Recently in Just Because Category

It's been an exciting Holiday Season so far. We had a great thanksgiving dinner, we got a Christmas Tree and have been adding decorations over the past weeks and, despite dire economic warnings, my restaurant is actually very busy. Sometimes it feels even, dare I say it too busy.

But I've noticed that I'm really tired today. Tired from all the holiday rush. Rush to get ready for seeing family and the rush to close out the year on a good foot at work. It's many levels of anticipation and it almost feels anxious in it's intensity. Shouldn't it be quieter? Shouldn't the past few days of cold and snow made it as silent in my head as it has been outside? You know, that feeling that you get when walking through a light snow in the evening? There is the steady rhythm of crunch crunch beneath you feet of ice and snow and yet a quiet from the gentle snow, dampening even the screachinges siren. How can we get that moment back and just play the loop?

I wish we had photos of getting our Christmas Tree and bringing it back home. We chose one of the coldest windiest of nights to "go pick one up", which is a lot easier said than done when you have you, your wife, your two legs and arms and hands and the New York City subway system.

Don't get me wrong, it was fun, but it was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be about three hours earlier after we'd finished straitening out our apartment to prepare it for a tree. We had talked about maybe getting a tree this year, but at some point I decided, yea, if we can do a full-blown Thanksgiving dinner for our family, than hell yea we're ready to put up our first Christmas Tree. Despite being highly allergic, I was a big pusher for it.

I was thinking back to all the fond years of sitting around the tree that one day a year, after we'd all put in something to decorating it, and filling up the area around it with beautifully wrapped gifts and it was came back to that sharing, that sharing spirit. Everyone in the house contributes something to the tree, and everyone receives something from it, and even if we can't afford it, or to put anything under it, its worth it because it gives you something. It lends an exciting emotional atmosphere to a household. It makes things feel vibrant and alive, if only for a few weeks. That's something we all need this year.

So, we bought our tree last night. We found it on the corner of Court St. and Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn. we sort of picked out the tree we wanted, and headed off to go eat first.
This part of Atlantic Ave. is renowned for its Middle Eastern restaurants, butchers, and groceries. We picked the Yemen Cafe. Yay! Salta! I chose the Lamb Salta, and Man 'o Man, that was the most perfect meal for a cold winter's night. Stone baked bread, slow roasted lamb, lamb soup and a nice crisp iceberg salad dressed with a salsa like dressing. Everything had a little spicy edge to eat and everything was perfect. We loved it and its my lunch today. The bill was forty eight bucks and there was enough food for 4.

So, the meal there got our bellies ready for the journey ahead. We set out to get lights and a few ornaments first. We walked past a the new Urban Outfitters and saw some cool glass ornaments and picked up a few boxes of those, just to get our tree some ornaments to start, then we dropped off at CVS and bought a box of lights and some hooks.

Next, we tromped back to the tree sales area we liked best and picked out a nice 6 + foot tree and then headed back to Jay street to head home. Longest walk ever. Or at least that is what it felt lugging a tree back to the subway, but we made it there and then made it back home.

Tracie popped out for some more milk and with the helpful and welcome aid of hot cocoa we put up the tree and hung the lights and the first ornaments.  We think it looks pretty cool.

But we want more, we want to add our own handmade ornaments and hopefully start a lifetime of fun. Today, I searched the web and found a few helpful links, one of my favorites at mademagazine.com, led me to my first ornament that I just completed a little bit ago. Woohoo! DIY ornaments are cool.

The first finished ornament:

I haven't posted in a while because I've been too busy. I haven't posted in a while because I didn't feel the need too. But, it is really like this. I haven't posted in a while, because I've been too busy and didn't bother to take the time to reflect enough.

It's been over a year since I've been married to Tracie. Things are still wonderful, although we don't see each other enough. We work too much, and then on my days off. I'm too tired and haven't the imagination to do anything I've been dreaming about while working.

Like a few months ago I met Tracie and our friend Holly, after they had visited the MoMa. I had just got off work and didn't really want to see the show being tired and all. But on the way out of my building, perhaps it was back in September?...on the way out of the building someone handed me a card with reasons why you should ask more questions about September 11th, 2001.

It presented all kinds of interesting and scary facts about potential conspiracy theories about how the attacks on the World Trade center and the subsequent destruction, didn't fit into the official story.

Last week, on my Sunday, Monday I found a video online and re-hashed those ideas of conspiracy. Except this time. I see it. It doesn't make sense. I've looked at hours of footage and heard hours of testimony and it appears those building were leveled by explosives. Not the airplanes that flew into them.

So, what does this mean if I believe this? I means I'm frightened. I'm mad. It means I have been living in darkness and hiding from the truth. Which, I guess I have, because every since the attacks, I haven't spent too much time reading the news. I mean back in 2003 I did, but once idiot "won" then election in 2004 again. I pulled out. It seemed hopeless. And now it does again.

But I love life. I love my wife and I try and have fun at my job. It's just this thing that happened in 2001 has always been in the back of my mind. Like an itch. Bothering me. Making me think that something has gone awry.

So what can we do to change this? I need your help.

A few weeks ago I found out about a Scholarship that would: pay room, board fees, and transportation to Washington D.C. to participate in a "Conference of Leaders" organized by Share Our Strength. Like many things, I got my essay in on the last day, just in the nick of time.

A few days ago, I got an email confirming that I was one of 20 culinary students from across the nation selected as a finalist to attend the conference, and assist in service for their "Hurricane Relief Taste Event" on October 17th, 2005. As always I feel lucky. Lucky to have the opportunity to write on such an interesting topic, lucky enough to be able to email in my essay, lucky enough to be considered good enough to attend, and lucky enough to have the support and help that I've had at pursuing my interest in cooking and food. And more than anything it will be great to be able to have a hand in raising money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, of which to date I was only able to give $75, and was feeling pretty down.

In addition I'll get to meet great leaders and chefs from around the country. Alice Waters of Chez Panisse is one of the featured speakers, a well known chef, writer and philanthropist who works hard to spread the news on organic and locally grown foods, and there is a laundry list of chefs from around the country that will participate in the conference and the benefit as well. It's a great opportunity to find out all the different ways and ideas that chefs are becoming leaders in their community.

I am thankful to all of my family and friends and sent them an email of thanks for all the support. But I wanted to thank a few people publicly for there undying interest in food and willingness to give all they can in guiding my interest in however they can.

Tracie, my love has been there from day one and her faith in me and my crazy ideas has been unwavering. My parents and close family, well you all know who you are and how you've helped me along the way. Thanks!

On the professional food front, I owe my most current debts to the amazing Chef Julie Farias and Laurent Saillard of iCi Restaurant in Ft. Greene - Brooklyn, NY, for their commitment to local and organic foods and love of food. I met Julie at a Share Our Strength, Taste of The Nation Event, hence it's funny how things come back around and are tied together. Thanks to Chef Josie Smith-Malove of Veliis for believing in me enough to get me to serve as her assistant at Taste of the Nation Brooklyn, and all the other crazy things she has taught me. Then there are the many Chefs and Students of the FCI that continue to amaze and inspire me. Thanks everyone!

Here is the question that was posed for the contest entries and the brief answer I came up with.

What is a chef's role in the community?

Vibrant and great communities come to fruition through the persistent labors of ordinary people sharing resources, conversations, experiences, pleasures and challenges. Leaders emerge over time based on their contributions. I believe that the primary role of chefs in their community is sharing experiences and knowledge and leading by example in ways that will inspire sustainable and positive growth through food and education about food.

Every decision a chef makes about the success and health of their business and menu can either enhance or detract from their community's growth. Chefs must always work to invest and strengthen their communities, by choosing to hire locally whenever possible, offer a living wage and benefits, provide a safe and healthy workplace, and work to inspire and encourage others to succeed and pursue their dreams.

Chefs can help enhance their communities by buying local goods and services whenever possible and establishing partnerships with local producers and farmers. When they buy locally they are making an investment in the local economy. When the community frequents establishments that rely on locally sourced goods it creates a demand for locally owned business establishments. Buying locally then becomes sustainable in that it creates a cycle of interdependence among the farmers, chefs and consumers that can enhance and strengthen the community.

Whenever possible, chefs can reinforce their investment by educating their customers and neighbors about why they serve locally produced foods and how it benefits the community. For example, buying locally brings fresher foods to their customers' tables. It also reduces the negative impacts on the environment caused by long and costly transportation of non-locally produced foods. In turn, when chefs establish relationships with proprietors and come to know the stories behind the food and share these stories, it expands and unites the community.

Chefs are the impetus for educating and inspiring people to care about the food they buy and eat. When chefs express interest and passion for locally produced food, they are sparking the fires of curiosity for local children and families. When a chef highlights the menu's local sources or appears down at the local market to perform a demonstration or give a talk on the local foods in use, the community will come to value investment in local resources and invest as much themselves to help shape their community in a more positive way. In turn, the members of the community are actively shaping and changing their attitudes towards consumption, politics and other aspects of community life. A chef's role in the community, to care and know as much as possible about the food he or she serves, becomes a foundation for positive change within the community.

After watching all four of the debates (available over at C-SPAN if you haven't seen them) for this year's presidential election, presented by the Commision on Presidential Debates (Please watch this video on the how the debates are coordinated from Bill Moyers program, NOW: VIDEO.), I still felt I had little perspective on what kind of leaders they'll make for the next four years. Besides the facts I already have gleaned about both of them from their past years of service (which you can read about over at vote smart or the whitehouse.gov, if you are interested John Kerry or George Bush) and the press coverage of the past few years.

As I sat at the bus stop, I came to the realization that I was waiting. This doesn’t sound like a large realization when put so simply, but it was almost profound to me, I was sitting, and waiting, nothing else. I was not reading a book. I wasn’t contemplating what I would do next, or where I was going. I wasn’t mentally trying to organize my day into a series of well fitting and efficient motions. I was just waiting.