“Before stardom beckoned in 1931, Morley had gone so far as to embark on a degree in medicine at UCLA before the acting bug bit, and its this extensive education that explains a lot about this actress. No feminine caricature or glamorous studio creation, Morley was and still is an odd presence in an era… Read More Just a Small Town Girl

“It is strange that Jews in every country of the Diaspora begin to pray for rain in the daily Amidah prayer (Ten tal umatar, “please give us rain and dew”) on December 4 or 5, about ten days ago, at the onset of the rainy season in Babylon (Babylonian Talmud Taanit 10). It would be… Read More Rain & Dew

“The country possesses extraordinary biodiversity, and its cuisine showcases this bounty of ingredients in exciting dishes inspired by Spanish, native Indian, African, Chinese and Japanese kitchens. For a food traveler, Peru is paradise.” – Patricia Unterman, food critic, San Francisco Examiner A quick wrap-up on this weekend’s dinners, I know this is a third dinner… Read More Peruvian Send-Off

“I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian because I hate plants.” – A. Whitney Brown, writer & comedian Before anyone feels the need to point it out, I know I said awhile back that I wasn’t scheduling any more vegetarian dinners – but that’s not exactly what I said.… Read More ASEAN Veg-Out

“The system of slavery in Brazil was the longest and well structured of the Americas, with about 4 million Blacks being brought here who, enslaved over three centuries, built the fortune of the Brazilian ruling classes and increased that of the Europeans. But while they were enslaved in Brazil, the blacks resisted it in various… Read More Who Was Zumbi? you might ask…

Wood-Apple? Blue Cracker? The asteroid belt 72? Nay, not those Feronia, but the Roman goddess of… wait, of travelers, or fire, or waters, or the harvest, or fertility… no one seems quite sure, though woods and springs are some of her favorite things. All I know is that it was her feast day last weekend… Read More Dear Old Feronia

“Kid, the next time I say, ‘Let’s go someplace like Bolivia,’ let’s GO someplace like Bolivia.” – Paul Newman, in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid While we know them best as Butch and Sundance, their original names were Robert LeRoy Parker and Harry Alonzo Longabaugh. There’s a fairly good record of their… Read More Robert & Harry Come to Dinner

“Fresh is the obvious first characteristic of Vietnamese food. An array of fresh ingredients is used in cooking, and additional fresh vegetables and herbs are essential accompaniments to every meal. Most Vietnamese dishes are designed so that fresh vegetables and herbs play an important part in completing the dish.” – From the introduction of Vietnamese… Read More Its like Buddha…