Month: June 2011

Magazines 2.0.

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I’ve always had a soft spot for magazines. It’s the MTV generation in me — we have short attention spans and are easily distracted by big, glossy pictures. Oooh, look! Pretty pictures! I’m still loyal to a good, hardback book, but I also can’t resist a good magazine, on almost any topic.

Many times over the years I’ve had to cut back my weekly/monthly subscriptions because all of those magazines were just piling up at the door. I still oversubscribe, since I don’t have much time these days to read anything more than People. Which I read cover to cover. Every week. Since 1989. That means this (and last) year’s issues of O Magazine are making a nice door stop in my living room until I have a long airplane ride or pool day to get through them.

l have a hard time not picking up any new magazine in reach. When I’m at my mother’s house, I read her Southern Livings; if I’m at the beach, I read my aunt’s Good Housekeeping; if I’m in an airport, I pick up Vanity Fair or In Style. It’s a problem, so thank goodness for recycling. Keep reading »

Cooking Spree: Warm Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

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Quinoa. 

KEEN-wah. KEEN-wah.  KEEN-wah.

I just like saying it.

As of late, I am obsessed with quinoa, that mysterious little grain. I was first introduced years ago at the Columbus Circle Whole Foods salad bar, when I took a sample of the quinoa salad. I think it was curried, with raisins and almonds, which is not always my favorite. But I fell in love with the odd, chewy, nuttiness of quinoa, how it sort of pops when you eat it and how each kernel has that weird little string of a tail. Then I learned it was actually good for you, as a protein-packed whole grain. Gotta get your whole grains in, people. I had just never cooked it myself.

A few weeks ago I was thrilled to find quinoa at Trader Joe’s, though I think it’s universally available in average supermarkets. Just check the rice aisle. I wasted most of that first box on two botched attempts at preparing it, but after some Internet research, I think I’m on the right track. You should rinse the quinoa but then don’t add too much water or cook it too long. You’ll have mush, trust me. Delicious mush, but mush just the same. (I still ate it.) This time I used 1 cup of dry quinoa to just under 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth, cooked like rice — bring to boil, cover and reduce to low — for 10-15 minutes. Near perfection. Keep reading »

Where to even begin.

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Whew. It’s been a hectic two weeks — international travel, catching up on sleep, reacclimating to ‘normal’ life, battling a sleep-deprivation-and-travel-induced cold, starting the summer school session, moving offices at work, turning another year older. Major life shifts on all levels. I guess it’s true that when it rains it pours.

As part of that reacclimating, I need to get back to blogging and talking to all of you fine folks, my loyal readers. I have so much to tell you that I almost don’t know where to begin. South Africa was incredible … truly the trip of a lifetime. We could have just loaded on a tour bus and viewed the pretty scenery, which we did. But we also delved into the social and cultural issues, talking with business leaders and average joes about their experiences living in South Africa today, 17 years after the end of apartheid. I found it to be a country of contradictions, but also one in the middle of dynamic social change. Nearly everyone we met, when asked about the future, said, “We have no idea.” There’s turbulence in that, sure, but also hope and possibility.

So while it was a nice trip, it was also extremely meaningful. I think we were all touched, surprised and captivated by some part of our experience. At least two of my tripmates pledged to move to South Africa in the next five years just to be part of it or even to lead some of that change. As I started to realize in my last post, being there made us think about our own beliefs about race, our histories and life back home in America.  There are a lot of lessons (and parallels) for us.

It’s going to take me a bit to process all that I saw and learned, but I journaled like mad the whole trip just trying to capture every statement and nuance that we heard and observed. I’ve also downloaded my 700+ photos, so my aim is to recap our adventures for you over the next week or two. Or three. Or sometime in 2011. Stay tuned!