The Icing

The squisk, a culinary marine animal, has evolved to the point that it can survive long periods on land. It will, however, need to be submerged occasionally in a bath of batter or egg. In fact, it thrives in this type of environment, mixing and whipping with zest.

Although squisks come in many colors, the pink and purple variety is the most evolved, able to survive in Athens, Ohio far from its native home of Monterey, California. In its adopted environment, the squisk serves as a decorative yet practical contributor to the ecosystem. However, since this is the only known squisk in Athens, the future survival of the species is at risk.

Before this trip, I'd only been to Chicago once for a day. In 1996, I visited my friend Barb who lived in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. We drove down to the city for a day to go to the Art Institute and then ate at a random restaurant nearby before driving back. It was a quick trip, memorable chiefly for the great art we saw (Chagall's White Crucifixion was particularly moving) and for the chance to spend time with a friend during a difficult time in my life. I'd always wanted to go back, to see more of the one great American city (New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago) that was still largely unfamiliar to me. Over the last few days, I was finally able to return.

Although I was in Chicago for a conference which took up most of my time, I enjoyed visiting Millennium Park on Wednesday and walking on Michigan Avenue. The park itself included some stunning work.

The pavilion designed by the great Frank Gehry.

Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate which reflects the striking Chicago skyline.

Jaume Plensa's Crown Fountain with images of a cross section of Chicago inhabitants.

And the outdoor ice skating rink where I watched a young Cambodian woman hot dog around the rink, long hair flying behind her.

I'm not a fan of cold weather (as I sit typing with two fleece jackets on!), yet I enjoyed walking around the crowded, beautiful Millennium Park. I'm happy that downtown urban spaces are being revitalized, that so many cities understand the importance of a central area that draws people from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. It seems to me that our nation would be a better place if we turned away from the exclusionary suburban idea of safety which too often turns into homogenous communities. We need to get over our fear of difference and embrace the beautiful variety that is the United States. I see urban space as something that invites co-existence and multiplicity. I suppose one could argue that shopping malls do the same thing, however, I'd rather that spaces characterized by heterogeneity be consumer/commercial free (of course, Millennium Park isn't, but that's another blog post).

When I was young, one of my family's favorite Christmas albums came with our new RCA stereo, a compilation of 70s stars like Mark Lindsay (of Paul Revere and the Raiders) and Andy Williams singing various Christmas tunes. To this day, my brothers and I frequently talk about our favorite song on the album, "That Holiday Feeling" by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. Two things we love about this song are the corny lyrics and flirty inflections that Steve and Eydie give to them.

That Holiday Feeling
Words and Music by Bill Jacob and Patty Jacob

Look how the snow is snowing
Your eyes are soft and glowing
Jack Frost is nipping at our feet
I'll bet your lips are warm and sweet
We've got that holiday feeling
That happy holiday feeling
Let's roast chestnuts by the fire
Any little thing you desire

Those reindeer soon will be here
Won't mean a thing to me dear
When Santa Claus begins his flight
I hope he gets a flat tonight
We've got that holiday feeling
That happy holiday feeling
Our favorite holiday of the year

You'd better leave
It's been so lovely like this
A chance I'd never miss
But it's so late

On New Years Eve
At twelve o'clock we'll stop to kiss
And while the whole world will be whistle blowing
We will still be mistletoe-ing

You think you're such a smarty
Come on let's have a party
I know what's running through your mind
This is the season to be kind
We've got that holiday feeling
That happy holiday feeling

So come and snuggle close to me
Right here where you're supposed to be
Let's kiss, 'cause it's the season, dear
Let's kiss, who needs a reason, dear
We've got that holiday feeling now

It seems an unusual song now for a family of sheltered kids to love--but the lines we continue to quote are "You think you're such a smarty, come on let's have a party." Those innocent lyrics still amuse us to no end. Even better is the lounge act sound that Steve and Eydie's version embodies. They take turns singing different lines so that it seems they are engaged in conversation. And there's a teasing sound to their tone that creates an intimate and affectionate expression.

This song will always be part of my holiday celebrations. It reminds me of childhood and laughter and love. So to my brothers and parents . . . I hope you are enjoying this holiday season and that all you smarties will have great parties.

And as long as I'm posting pictures of laughter, here are Bo and I laughing at dinner several weeks ago.

I'm not even sure what was so funny--but it seems like every time Bo, Johnnie, and I hang out together, we end up laughing like crazy.

Just trying to spread a little Christmas cheer. May you all feel "That Holiday Feeling" this year, no matter what festivities you choose to celebrate.

Every Tuesday, I have lunch with the same group of women, a collection of faculty from my department and from Theater Arts. When we have to label ourselves, we tend to call ourselves the Coven. We attract attention when we eat together, probably because of the rivers of laughter that flow from our table. These women are strong and opinionated and everything that's good about smart women.

This past Tuesday, we had our annual holiday gift exchange. We always have crackers that we set off--and then all must wear the paper crown inside. We read the silly jokes inside, too, jokes that are corny and utterly forgettable. As usual, I received a pile of gifts . . . including chocolate (!), an embroidered wallet, a jade charm, a dreidel, 2 notebooks (watch out world, we're now all in possession of a check off sheet entitled, "Things You Must Do to Make Me Happier"), and a kazoo. One of the funnier moments of the lunch occurred when my friend Bo finally managed to get her kazoo to make sound. She reacted with glee, which of course made the rest of us laugh, too. Here's Bo re-enacting her success on the kazoo.

And here are Kathleen and Ginny doing an excellent repeat of our response.

Although it's sometimes difficult to make lunch every Tuesday, I feel lucky to be in a department where there are so many strong women, both the women who come to this lunch and those who don't.

Happy holidays, women of the coven!

And just in case anyone wants to know, here are Things You Must Do to Make Me Happier:

Try harder.
Smile.
Get off your high horse.
Be there for me.
Cheer up.
Taste rain.
Matter.
Take my side.
Surprise me.
Embrace difference.
Hold this.
Eschew martyrdom.

My sister-in-law Carrie tagged me, so I now need to blog about six things most people don't know about me. This is going to be hard, since I'm such an open book! ;)

1. One of my favorite things to do is clean up after a party. I love washing the dishes, picking up the discarded items people have left behind, straightening the furniture, and folding up the table cloth. As I clean, I think about the party, things people did and said, and how much I care about the people who were there. When I'm finished (did I say that I do this as soon as the last person leaves?), I like going to bed knowing that I can wake up to a clean house.

2. When I read a good book, I rarely read just a little and then set it aside. With a good book, I get so engrossed that I don't want to do anything else. For example, when I was about 15, I fell in love with Gone with the Wind. I would read non-stop for 2 days until I finished it--as I recall the copy I read was about 1,000 pages. I'd stop to eat meals, but that's about it. The problem with this practice is that I read so fast that I don't always remember very well what I've read.

3. I had a cat briefly. Lucy was a stray with no collar who had been declawed. While Johnnie was here, we took her in for a week, even though I have a mild allergy to cats. One of the first things we did was give her a bath, and I did okay with having her in the house after that. Unfortunately, Lucy didn't adapt well to being inside. She cowered under my bed and in the back of my tub all the time, rarely emerging to be social. After a week, we decided to let her back out--I've only seen her once since then. I hope she's okay.

4. I love windows, but I'm not crazy about curtains. In my first house, I got rid of all the heavy curtains--I'd periodically look for curtains, but I never seemed to find anything that I liked. My house now has all blinds, which I love. I don't think I want curtains ever. I do wish that my house had even more windows however. I love to look outside while I'm working inside.

5. I'm always thinking about change. I have roses and a lot of fruit trees in my yard; I'm constantly thinking about getting rid of them and creating a new look. I also think about adding to my house, moving to a new place, traveling, changing jobs, etc. Lately, I don't act on those thoughts, but I like thinking them.

6. My favorite painter is Chagall, but I'm not sure I really understand his work. I love that his work expresses emotion in less traditional ways and that he assembles many images in one painting. I'm often moved when I look at one of his paintings for a long time. But I don't think I can articulate why beyond saying that something deep inside responds to his work in unexpected ways.

I hereby tag Johnnie, John, Janet, Diane, and Shoushan.

I'm obsessed with food right now. Maybe it has something to do with the beginning of winter--fresh produce and herbs are harder to come by (heirloom tomatoes are just a vague memory) and cravings for comfort food have taken me over. I buy new cookbooks (Get Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food . . . NOW!), and I'm reading Julie Powell's memoir about the year that she made every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume One (it's called Julie and Julia if you haven't read it yet, or check out the blog where it all began: The Julie/Julia Project). I've also been adding a lot of food blogs to my personal RSS Reader. My favorite is still The Girl Who Ate Everything. I also love the photography on La Tartine Gourmande and I've marked the most recipes on Well Fed.

I made 11 entries on my food blog during the month of November, while on this blog I only made 3. I still love this blog, really I do. It's just that I ate a lot of good food in November and I wanted to blog about it.

My refrigerator is full of food. Johnnie returned to Ohio this morning, so now it's up to me to eat through my provisions. If you haven't entered my food blog on your RSS Reader yet, please do: Cakeypal's Savory Morsels. I foresee some cooking in my future.