I found out this morning that a dear friend, Manuel Sousa, just passed away. He lived in Setubal, Portugal, had a wife and two daughters, and was just 44 years old. I met Manuel when he was 17 and I was 21. He was a beautiful young man who had such deep sincerity, warmth, and joie de vivre. What a loss.
Tonight, my friends Alex, Kyle, and I wanted to grab a bite to eat. I had checked my twitter feed earlier and learned that Dusty Buns, a traveling taco truck, was going to be in the Tower District tonight. A couple of months ago, I had read Joan Obra’s column about Dusty Buns, but what can I say? I’m slow in getting things done–before tonight, I’d never visited the truck.
When we arrived, there was a long line. Our friends and fellow CSUF faculty Melissa and Michelle were there . . . and later on Randa, Russell, and Angelo showed up as well. While we were waiting, we made a recording to memorialize our (my?) excitement:
We ordered food, waited some more chatting with other people in line–and when our food was delivered, we hightailed it to my house in order to eat it while it was still hot.
I had “le grilled cheese”–Angelo warned me that I had to use “le” because “they” would punch me if I said I wanted “the grilled cheese.” I ordered as Angelo instructed and wasn’t punched. Thanks, A, for the tip! My sandwich isn’t much to look at in this photo, but, oh, it was good. Bravo Farms aged cheddar, country-style bacon, an heirloom tomato slice, organic greens, and herb mayo.
Kyle had the Veg Out, a sloppy joe style sandwich made with squash, eggplant, olive tapenade, and parmesan cheese. Alex had one of the specials for the night: steak tacos with heirloom salsa. They both loved their food. We ordered one side of potato salad (with more bacon) and two Tasty Cakes (basically, pecan blondies) as well. Both were fantastic and not very expensive. Alex’s food was the most photogenic of the evening, so here’s a picture:
Our first visit to Dusty Buns was a huge success. As we devoured our food tonight, we wondered why Fresno, a city located in the heart of one of the richest agricultural areas in the nation, didn’t have more restaurants that served only organic, local ingredients. It’s really pathetic that the restaurants Fresnans get excited about are national chains like Tahoe Joes and P.F. Changs. The food prepared by Dusty Buns is so delicious–it’s clear that it’s not made somewhere else, frozen, and then shipped across the country. Dusty Buns Bistro is my new favorite Fresno restaurant, er, I mean taco truck.
Dusty Buns Bistro
locations change, check their twitter feed
The temperatures are plunging, rain is softly pinging my roof, dusk came early thanks to daylight savings time, and today I decided to make soup. Not just any soup, but lime and chicken soup which translated the liminality of the day into the flavors of summer and fall. Bad picture, good soup.
Tortilla and Lime Soup (based on a recipe by the wonderful Joyce Goldstein)
Poach and shred a chicken breast. Then set aside.
Saute 1/3 diced onion for about 8 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon minced garlic and 1 tablespoon canned green chiles. Saute for about 2 minutes, then, add 2 c. of chicken stock, 1/2 c. canned diced tomatoes, 2 tablespoons minced green onions, 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, 1-2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Simmer for 2 minutes to blend the flavors, then add the shredded chicken. Cook for another few minutes.
Meanwhile, tear a small corn tortilla into strips and fry until golden brown. Put a half of an avocado cut into smaller pieces into the bottom of a bowl. Pour the hot soup over it and top with the tortilla pieces.
Serves one. Perfect for a stormy day.
Time for a food blog entry! A lot of Fresnans love Don Pepe Taqueria. I went there many years ago–don’t remember what I had, but I really didn’t like it, so I hadn’t been back, in spite of everyone’s rave reviews. A few weeks ago, I decided to give it another try.
I’m so glad I did. The fish taco I ordered was really good: soft white fish, shredded lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and crema. It was big and flavorful. 
I’ll be returning to Don Pepe!
In addition to another great fish taco at Las Barcas in Huntington Beach, CA, I also recently prepared fish at home. I have a great tapas cookbook by Joyce Goldstein which features an unusual fish recipe, white fish and pine nuts. I noticed it a few weeks back and decided to try it. Again, so glad I did. The fish was perfectly cooked, and the tomatoes and peas in the sauce complemented the fish well. This is a recipe that I’ll be making again.
Actually, you should try the recipe, too. Here it is (with the adaptations I made because I didn’t have everything the recipe called for).
Fish in Pine Nut Sauce (Merluza en Salsa de Pinones)
1/4 c. pine nuts
2 T. olive oil
1/2 large onion, finely chopped
1/2 t. paprika
1/2 T. finely minced garlic
1/8 c. bread crumbs (I used Panko)
1 can stewed tomatoes
1/2 c. dry white wine
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Nice piece of white fish fillet (enough for 2 servings)
1/2 c. frozen peas
1/8 c. chopped parsley
Toast pine nuts (8 minutes at 350 degree farenheit)
In a frying pan, heat 1 T. oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the paprika, garlic, 1/2 of the pine nuts, bread crumbs, stirring often for 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cooking wine and cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm over low heat.
In another frying pan, heat 1 T. oil over medium heat. Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper, add to the pan, and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, about 3 minutes on each side. Pour the sauce over the fish, add the peas, and simmer until the fish is opaque throughout, about 5 more minutes. Transfer to serving dish and garnish with pine nuts and parsley. Serve at once.
I’ve tried a number of recipes from this cookbook–Tapas: Sensational Small Plates from Spain–and have loved them all. Make this recipe AND buy the cookbook!
Don Pepe
4582 N Blackstone Ave
Fresno, CA 93726
(559) 224-1431
There’s something about me that loves being on the periphery. Yes, I also love those times that I’m in front of a class helping students learn, and I love the occasions that someone notices “me” and wants to know me better. I’m social, I love people, I love having fun.
But I need a lot of alone time, too. I need to be able to be unnoticed, to have the space to observe (people, nature, the world) and reflect in an interrupted manner. Sometimes, I need to not think, to not be conscious of myself.
When I go to the gym, I feel like I go in disguise. I pull my hair back, wear my glasses and no make-up. I don’t initiate conversations–I just want to focus on exercise, on making my body stronger, on feeling my heart beat and being present in my body (as a former yoga teacher used to say).
And sometimes when I’m in a group, I just need time to listen to conversations swirl around me. Sometimes, I need to not say anything.
Sometimes when I’m alone in public, I feel most social. I make small talk with store clerks, smile at strangers–but I don’t really want to engage in long conversation.
Yeah, I love people and I love you. But sometimes, I just need time to myself. No, I need time for myself.
I started to feel like my teaching life was taking over this blog. So I decided to start a new teaching (only) blog: smartboard. It has taken me a couple of weeks to figure this all out, and for now, you’ll only see recycled blog posts (from this blog and my previous teaching blog) on the site. I’ll start posting new material soon, though, including some thoughts on collaboration and technology in the classroom.
I’ve also integrated my food blog into this site, so that this is all the more personal stuff that I post. I’m going to try to keep this blog teaching advice free, although I still may talk about work in a personal way here.
Please note that both on this blog and on smartboard, you can subscribe to my posts in three ways:
1) if you use an RSS Reader, there’s the usual orange widget.
2) if you’d rather receive my posts by email, you can subscribe through feedburner.
3) if you are a Facebook addict, you can have my posts appear on your feed by following me on networked blogs. Frankly, I think this will happen anyway, but if I can get a lot of followers on Facebook, this will make it more likely that people who don’t know me will be able to find my blog. So please sign up to follow my blog . . . All of these options are available in the right sidebar and are pretty easy to figure out.
I do hope that you will read the blog entries that interest you–and I always LOVE it when people make comments, so please don’t be shy about that.
Lastly, if you have a blog that you would like me to link from mine, just send me your URL.
I’m just trying out a new voice application. Still thinking about what I can do with this, but for now, have a listen.
I’m not really a PowerPoint person. The only time that I’ve used that style of presentation regularly was when I was traveling from one school to the next while in Norway. I knew that I needed visual effects to help students stay engaged with my presentation–and that I didn’t want to be carting notes, DVDs, handouts, etc. around everywhere. PowerPoint (PP), or Keynote, the software I used, really helped. But, aside from that, I haven’t really used PowerPoint (PP) presentations in my teaching.
But this summer I became really engaged in the idea of using technology in the classroom. My students told me that the PP presentation was one of the only uses of technology they had experienced in the classroom. But they also told me that they thought PP was pretty boring because it was so teacher-centered.
So I challenged myself one day last week to make a Keynote presentation that would actually encourage participation instead of stifle it. My students had read a particularly important but conceptually dense article by Brian Street on the New Literacy Studies. I knew that it was essential for my students to have a solid understanding of the article and that isolating important ideas or passages that I selected could actually increase their comprehension. I designed a presentation in which I gave an overview of important ideas, but integrated discussion points throughout. I identified specific passages that I thought were key to Street’s article, and I stopped talking frequently (after asking questions) to allow my students to interact with the article. I listened closely to my students who were increasingly confident in their understanding of Street’s article. It totally worked.
Thursday, I did something similar with another key article by James Gee. In this case, I worked hard to suggest applications of Gee’s ideas to make them more tangible for my students–who fleshed out my suggestions in ways that demonstrated understanding. I also divided the students into groups at one point in the PP to allow them to become experts on key terms that Gee uses. This presentation was even more interactive than the first–and, again, I felt that my students left class with a much better grasp of key ideas in literacy studies.
I’m glad that I was open to a different way of using PP in the classroom. In November, my friend and Writing Project colleague Jeromy and I will be making a presentation at the NWP’s annual conference in Orlando. We’ll be doing an Ignite style presentation–20 slides, 15 seconds a slide. I think I want to try this technique in class at some point this semester. Here’s an example of how it works:
Yesterday, I told my therapist that I felt a vague dissatisfaction with my life right now, that I felt a little bored. This isn’t something I’ve been feeling a long time–it was more a product of working hard for the last few weeks and suddenly having a three day weekend during which I’d still need to work. My “vague dissatisfaction” lasted all of a few hours, to be honest. Still, my comment led to a revealing discussion.
My therapist asked me what associations I have with the word “stability.” My sincere and heartfelt answer? “Routine. Boredom.” She and I have talked about how my family moved a lot when I was young, and yesterday she insightfully asked if my parents had treated these moves as sources of excitement and opportunity. I think they did–at least, I don’t remember negative feelings about moving (until the move that occurred when I was 13 . . . tough age to move). My parents taught me to think of change as an adventure, a lesson that I deeply appreciate–at the same time, they provided me with stability during the process of making new lives in Utah, California, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and then Utah again.
As an adult, I have both sought and rejected stability. I have moved a lot. i have wilted when my life felt mundane. I’ve felt unwilling to call anywhere home, even long-time residences. I’ve fallen in love with men who weren’t grown ups or who didn’t love me back. I’ve beaten myself up for not having a sense of stability even while I made decisions that led to that feeling. I don’t mean for this list to suggest that I regret all of this. I’ve loved exploring the world, I’ve gotten a lot out of my failed relationships–and the more negative experiences have led me to where I am right now, a place I quite like.
My therapist suggested that I look at stability in a new way . . . it’s my stable life here that allows me to take off and travel, to explore the world and my psyche, to find rest even when I feel restless. She’s right. Other jobs, other cities, other responsibilities might limit or constrain my curiosity. Here, I’m financially secure, I have a job that allows me to follow my passions, and I have amazing friends. The people I love here let me go . . . but they also embrace me when I return.
I’m still not crazy about routine . . . but I think I’m on board with developing more positive associations with stability.
