Liberated Time and Some Fur for Ambassador’s Work

July 12, 2010

The good news about my unemployable circumstances  is my liberated time.  For most of my adult years unrestricted time was an illusive  luxury.  Between parenting, career building, and life maintenance, my personal quality time was like a failed reduction sauce of  limited moments with the evening news and occasional bubble baths. Yesterday, with three hours of my unhampered  time, I donned my royal blue jacket and hat that bear the official Friends of the Elephant Seal (FES) logo, and I stood on  the rocky Piedras Blancas bluffs–a place located […]

Alton Brown’s Chat With Monterey Bay Aquarium

June 30, 2010

Foodies visit “the muse” every day.  Thanks!  Chef daughter, Chef Dakota Weiss is a strong proponent of sustainable foods and has been in the forefront of this movement for years.  She once said, “I can’t imagine why a chef would think any differently about sustainability.”  BTW here’s the latest review on Dakota and the Dining Room at Shangri-la:  http://www.justluxe.com/lifestyle/dining/feature-747202.php Today’s newsfeed from Sea Notes features an interview with Food Network star, Alton Brown.  So, just in case you don’t get this feed, […]

A Quest for the Daily Good

June 9, 2010

Because I own and drive a vehicle, live in a home thick with petroleum-based products, and the miscellaneous impacts of my carbon footprint, I am a part of this ecological nightmare’s cause.

Maybe The Dalai Lama Is On To Something

May 20, 2010

To say that my heart dropped to the lowest ocean depths possible with the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and to say that my fury with loud mouthed hypocritical politicians and their pundits has raised my blood pressure to blast me out from the lowest ocean depths, is more than a marginal metaphor.

The Chef Chronicles: Chef Rahm Fama

May 14, 2010

When the same search term shows up on this blog’s statistics, I smell buzz, interest and something’s going on.  “Rahm Fama” and variations of his name, keep showing in my search engine terms.  So, I’m smelling meat. Really.  Meat.  As I reported in January https://charmainesmusepallet.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/chef-rahm-fama-vegetarians-be-advised/   vegetarians and PETA advocates, be advised, Chef Fama, “a kid from Santa Fe,”  was under consideration for a new Food Channel program, Meat Masters.  Rahm slayed the bull and won the position.  Chef Rahm Fama  is The Meat Master and […]

The yin and yang of writing

May 12, 2010

And that, perhaps, is the purpose of memoirs. Really, who gives three flying pigs about my life? Much more interesting tales have and will be told. But at the same time, the writer in me wishes to connect with her readers and render that commonality we share. You know, ring a bell, strike a chord, hit a nerve.

A day with Mother

May 10, 2010

While I’d love to be her perfect child, my imperfections lead me down the road that erases Mother’s perfection from my memory. Understand I’m not her worse child. Others far exceed my lack of respect, but if I was one of her finest, I’d always practice what I preach.

Searching for the “real” me

May 5, 2010

My first discovery authenticated a sanity-survival technique self-taught during the early days of parenting—shut off what I don’t want to hear. That includes squawking voices. This lingering skill undermined my scientific study, however. Every time the commercial runs aired, my inside ears shut it off and I went about the business of chopping carrots, chatting with spouse, visiting the bathroom, or checking Facebook updates