Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Everyone has a 9-11 story. Just as, depending on your age, everyone remembers where they were when President Kennedy was assassinated or where they were when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. As I wrote, everyone has a 9-11 story. Here's mine. I wrote most of this on the 10th anniversary of that life-changing day. But - at the bottom - I get to the food part, the reason I'm posting this on this blog today. Flight 77 made an indelible mark on my life. When Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, claiming nearly 200 lives, including the life of Suzanne Calley, I lost a great friend and mentor. I watched her husband, Frank Jensen, grieve. I watched my husband grieve. And I grieved myself. Jake and I were in Cabo San Lucas with friends for a week-long vacation when we began to see news footage of the Twin Towers in New York burning. Because we were in Mexico, all of the reporting was in Spanish. Later we discovered an English-speaking channel. An...

  Less than a week ago, I lost someone I knew. I saw on Facebook that Matt Schuler had died. At first I thought it was a joke. A sick joke. Then a few more posts and a couple of emails later, I realized that it was true. And it launched me down a nostalgic, wistful road. Matt and I were part of the original 13 - thirteen students who began their high school careers at York School in Monterey a year early, as eighth graders. By the time we graduated five years later, our class had swelled to 32 with a few kids drifting in and out through the years. For the most part, it didn't matter who had arrived in eighth grade, ninth grade, or even transferred in as a junior. What it meant to me was that Matt and I shared many, many classes. From English to Physics and Chemistry to Choir, he was there. Most memorably, he and I were the only two in our class who slogged through five years of Latin when only two were required. By the fifth year, we began to bicker about what we should rea...

Someone just asked me about unforgettable food experiences. My head is reeling as I struggle to answer.  Wow. There are so many. One thing they all have in common: it's not just about the food . It's about the experience. The atmosphere, location, and company are seared in my brain, augmenting the memory of the meal or food experience. Would love to hear if it's the same for you...  Sorry for not having any of my own photos of these spots. I do actually have photos, but these trips and memories were pre-digital cameras for me. All of my shots on are slide film. I have listed the links to the sites where these photos were originally posted. One of these days I'll scan all of my slides. http://travelbackgrounds.com/city-afloat-handelskade-willemstad-curacao-desktop-wallpaper/ Drinking lemonade under an umbrella on the Willemstad waterfront on the island of Curaçao. The pastel-colored buildings reminded me of Easter eggs. And the three of us huddled under th...