Summer came so strong that I’m just getting around to sharing our James Beard Awards weekend. To say that it was the cat’s pajamas is an understatement! We had an absolute ball. This was our first time attending the awards but having Chicago proudly hosting …
Has anyone told you lately that there’s so much good stuff out there? If not, I’m saying it. Summer has its unique way of revealing how much is out there: zucchini for giants, pounds of tomatoes, mint taking over any and every garden if you’re …
“There, all is order and beauty,
Luxury, peace, and pleasure.” Baudelaire
We entered the weekend leisurely. My parents were visiting to celebrate… major milestones, family, and life. Committed to resting and relaxing for a change, we were resolved to do only what we wanted to do: engage with beauty in all of its forms and each other. We began in my Black Garden with watermelon lemonade “spiked” with nonalcoholic gin. We peppered our conversations with updates on family back home, travel, the economy, my parents’ childhood memories, and more. We sipped cappuccino and enjoyed neighborhood pastries. It was luxurious.
We drank sparkling wine, enjoyed meringue mounds swirled with chocolate and pecans, sweet and salty pie, and my dad’s favorite, pizza. We listened to the melodic voices and stirring percussion of Black Monument Ensemble and then danced to Hip Hop, Stevie, and R&B. So much art.
My mom remarked that it was so nice not to be running from one place to another. So calming to be present, right here, right now. It was luxurious.
We ate our favorites and reminisced about pizza in Naples, Chianti in Florence, whites in Val d’Aosta, shellfish in Sicily, and tiramisu in Venice. It was pleasurable.
I have always been drawn to still life paintings replete with an abundance of fruit, delicately-blown glasses, curious objects, loaves of bread, and dark or glowing light. Without realizing it, these images have molded my style. I created a home where stands and bowls of …
Over the weekend here in Chicago, my dad and I turned our gazes towards my mom as we watched her in action. She was negotiating something in her polite but determined way. With admiration in his voice, my dad said, ”Your mom is fearless.”
“If I had my druthers…” She has her druthers. Druthers… she makes that improbable phrase move from the conditional to the declarative. These last two years have thrown numerous wrenches in her plans (to say the least), but still she rises.
There’s no place that she won’t explore. Drop her in a new city, in the woods, on a mountain or overboard, and she’ll look around and make a plan. We were in Barcelona, both having been there once before independently, and everything was possible. We had heard about a terrific seafood restaurant and we planned our entire day around our feast. She and I adore seafood, especially shellfish. We (and she in particular) are nooks-and-crannies people: the more poking, pulling, extracting, squeezing, and nibbling around a shell or bone, the better!
For Barcelona, Part One, click here.
In addition to assorted delights from the sea, we ordered their specialty, paella. Let me pause to say that paella is high on the list of special dishes that are made quite frequently at my house. It’s under the category of slow, rustic, communal cooking that’s made even better outside like barbecue, crab boils, and fish fries.
Unlike mine that is the color of marigolds, Botafumeiro’s was a brownish concoction reminiscent of roux for gumbo or shrimp and grits. And it was glorious! My mom’s first bite rendered the most dazzling smile that lasted the few hours we were there and our walk back to our hotel.
Every time the fearless one comes to Chicago (including a few days ago), we have some seafood. Here are a few Chicago paellas from the vaults.
When kissing, do you pucker up? Lips pinched and squeezed like a tulip, there’s a promise. Like gentle kisses, lemons present joy, pleasure, and a jolt to our systems. There’s no flavor that I love as much as lemon. Whether it is in my favorite, …
