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By Laura Stec
E-mail Laura Stec
About this blog: I've been attracted to food for good and bad reasons for many years. From eating disorder to east coast culinary school, food has been my passion, profession & nemesis. I've been a sugar addict, a 17-year vegetarian, a food and en...
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About this blog: I've been attracted to food for good and bad reasons for many years. From eating disorder to east coast culinary school, food has been my passion, profession & nemesis. I've been a sugar addict, a 17-year vegetarian, a food and environment pioneer, macrobiotic, Master Cleanser, ayurvedic, and officially-designated health-nut or party-girl (depending on the year). Professionally, I've worn many industry hats including: line cook, corporate chef, Food Coach, caterer, product developer, restaurant reviewer, culinary school teacher, corporate wellness educator, food co-op clerk, author, and even Cirque-du-Soleil lead popcorn concessioner! For years I managed an outdoor kitchen, deep in the bear-infested woods of Tahoe, and also for hospitals (the most unhealthy kitchen I ever worked in?), Singapore high-rises, mule-pack trips, Canadian catholic rectories, and more events than I could ever recall. Yet I still keep discovering. Actually, I adapt everyday by new lessons learned from teachers, customers and students. However there is one food truth I now hold sacrosanct: Eaters are motivated by pleasure. So no matter what we discuss here - recipes or restaurants, food politics or pairings, local events, food as art, or even as God, I will always come from a high-vibe, party perspective. Oh I do still long to change the world with great tasting food, but know in my heart, "If it ain't fun, it don't get done!" So - wanna come to the Food Party? By the way - it's a potluck.
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The Days of Awe
Uploaded: Sep 17, 2015
Welcome to the Days of Awe.
This is a ten-day period beginning on Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and ending on Yom Kippur (September 22nd). According to Jewish belief, this is the week the entire world is judged by God, so it's time to get our acts together everybody. My Buddish friend Ilona was filling me in this morning on our walk at Wunderlick Park in Woodside.
She shared passionately about Jewish ceremonies of food and spirit. Latkes (fried potato pancakes) are eaten on Hanukkah to mark the Temple oil staying lit for eight days. Passover matzo (unleavened bread) commemorates the Jews who fled Egypt before their bread could rise. And on Rosh Hashanah, last Sunday, apples and honey bring hope of a sweet new year for all.
Jews will be fasting on Yom Kippur (starting sundown this Tuesday), as a way to rise above the daily grind, and spend time thinking about how to improve oneself in the New Year. I think I might join them. It's always good to fast now and again, because it gives us a moment to approach our day and our life with more awareness.
And if I got this right, at sundown Wednesday, the fast is broken and breadcrumbs are symbolically tossed into water as a way of releasing our ackowledged imperfections.
So this week there is no recipe; no big party.
Just a space to stop and think about our lives. To acknowledge anyone we may have wronged, or anything we want to change.
Time to pour oneself a cup of tea and ask...
How might I be a better person?
Community.
What is it worth to you?
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