I've been meaning to post something about Alice Waters. She's been on my mind. I'd seen a great little video recently about her on the New York Times about How to Work a Greenmarket. Then last night channel surfing she was on Iconoclasts with Mikhail Baryshkinov and I got to see footage about her project The Edible Schoolyard. Web surfing I tripped across an excerpt about the first night opening of Chez Panisse where I have had the good fortune of eating - how I got in there is a story worth telling another time. Needless to say I'm a big fan of hers. I couldn't begin to describe why or how so I searched through my photos for perhaps an image to trigger some ideas and this is what I came up with. A cucumber salad. The cucumbers were from the Union Square Market. The herbs are Mint, from my windowsill, and Perilla weeded from Mamaroneck- its growing all over the place. I poured a little live organic kefir over it and sprinkled it with some raw sunflower seeds. The bowl is from a thrift store, someone's failed ceramic experiment but one of my favorite dishes and it sits on a sustainable bamboo chopping board. All these details matter to me and for this reason I find it an appropriate image for this post. I think this is what Alice is about. Somewhere in the middle of the NYTimes video anothe fan asks her Are you? You're not. She says, Who? Alice? Yes. He says thank you.......for everything.
