop.  It was great to see them again (Bea, we miss you).  Last time we had students from as far away as Asia, this time we had students from Middle East (I don’t remember if from Turkey or Egypt).  This time is all about learning the individual basics for each type of food, but it is also hands-on for everything.  It is not as easy as you think.

We are going to learn about how to make grill marks on a steak, how to make a raw whole chicken look like it is cooked, how to assembling a hamburger and sandwiches, how to plate pasta, how to make fake ice cream and fake beer bubble, how to fix a pie or cake, how to arrange salad, pizza and melting cheese.  Remember, we have only two days and each day is only about five hours of class time.  It may not seem like a lot to take in but I almost collapsed at the end of the class.

Don't get me wrong; it was very educational and fun.  We all learned a lot from Cindie and Denise but it is harder than it looks.  The time goes by so fast that I feel I have a hard time to digest at some point.  The most fun one is the fake ice cream.  It took me about ten tries to get it right.  The secret is that you need to heat the scoop first and then to put the dough in.  The smaller scoop works better than the large one does.

I have learned so much and have a totally different perspective about food stylist.  They need creativity, good communication skills, patience, and a good personality.  I also realized that food styling is not for me because I think I am more talented on home staging and photography.  By knowing how food stylists work, I feel I would work better with them as a photographer when the time comes. (Photo courtesy of Matt Bites)

2/20 Denise and Cindie are going to Singapore for a special one-day master food styling workshop.  If you live in Asia and are interested in food styling, don’t miss this great opportunity.

For more pictures, please click on My Flickr.

Extended reading - Food Photography, Mittbites, 

2007 Food Network Party - Part 2

Hosting a party is a lot of work, from the prep work, to the party day, and to cleaning the next day, it takes a lot of effort.  However, the fun to be around so many good friends is like an addicting drug.  Since some of my friends couldn’t come for the monthly wine events, I really wanted to have a year-end party for them.

I have hosted many parties, so I know how to plan one but this year I wanted to do it a little bit differently which drove me to come up with the crazy idea – Food Network Potluck Party.  What was even more exciting is that my crazy Potluck idea, which asks people to bring a dish from the online recipes I choose, has won me an award from MaoBao’s website called Dream Party event.  It was a wonderful surprise and gave me some great encouragement.

The day before the party, I used wine corks with a small wood block to make a dish nametag stand for each dish.  I printed out all the dishes on paper, stuck them to a red paper and then glued it on the cork.  I then placed them next to each dish. This 2007 Food Network Potluck Party turned out to be a great success – totaling 27 dishes, 9 bottles of wine with 35 guests.

I thought I should have an easy night and enjoy the party since I am only making 2 dishes, which was the reason why I wanted the party to be a potluck-style.  I was wrong, because I need to take a photo of every dish before serving them.  Now, every one came in the door one after another so my shutter never stopped.  The serving table was not big enough to serve 20+ dishes at once, so I had to watch and exchange empty plates with a new dish. I feel so sorry that I was so busy that night and didn’t even get a chance to taste any food.  However, the good news is that there was no food left over at all which also made me happy because it means all the food was great!

I really appreciate seeing so many people up for the challenge and playing along with my crazy idea.  Thank you everyone for your participation.  You guys are brave because this time you are making something totally new and you should be proud.  Please share your thoughts about the recipes you tried, was it easy to understand the process, did any problem occur, or would you suggest any changes, etc.  I think this is the best way to test 20+ recipes at once.   

Thank you all.  I hope you all had a wonderful time that night, not only meeting new people but also enjoying the great food that everyone prepared.  I can see this is a great start for the New Year. 

Happy New Year to you all!

ps. To see all the photos, please click HERE.

- 2007 Food Network Party Potluck Final Menu -

DRINKS

Santa's Sleigh Cocktail   - Delia & Julio
Holiday Mulled Wine Cider - Mark E.

SALAD

Holiday Salad   - Amy & Doug
Pear, Stilton, and Chicory Salad with Crispy Chestnuts  - Jonathan, Dianna, and Matt 
Five-Spice Chicken Salad in Wonton Shells  - Min & Bill   
Orange Juice-Braised Sweet Potatoes    - Julia & Jason
Eggplant and Mozzarella Roll-Ups   - Shira & Jory
Crab Salad with Ginger and Dried Orange Peel    - Pamela & Luke
Parmesan Cheese drizzled with a honey infused truffle oil  - Delia & Julio
Tomato, basil,and mozzarella kabobs   - Delia & Julio

LAMB

Lamb Meatballs with Mint  Mark E.
Leg of Lamb with Caper Sauce   Jonathan, Dianna, and Matt 

BEEF

Beef Stew with Belgian-Style Pale Ale   Linda & Greg
Beef Yakitori with Eggplant   Sabrina

PORK

Spicy Pork Kabobs with Moorish Flavors   Heather & Eddie

CHICKEN

Herb-and-Cheese-Filled Chicken Thighs   Annie & Chi 
Honey, sesame and ginger chicken   Sabrina

SCALLOP

Seared Scallops with Tropical Salsa   Anita & Michael
Scallops in a Saffron and Rioja Wine Sauce   Julie & Harry

SHRIMP

Shrimp Marinated in Lemon and Olive Oil    Tao & Anders   

DESSERT

Apple Coffee Cake    Catherine & Bruce
Orange Cardamom Cookies   Tao & Anders
Tapioca Pudding   Linda & Greg
Berries with Balsamic Vinegar   Anita & Michael
Ginger Bread House   Laurel & Howard
Wine  Michael Wen
Wine Bob Brooks

2007 Food Network Party - Part 1

The Holidays are coming!  This year my husband and I are going to do something different for the year-end party.  We are going to have our first 2007 Food Network Party.  We came up with a GREAT idea for our Holiday party this year.  Listen up…it will be a POTLUCK.  I know what you are thinking right now, but no, this is not a normal potluck. 

I have chosen many recipes online for each of guests to pick one to prepare, and bring it with them to the party.  This is not an Iron Chef contest but I thought it would be fun to try some new recipes, and come share them with everyone so we can sample the food and enjoy the experience.  I am also going to take photos of each dish, so people who can't join us can still share the fun.

And I will make some cookies and pack them into a clear bag for guests to take home.  I think it would be a fantastic party.  I will post photos here to share with you.

- 2007 Food Network Party Potluck Menu -

DRINKS

Pomegranate-champagne punch       
Jasmine Spritzers    
Pineapple Cosmopolitans   
White Wine and Sparkling Cider Sangria   

SALAD

Holiday Salad   
Pear, Stilton, and Chicory Salad with Crispy Chestnuts   
Ginger, Green Apple, Sweet Onion and Coconut Salad   
Papaya, Cashew and Frisée Salad   
Tropical Fruit Salad with Toasted Coconut   
Five-Spice Chicken Salad in Wonton Shells   

SOUP

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup   
Sweet Potato and Apple Soup   
Broccoli-Leek Soup   
Carrot Soup with Orange and Ginger   

VEGETABLE

Orange Juice-Braised Sweet Potatoes   
Plump Turkey-Stuffed Tofu Dumplings   
Eggplant and Mozzarella Roll-Ups   
Foie gras with date puree and pomegranate       

LAMB

Jicama, Kirby and Carrot Salad with Charred Lamb   
Lamb Meatballs with Mint  

BEEF

Veal rolls stuffed with spinach and gruyere   
Grilled lemon-parsley veal chops  
BBQ Shortribs   
Beef Stew with Belgian-Style Pale Ale   

PORK

Apple-Glazed Pork Loin   
Crown Roast of Pork with Rosemary    
Ham with Orange Glaze   
Spicy Pork Kabobs with Moorish Flavors   

CHICKEN

Herb-and-Cheese-Filled Chicken Thighs   
Chicken and Peanut Stew   
Almond-Crusted Chicken Wings 
Individual Chicken Potpies
Thai Pumpkin & Chicken Curry
Young Chickens with Apricot-Fig Stuffing    

DUCK

Braised Duck in a Chocolate Wine Sauce   
Duck with Cranberry Mostaza   
Duck Breast with Peach and Mango Salsa  
Duck Breasts with Black Cherry Sauce    

SCALLOP

Scallops in a Saffron and Rioja Wine Sauce   
Sautéed Scallops with Lemon Beurre Blanc   
Seared Scallops with Tropical Salsa   
Lime-White Pepper Scallops with Bell Pepper Sauce      

SHRIMP

Nyonya Grilled Shrimp with Coconut Sauce   
Grilled Jumbo Shrimp with Garlic-Herb Butter  
Shrimp Marinated in Lemon and Olive Oil   
Flat Breads with Shrimp and Romesco Sauce   
Shrimp, Scallops and Stuffed Squid   
Shrimp with Rice vinegar Dipping Sauce   

OTHER SEAFOOD

Clams with Spicy Sausage  
Coconut-Crab Cocktail   
Crab Salad with Ginger and Dried Orange Peel   
Grilled Calamari   
Seared Ahi Tuna with Green Peppercorn-Thyme Crust    

DESSERT

Apple Coffee Cake   
Fresh Raspberry Tart
Tapioca Pudding   
Pear Bruschetta with Hazelnut Cream   
Banana Soufflés   
Orange Cardamom Cookies    

 

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.