Just as Cirque du Soleil redefined what a circus act is, magician Joel Ward has brought contemporary style to the venerable show biz art of magic. His high-energy, highly original act combines classical magic with modern touches, running the gamut from comic audience participation to interactive sleight of hand to flashy Vegas-type illusions.

Introduced to magic at the age of six when a magician at a school assembly chose him to be his on-stage assistant, Joel began performing at children’s birthday parties when he was 10. By age 15, Joel became the Current World Champion Teen Magician after placing 1st at the International Brotherhood of Magicians annual competition, the World’s Largest Magic Organization. That same year Joel was picked out of hundreds of magicians to appear on television with Master Magician, Lance Burton. The show, “Lance Burton-Young Magicians Showcase,” was filmed at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Joel currently performs hundreds of shows a year, including a gig this week at the Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach.

GFG: Do you cook? Can you make magic in the kitchen?

JW: I do cook! My dad was the cook in the family growing up, so I learned form him. As far as making MAGIC in the Kitchen? Maybe not. I think it’s pretty good when I am hungry, but I stick with standards. My favorite things to cook are breakfast foods.

GFG: You were born and raised in California. Are there any foods that take you back to your childhood?

JW: Yes! I grew up with my Dad’s cooking, and love the Southern California favorite, Mexican Food. The town I grew up in, Cardiff by the Sea, had this Mexican Restaurant called, Las Olas, and it has the best Mexican Food around. Other things I remember are my dad’s beef jerky, probably the best in the world, VG Donuts in Cardiff, and the world famous, “Pipes,” home of the Breakfast Burrito. You go there after your done with a morning surf and it just fills your body will greatness.

GFG: Any food you crave that you can’t get when you’re ordering from room service?

JW: All the time. Room service only has a few good things. I was living in Tahoe for a year where I was performing my show at the Horizon Casino & Resort. Since I lived at the Casino, I ordered Room Service all the time. I wish they had had better steaks and Fish, and Caviar, oh ya, and Sherbet Ice Cream. Ya that’s good. And a good fettuccini Alfredo is never a bad thing. I just remember the boring food like burgers, and chicken fingers. I think I lived off the fruit bowls for the year.

GFG: What do you eat on the days you’re performing? Do you eat before or after a show?

JW: I try to eat light on performing days. There is nothing worse then eating something heavy and wanting to fall asleep during the show. I normally start the day with a cup of coffee and something light to fill my stomach like an omelet or a bagel. Then in the afternoon I like a healthy sandwich from a place like Wholefoods or Henry’s. They have fresh avocado and good breads. Then before a show I usually have a small salad or sometimes just an orange. The orange gives me natural sugar, which I like because it gives me this burst of energy when I run out on stage.

GFG: You’re on the road a lot. Are audiences different in different cities? Countries?

JW: Yes! Every city has a different vibe. I just got back form doing a run of shows in a small town of Savanna, IL. The audiences were very quiet and conservative. Vegas has crazy audiences, mainly drunk, Lake Tahoe had a mix of the two, California usually has very fun crowds, depends on where you perform. But I think I loved performing down in Brazil the best. The audiences down there were not use to seeing magic performed live. So when it happened right in front of their eyes they were super excited. I love watching the reactions of people. It brings me back to when I was six years old watching magic for the first time.

GFG: You just got done performing in Illinois. Any favorite restaurants you hit while you were there?

JW: There are two restaurants that stood out. Dominick and Maria’s, and Poopy’s. D&M’s is a family owned Italian restaurant. It has good everything. Poopy’s is an American restaurant, but everything you order form the menu has distinctive name: The Poop Burger, etc. It’s funny!

GFG: Your performing style is simultaneously casual and elegant (You make it look so easy). How did your style evolve?

JW: I started doing magic when I was six years old. As a kid I performed as the Kid’s-Kid Show Magician. I was able to mess up tricks and just smile because I was so young that no one cared. If I mess up now, people just laugh at me. As I grew up my style has changed. As a teenager I was able to incorporate things that I liked at the time. Today I can’t wear a tuxedo and bow tie because I wouldn’t actually wear that out. Instead I wear a nice sports jacket, a pair of True Religion Jeans, a Seven Shirt, and some Aldo’s. My style now is upbeat and fun. I don’t like to be the serious type that convinces my audience that I am doing real magic. I am up there entertaining, having fun with what I do.

GFG: You’ve been performing since you were a kid. What was your most memorable show (so far)?

JW: I have done so many shows, but I think that best one I can think of was for an Orphanage in Mexico. I was dating my girlfriend at the time who is a female magician, and we both went down there to donate a show for these kids. There were about 750 people there. We had a translator because my Spanish is not perfect. It was so much fun. These kids were so happy. I loved that show. Watching people who actually really enjoy what I do makes it all worth it, even when I am not getting paid.

GFG: What was the first trick you learned? (Is there an official magician word for “trick” or is trick okay?)

JW: Some magicians called it an illusion. Trick is fine with me. The first trick I learned was how to make money disappear. My dad showed me how to vanish a coin, which he learned form a book. Ever since then I have been making other peoples money disappear!

GFG: What was the hardest trick you ever learned?

JW: Sleight of hand is the hardest. It’s the skill that allows the magician to do what he does. It is palming a coin or hiding a card. But once you master the sleight of hand the possibilities are endless because you can combine them in any way imaginable.

GFG: Do you have a signature trick?

JW: My signature routine I would say is my dove magic act. This is an act that I have toured around the world with, won many international competitions, and have performed on countless television shows. I start the act out by running onto stage listening to my video iPod. This iPod erupts into spark and I throw it out into the crowd and it turns into a bird which flies back to me. Then the rest of the act is highly visual with doves changing colors and appearing and disappearing in a blink of the eye.

GFG: On your site it says that you’re working on a show that will revolutionize magic. Can you elaborate? If not (you tease) where will it be unveiled?

JW: The Show that I am currently working on ties magic with a story line. It takes place present day in New York City. It’s a story of coming to age and finding the magic in everyday life. People live these manentous lives, going to a job everyday that they hate. My show is going to take them out of that live for a short time and show them that they can live any way they want. Magic is all around us. Real Magic. It’s waking up in the morning, a beautiful sunset, they way a tree sways in the wind. This show is going to have drama, spellbinding magic, a large cast, and some amazing special guests. One of them is Perry – The Penguin.

GFG: Is there any food you’d like to make disappear permanently?

JW: I would make PANDA EXPRESS disappear. I hate PANDA EXPRESS. It makes me so sick just to think about it.

GFG: What was the most memorable meal you ever had, and what made it special?

JW: My favorite meal to this day was at a little restaurant in North County San Diego, called, “Calypso Café.” It’s a little hole in the wall restaurant. If you pass it in Encinitas on Coast highway 101 you wouldn’t even think to go in. But it’s amazing. The owner, Gilles, is from France and has made a great restaurant. The food, French Moroccan, is unbelievable, but it’s also the atmosphere. The people who go here look amazing. They have live music 7 nights a week. Sometimes it is a steel drum artist. Other nights its blues. It’s an amazing restaurant with some of the best escargot I have ever had.

GFG: If you could have dinner with three other magicians, whom would you invite?

JW: Steve Martin, Johnny Carson, and Houdini. I know two of the three are dead, but it would be an awesome dinner. Johnny and Steve would be making my laugh, and Houdini would be talking about how great he is. It would be AWESOME!

Joel Ward will be performing at the Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach Wednesday, November 5 to Saturday, November 8, 2008.Showtime is at 8 p.m., come early to enjoy cocktails and dinner. The show will feature special guest comedians.

For more information, see: http://www.comedyandmagicclub.com/ Or click on Joel’s website: www.JoelWardMagic.com

GFG: So you like to scare people. What scares you?

GWT: I am always on the lookout for movies and books that will scare me because I’ve grown a high tolerance to the usual suspects: werewolves, ghosts and vampires.

But political correctness terrifies me. When you think about it, there’s not much difference between that and criminal profiling, except you’re guessing what might offend someone, rather than wondering which someone might offend you. Cloaked in good intentions as it is, PC is much more dangerous to freedom.

As fear relates to food, I was afraid of Green Peppers when I was a boy and called them: “obscene.” I quite like them now but back then, they really set me off. I think it was the alien seedpod thing they’ve got going.

GFG: It’s Halloween. Will you be handing out tricks or treats at your door? If so, what will you be handing out?

GWT: Actually, I avoid drawing attention to my downtown penthouse apartment. (It’s the entire top floor, so I get to call it that.) At night, the alley outside my building sounds like something from I Am Legend. However, I do not sleep in the bathtub.

If I lived in a neighborhood more conducive to American gothic traditions like Trick or Treat, I would hand out cans of pop. I remember how exciting that was for me as a kid. In fact, I remember the news flying quickly from ghoul to pirate to princess any time a Halloween house was discovered that was giving away pop. We all ran for it.

GFG: Have you ever celebrated finishing a book with a festive meal?

GWT: I constantly bribe myself to do things: go to the gym, finish tasks, complete projects, tie my shoes, etc., usually with pizza slices—sometimes with potato chips. When that doesn’t work I will do anything for an action figure.

As we all know pizza slices are only edible about twenty percent of the time. So when I finish a book, I do something special and celebrate by ordering a whole pizza with the works on it. I then eat the pizza until it hurts.

On such important occasions, I’ve been known to sweeten the pot with a bottle (or two) of an Argentinean merlot by Trapiche.

GFG: You live near Toronto. Where do you like to eat when you go out?

GWT: In Toronto, I enjoy breakfast at the Queen Street Restaurant. For $3.99 you get three eggs, marinated hash browns, toast, with the entire meal covered by three slabs of peameal bacon. People race to get the hash browns before they sell out.

(Note: Peameal bacon is a Canadian favorite. According to the bbqtalk.ca web site: “Peameal Bacon is cured but not smoked …made from pork loins weighing 12-14 pounds. They are trimmed of all the fat and the bones are removed. The term peameal comes from the ground yellow peas with which the bacon was originally coated. This ensured better curing and shelf life and avoided bacterial problems. Over the years this tradition was changed to cornmeal, due to the availability of corn.”)

For dinner I enjoy Cedars, a Lebanese restaurant that has an exquisite combination plate in its far-ranging and exotic tastes, featuring grape leaves and hot pickled turnips that make your eyes roll back.

In Owen Sound, I enjoy Jazzmyn’s Tapas and Taps. I frequent this pub because my Friday after work beer goes perfectly with their special Jazzmyn’s nachos that include plump chicken strips and a wide spectrum of veggies delivered on a bed of multi-colored tortilla chips. God I’m easy to please.

GFG: It’s getting towards winter. Any cold-weather foods you particularly enjoy?

GWT: Being a full time teacher with five kids, my mother had to come up with treats and comfort foods that were easy on expense and quick to make while still being attractive to an unruly gang of squabbling children.

On cold mornings she would make us Welsh Rarebits before school. I should point out that they weren’t real Welsh Rarebits. I think she just grabbed a name we could remember.

They are easy and fast to make. She’d do up some toast and then apply a slice of Kraft process cheese (or two) before slipping them open-faced under the broiler. We’d gather around and watch through the oven window as these creations first began to melt and then develop a skin that plumped up balloon-like before rapidly browning into a tasty dome. Delicious, though you quickly learned to exercise caution going in. Those blackened cheese bubbles disguised a molten surprise that could scorch your skin to the bone. Simple, but they warmed the heart and to this day I tear up when I burn my mouth on them.

GFG: You’ve already celebrated Thanksgiving this year (Canada celebrates Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October), but the winter holidays are coming up. Any special holiday foods you’re looking forward to?

GWT: I do not have much of a sweet tooth, day to day, being a hot pepper and spice fan instead. But, Christmas is the one time of year that I let loose, and plow into the sweets with abandon. My sisters bake for their families at Christmas, and the rest of us delight in ripping the tops off their decorative cookie tins to get a look under the wax paper. They’re notorious for making Sprinkle-top Brownies, Chocolate Peanut Clumps, Chocolate Egg Noodle Clumps and Nanaimo Bars.

GFG: Do you cook?

GWT: I cook occasionally and my specialty is the “Super-charger.” I developed the “Super-charger” during a vitamin-deficient episode, in which my high-cal, low nutrient, take-out diet created an internal environment that left me vulnerable to every cold or flu virus on the planet. The Flintstone chewables just weren’t doing it.

I start with a jar of spaghetti sauce as a base to which I add whole tomatoes, green pepper, olives (green or black or both), mushrooms, broccoli, celery, carrots and green onion—anything with vitamins that will fit in the pot. Oh, and a jot of Trapiche merlot. I cook this slowly under a dusting of garlic powder and a few shots of Louisiana hot sauce.

It “super-charges” the body with a large dose of vitamins and nutrients that solitary writers often overlook. And once you’ve got a big pot of this, you can eat it “as is” with strips of cheese floating on it or with some modification, it can be applied to pasta, eggs (excellent faux-Spanish omelet) or rice.

GFG: What was the most memorable meal you ever had?

GWT: My most memorable meal involved cold chicken, wine, some company and a hilltop. I would say more but I’m a gentleman.

The Forsaken by horror author G. Wells Taylor is available midnight October 30, 2008 at gwellstaylor.com and wildclown.com. To celebrate the release of The Apocalypse Trilogy: Book Two, Taylor will extend free e-book downloads of popular Book One in the series: When Graveyards Yawn.

GFG: Where did you experience your most memorable meal?

JR: It was at the Ciudad de Tui, on the Viejo de Cizur in Madrid. It was the last night in Spain for me and my friend Erika, and we’d had a long and exciting trip traveling around Andalusia and Castile (with a day’s excursion into Morocco as well). We’d been eating thriftily during the entire trip; so for our last supper we wanted to go all out, with sangria, tapas, the whole shebang.

GFG: What was on the menu?

JR: We ordered their tapas menu, and small little plates of empanadas (stuffed pastry), croquettes (fried cheese and ham), jamon Serrano and iberico, fried calamari, and patatas bravas. They brought bread and olives for our table along with an entire pitcher of sangria. The waiting staff was very friendly. They obliged our crazy American wishes, not clearing the table until I sketched everything and Erika took pictures with her digital camera.

This is the sketch of the dinner I drew:

It was really delicious, and we stuffed ourselves. The staff winked at us repeatedly while bringing back the check and gave us 10 euro extra when we asked for change.

GFG: How’d you meet your dining companion Erika Vause?

JR: We met because we’re both interested in the French Revolution. (Yes, the French Rev has spawned its own fannish subculture.) She is currently a grad student in Paris, studying debt imprisonment. She also has turned into a major foodie. She was just telling me the other day how she was enjoying cooking doe meat and boar.

GFG: You just provided the cover art for Joan Betty Stuchner’s book Honey Cake, which is at its heart a story about traditions and family and food. If you had only one recipe to pass on to posterity, what would it be? And why?

JR: Well, I know I wouldn’t pass on Mom’s old recipe for broccoli tuna roll-ups. Ugh. Her ginger beef recipe was pretty good though, although I haven’t had it in ages. The one recipe that I’ve always been obsessed with actually came from my sister’s ex-roommate. It’s a Japanese chicken curry dish, and it’s delicious.

GFG: When you’re working, do you ever forget to eat?

JR: Occasionally, although it doesn’t happen very often.

GFG: If you could share a meal with an artist, who would they be?

JR: The one artist I would really love to share a meal with Trina Schart Hyman, my favorite illustrator growing up. She passed away from cancer a few years ago, sadly.

GFG: You seem to be a fan of Roman history. Who among the Romans would you like to break bread with?

JR: Nero, of course! We could discuss the difference between liquamen (Roman fish sauce) and nam pla (Thai fish sauce). I could tell him that he looked fabulous, and he’d play something catchy on the citharaa. Then we would watch bad toga porn movies and make snarky remarks about the terrible costumes… Hopefully I’d stay on his good side so he wouldn’t poison me, what with his family’s penchant for killer mushrooms and all.

GFG: Do you have a favorite comfort food?

JR: Mrs. Grass’s noodle soup, with its golden nugget of awesomeness! I can eat it for days on end and not get tired of it. The only thing it lacks is matzo balls.

GFG: What was your staple diet when you were in art school? Were you a Ramen noodles and cigarettes girl?

JR: Not really. For the first few years I ate a lot of Art Center cafeteria food, then got sick of it. During my senior year, I started eating healthier, and became a major Trader Joes’ convert. I lost a lot of weight that way, but I wasn’t really thinking of that when I changed my eating habits; I wanted to eat foods that tasted good and made me feel better.

GFG: You studied in Ireland and have traveled widely. Do you have a favorite city?

JR: My favorite city in Ireland would be Belfast! There are hundreds of cheap eateries across the city that serves the Ulster Fry (a glorious way to clog your arteries) and my personal favorite, the curry and chip.

Outside Ireland, I’m very fond of both Glasgow (home of the Ashoka West End restaurant, where one can sample haggis pakora) and Madrid. Stateside, I like New York a lot. I try not to go crazy eating out whenever I go there. My favorite restaurants there include Il Corallo Trattoria in Soho, the Mill Korean restaurant near Columbia, and Mexican Radio in the Bowery. And speaking of nam pla, there are lots of great Thai restaurants in Queens, especially Sripraphai. Try the papaya salad, or the kao-soy with chicken.

Honey Cake by Joan Betty Stuchner (Random House) is available in bookstores today.

To see more of Joanne Renaud’s art, check out:

http://www.joannerenaud.com/
http://www.tugeau2.com/
http://suburbanbeatnik.deviantart.com

One birthday, two cakes—that’s just about the right ratio. When I moved to Los Angeles the next year, I ate my birthday meal in a now-defunct coffee shop called The Copper Penny. I ordered a slice of carrot cake. It was good. I ordered another slice to take home to the tiny studio apartment I rented in the middle of L.A.’s Korea Town. I’d been in the city for six weeks. There was no one in Los Angeles who loved me enough to make me a cake.

I felt pretty sorry for myself until I discovered that most of my new friends had never actually tasted home-made cake. Never. They were familiar with bakery cakes that come with thick, lard-laden frosting that coats your tongue with a sweet slime. Some had made cakes themselves from mixes and been happy with the results. (And really, the chocolate cake mixes on the market are great. If you weren’t raised on home-made cake.) The idea of someone actually … baking … a cake for them was an exotic concept.

Poor deprived children. As Benjamin Franklin once said about beer, “cake is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

I baked a cake for my best friend’s 25^th birthday. It was chocolate with a chocolate mousse and raspberry filling and chocolate fudge frosting. Her response was the kind of rapturous appreciation master chefs dream of.

I make her birthday cake every year now. Because I love her and because making a cake is a way of saying, “I love you.” When my brother and sister and I were little, our mother used to make these incredibly elaborate cakes for us. There was a rocking horse for my brother one summer; a butterfly for my sister; a train for me. At Easter there would be coconut cake with the coconut dyed green with food coloring and little jelly bean “eggs” hidden in the “grass.” She invented a cake filled with walnuts and sour cherries to celebrate George Washington’s birthday. (It was served warm with cherry syrup poured over it. But it was also good cold, sans syrup.)

As we grew up, I started baking more and more. Bread and sweet rolls, brownies and cookies. And cake.

I once made my sister a Buche de Noell for her birthday because that’s what she wanted. No one in France makes their own; and there’s a reason why. By the time you make the cake and the filling and the syrup to brush the cake layers and the frosting—you’ve used up every pan in your kitchen and had to borrow some from your neighbors. I have to say, though, it was pretty tasty. And she was pleased that someone had gone to all that effort to please her. Which made me happy.

There’s an old expression, “If I’d known you were coming, I’d have baked a cake.” I grew up in a house where that could have been embroidered on a sampler. Food isn’t love, but making food for the people you love is an act of love. And there’s no sweeter way to say you care about someone than making them a cake.

You could satisfy that craving with a frothy frappe from the nearest coffee shop, perhaps, or a black and white cookie from the corner deli. In a pinch, you could even have some bread with jam.

I would have been happy with any or all of those sweet solutions until I met Severine Trannoy, an elegant Frenchwoman who thinks nothing of making her own gnocchi or going to a small neighborhood bakery just to purchase croissants.

She introduced me to these mouth-watering morsels one rainy afternoon and let’s just say, I may never be satisfied with a Fig Newton again.

Fig French Kisses

Wash and dry two small, fresh figs.

Cut them in half.

Put a small piece of goat or feta cheese on each half.

Sprinkle with a little salt and a little pepper.

Garnish with fresh thyme.

Add a drop or two of walnut or olive oil.

Finish with a drizzle of honey on each slice.

Arrange in a glass baking dish and roast at 275 degrees until the cheese begins to bubble and melt.

Serves two.

These luscious treats are as uncomplicated to make as a piece of cinnamon toast, but as rich and gooey as a Cadbury Caramello. They’re also versatile. You could serve them to guests at a dinner party as easily as you could pass them around at a backyard family barbecue.

One taste and you’ll know why the French invented the phrase Mon Dieu.

If I reach into my silverware drawer, my hand passes over the three iced tea spoons that are all that is left of my great-grandmother Julia’s silver service. The pattern is beautiful, elegant, 19^th century. I never use the spoons, but their shape never fails to please me when I notice them.

Hanging on a magnetic hook from my stove is a pot holder my Aunt Helen crocheted in the shape and color of a slice of watermelon, complete with the shiny black seeds. I’ve had it since I was a kid and it’s now a little grubby from hanging on a hook near the stove. My aunt used to crochet wonderful little whimsies—my favorite being Christmas tree ornaments—little red and green wreaths, tiny ice skates of white yarn with paperclip blades. I do not know how to crochet and wonder if that skill, like hand-milking a cow, will be lost to future generations.

There’s a set of elegant wine glasses in a cupboard above my sink. They were a gift from a beau and despite their delicacy, proved more durable than the relationship. When I use them, I think of him and my thoughts are fond but not regretful.

The Revere ware pot I use for making soup was a wedding present to my parents, as was the tiny cast iron frying pan I use to make single-serving scrambled eggs. These two items are the backbone of my batterie de cuisine, enduring through the decades as cheap pots come and go. They’ll probably bury that cast iron skillet with me.

My brother gave me the pretty cut-crystal vase that sits on my kitchen table. He brought it back from a trip to Ireland. I love the way it catches the light and like to keep it there even when it’s not filled with flowers. Fresh-cut flowers make me really happy. My mother grew roses in our yard when I was a child, heavy, fragrant blossoms in sunset colors (never white). The scent of garden-grown roses is like an olfactory time machine for me.

I have a stack of platters on a back shelf. My sister made two of them on a visit to Color Me Mine. The designs are pop-art jolly, a stalk of bananas on an orange background, a bunch of grapes on a green background. I use the platters for summer barbecues and smile as I load them up with turkey burgers and chicken pieces.

My cookie jar is a mid-century McCoy in the shape of a pineapple. It is in perfect condition—bought on eBay to replace the one I took from my mother’s kitchen that had gotten chipped and cracked and fractured over the years as it was filled and refilled with peanut butter cookie and raisin cookies and chocolate chip cookies. (The only store-bought cookies I can remember eating as a child were Oreos and Fig Newtons. And Girl Scout cookies.)

I have many wooden spoons and even more bowls, some of them vintage designs from my grandmother’s mid-century kitchen. I don’t like a lot of machinery between me and my food and bowls and spoons, I find, are sufficient for most tasks. I won’t have a bread maker in the house. It’s not so much that I am clinging to the old-fashioned technique of hand-kneading bread as it is my fear that the machine would make bread-making so tempting I’d make a new loaf every day. And eat it. With butter. And unless you’re a farmer or a construction worker, those calories are going to catch up with you. But I love fresh-baked bread and butter. My paternal great-grandmother, Granny Franklin, made her own butter. It was ambrosial. You will never catch me cooking with margarine.

My kitchen is the soul of my house because it contains memories of all those who are dear to me.

I am never alone in my kitchen.

]]> http://www.gourmetfoodgarden.com/wordpress/the-soul-of-a-kitchen/feed/ http://www.gourmetfoodgarden.com/wordpress/sabrina-artel-my-most-memorable-meal/ http://www.gourmetfoodgarden.com/wordpress/sabrina-artel-my-most-memorable-meal/#comments Fri, 16 May 2008 11:54:55 +0000 Katherine Tomlinson http://www.gourmetfoodgarden.com/wordpress/sabrina-artel-my-most-memorable-meal/ The best meal of all, the meal that I still remember the flavors of, is one that was created by my friends Amy and Wes Gillingham in their home. It was a cold snowy winter night and I was suffering from fresh food deprivation. I live in the woods outside a small town in the Catskill Mountains. It is gorgeous here but we definitely lack food choices. The only time I can cook with locally grown foods is during the summer and fall season when wild strawberries, ramps, watercress and blackberries are abundant in my garden. So that winter night’s meal at Amy and Wes’ was a total surprise. The meal began with plates full of home-grown carrots, beets and rutabagas lightly salted and served fresh from their root cellar. These weren’t ordinary carrots but thumb carrots, oddly shaped but very sweet and crunchy. Then the dilly beans and kimchi were brought out for tasting with fresh sourdough bread and fresh-made sweet butter.

As we feasted on the succulent root vegetables and the picked salads, Amy was kneading the pizza dough. Did I mention that my friends live off the grid, are organic farmers and are committed to living with a very small “footprint?” This pizza dough was absolutely smoky delicious as it was pulled from their Finish brick oven. The raw cheese came from a cow down the road, the sweet onions, oregano and garlic that topped the pizza came from their garden. The dessert was an amazing carrot cake made with fresh-laid eggs and milk and yogurt from Susie the cow.

It was a simple meal eaten with friends topped with laughter in the dead of winter when the temperature drops to the single digits. That meal helped me remember spring and its bursting greens; and reminded me why breaking bread with friends is an essential part of my life. Sabrina Artel’s radio show Trailer Talk has been described by the New York Times as “an unusual blend of theater, activism and broadcast journalism.” Broadcasting from a vintage trailer, she is “live on the road,” encouraging the democratic tradition of public dialogue on issues of importance to all Americans. Her program originates on WJFF Radio Catskill, the nation’s only Hydro-powered radio station. Podcasts are available on her website (http://www.sabrinaartel.com/) and on iTunes. She is the recipient of the NYSCA 2006 Individual Artist grant for her project, “In These Mountains” focusing on the complex and diverse community surrounding her hometown of Liberty, New York and a 2007 Puffin Foundation Grant for her project, “Liberty and Justice for All…?” exploring ideas around animal rights and advocacy.

***Photo by Ted Waddell

My Favorite Chili Recipe

Makes 12 Servings - Cooking time 2 hours

1 lb Skirt Steak (or substitute with your favorite meat)
1 Can Dark Red Kidney Beans
1 Can White Beans
1 Whole white onion
3 Garlic Cloves
1 Green Pepper
Chili Powder
Spanish Paprika
1 Zucchini
3 Cups Favorite Tomato Soup (I use a store bought soup)
1 Can Diced Tomatoes (sometimes these come with jalapeños)
1 Can Whole Peeled Tomatoes
1 Jalapeño
Pepper
Salt

Add olive oil to pot and heat until hot. Add skirt steak and cook over medium to high heat until slightly browned. Slice garlic and onion and add to chili pot, stir in with meat and cook 3 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, chili powder and paprika. Add green pepper and zucchini and cook for 5 minutes. Stir every other minute or so making sure that vegetables cook evenly. Add red beans and white beans and stir in evenly. Add whole peeled tomatoes and diced tomatoes. Cut Jalepeno into slices and add to chili. Add tomato soup and bring to a boil. After chili has boiled lower heat to low, cover and continue to cook on low for 45 minutes. Add salt & pepper to desired taste.

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