Personal

Dear Friends,

Pat and I had a wonderful Valentine’s Day evening. Of course he gave me flowers, and I cooked him a delicious dinner. I made a soup of roasted butternut squash with Indian curry toppings of banana, coconut, green onion and cashews. I had just seen that on The Food Network with Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) and decided that sounded luxurious...and it was! Delicious, too!

When I got Vinny, I decided that I wanted to feed him as naturally as possible. I bought him some organic and wholesome dog food at a store plus some raw ground chicken. The first day I gave him the raw food, and he did great. The next day, I gave him the canned food...and he kept passing gas afterwards! A few days later, after our show in Texas, we visited the Humane Society's animal rescue reserve called Black Beauty Ranch. While there, I got talking with one of their caretakers and she was telling me about her own results with her dogs when she switched them to a raw diet.

Dear Friends,

Pat and I are about to take our first real vacation in 20 years! We've been invited on a ski trip in Austria with world champion and Olympic skiers, Franz Klammer and Franz Webber, leading the tour. Should be interesting! The last time we skied was two years ago at Wolf Creek – near our home in Pagosa – and that was just for one day.  

I love to cook simple but interesting food with a fresh, healthy theme, so my kitchen and fridge are filled with ingredients. In fact, when Pat or Caton open the fridge, they literally can’t see anything to eat! Being a salad freak, I have lots of salad greens, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, fresh veggies like French green beans (haricots vert), zucchinis, red bell peppers (capsicum in Australia!), asparagus, carrots, sweet potatoes (yams) and garlic as staples. Then I grab whatever takes my fancy that week at the store.

Dear Friends,

I'm reading an EXCELLENT book at the moment, and I thought some of you might be interested in checking it out. It's called Nonviolent Communication and is by Marshall Rosenberg. It's a very powerful message about becoming responsible for how you give and receive communication, how being judgmental colors your language in unfavorable ways, and most of all how to express your feelings both to yourself and to others. Very thought provoking, powerful messages.

Dear Friends,

I’ve been thinking about what to cook for Christmas dinner. I love the Italian tradition of seven fishes, or fish in seven ways…but I don’t think I’ll do seven dishes! My favorite is Cioppino, a seafood stew – the Italian equivalent of the French bouillabaisse. It’s a famous San Francisco dish and one of my favorites.

Dear Friends,

Being a Left-Brain Extrovert, Vinny requires a team of baby-sitters when Pat and I go out of town! Pat’s senior team takes on that role, and Vinny loves it! I’ll bet he doesn’t really miss us, but he’s super excited when we get home. He wants to jump into our arms and it’s almost impossible to hold him because he wiggles so much. It’s like holding a fish!

Dear Friends,

Ever wondered about the process I go through to write all these articles, Mastery Manuals, blog entries, etc.? When I write, I like to sit on my couch, where I'm comfortable. Laptop on my lap, Vinny lying next to me. And I have to have the TV on playing music or the cooking channel. This is my "white noise" that makes sure I'm not distracted by every little sound that I hear out or around the house! I can write for hours and hours like this.

Dear Friends,

The Zettls arrived last night, and I’ll fill you in soon on how my sessions with Remmer and Walter are going. Today, however, I thought I’d give you an “inside look” at a different aspect of my “preparations”…