Lisa Johnson

{You Pick Six} An Interview with Writer: Richard Auffrey

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Writer Richard AuffreyIf you’re a food blogger or writer in the Boston area, you may have already met Richard Auffrey at a food event around the city.

He is a familiar face that I always enjoy seeing in a crowd. Richard’s blog, The Passionate Foodie, is aptly named, because as a writer, he has a true love for food and drink. He also strives to bring more inclusiveness to the food blogger community and celebrates its diversity.

I’m sure you’ll enjoy learning more about Richard as he answers questions for the second part in the interview series, You Pick Six.

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What is a favorite simple recipe to prepare at home?
I make a simple Teriyaki sauce. Simply add 7 parts Sake, 7 parts Mirin, 7 parts Soy Sauce & 1 part Sugar to a sauce pan. Bring to a boil under a medium heat, stirring constantly until all the sugar dissolves. And that’s it! Once it cools, you can bottle and refrigerate it for future use. If you want, you can also add minced garlic.

What is a favorite dessert?
I love a well made Bread Pudding, though it can’t have raisins. I think it is also a versatile dessert and I’m surprised that no bakery has chosen to specialize in Bread Pudding. Forget all these cupcake shops, give me a Bread Pudding bakery.

What is a favorite quote?
“O what an ugly sight the man who thinks he’s wise and never drinks sake!”
–Otomo no Tabito (c. 662-731)

What is a favorite food movie?
Ratatouille, the animated film about a rat who becomes a chef. Besides being a fun movie, it has so many excellent lines such as “Good food is like music you can taste, color you can smell. There is excellence all around you. You need only to be aware to stop and savor it.”

What is a favorite childhood food memory?
My mother’s Cinnamon Rolls, especially when they are still hot and fresh out of the oven. They always brought me joy and I saw them as a sign of my mother’s love. And after all these years, my mom still makes those Cinnamon Rolls, with the same recipe, and they immediately bring me back to my childhood and they also still are a sign of her love.

Halloween Nightmare at Fenway Tipsy SenseiTell me about your book.
Halloween Nightmare At Fenway is my third novel in the Tipsy Sensei series, which centers on a Boston-based Sake expert who learns that the supernatural creatures of Japanese folklore are real. In this latest novel, the darkest element of Japan from World War 2 spawns supernatural creatures which now threaten Boston, choosing Fenway Park during the World Series as the site of their primary threat. Nate, the Sake expert, must stop the threat, assisted by an immortal Japanese samurai and a homicide detective, a woman of color. As the novel occurs in Boston, I also mention some of my favorite restaurants. The Tipsy Sensei series is a way for me to share my passion for Sake and to tell a thrilling tale.

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Thank you so much for participating Richard!

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Photos provided by Writer Richard Auffrey.

Catching a Glimpse: Boston

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Boston's cobblestone streetsNo matter how many times I walk around Boston, I still find myself taken aback by the beauty of this city.

Something about the curve of the street, the cobblestones, the shadow and light, flags blowing in the wind. And even the neon Red Sox sign. It caught my breath.  This street has felt a lot of footsteps. Seen so much history along with the mundane.

Next Friday is my birthday and my driver’s license was getting ready to expire. Luckily, where I was working yesterday wasn’t too long of a walk to the Haymarket branch of the RMV. A month ago when I went to the opening of Boston Public Market, I noticed that location.

As I was leaving the RMV, I saw this street and had to double back and take a couple of pictures. All the tourists were too. Or maybe they were just like me. Locals seeing Boston with fresh eyes and wanting to keep a piece of it.

For the past few months, I’ve been reading Chani Nicholas, a really interesting astrology website. For those of us who are Virgos, we’ve been in a pretty interesting cycle.

Before I even read about it, I could feel a pull to the past. Like things were resetting and coming full circle from a few years ago. I was wondering what was going on, so when I read about Venus retrograde in Virgo, it started to make sense. Below is a portion from one of Chani’s posts.

Venus will be retrograde from July 25th to September 6th 2015.

Within our lifetimes (thus far) Venus has gone retrograde between the signs of Virgo and Leo once every 8 years. Therefore you can look to see what of significance happened in your life 8 years ago to get a feel for what this retrograde cycle could be about.

Venus deals with issues of love, connectivity, art, pleasure, pleasing, what we value, how we feel about what we value, creating culture, erotic energy, Goddess, anyone who identifies as a woman and all things to do with relationships. When Planets slow down to station retrograde, they tend to have a powerful effect on our lives (especially given the topics they govern).

This Venus retrograde begins in Virgo. Venus in Virgo is said to be in its fall; it is said to not “work as well,” meaning that all this Venus wants to do is work. That’s not what the goddess of love and hanky-panky usually likes to do though. Therefore this Venus station retrograde could have us working over time.

I suggest utilizing the energy of Venus in Virgo stationing retrograde by doing intentional ritual (Virgo loves a good structured, devotional practice) that is focused on purifying, cleansing or cleaning (Virgo wants it tidy) out old baggage from past loves. That could be emotional messiness, physical objects that are cluttering up your energetic space or habitual patterns that cause romantic casualties.

I’ve gotten back into my yoga practice and have been working hard. Figuring out some other things too. This weekend, I still have a lot to do, but definitely plan to take some time to stop and smell the flowers as I head into my birthday week.

Have a wonderful long holiday weekend!

{You Pick Six} An Interview with Writer: Anastacia Marx de Salcedo

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Anastacia Salcedo © Jorge SalcedoHappy September! Since it’s the first day of a new month and back to school time, it seems like the perfect day to begin something new. You Pick Six is a new interview series where I email several questions to interesting New Englanders and let them decide the six questions that they would like to answer.

There are so many fascinating people in the New England area. With this new type of interview, I hope to learn a few things and share some of these people with you.

Let’s get this first interview started with writer Anastacia Marx de Salcedo, who has a new book out called Combat-Ready Kitchen: How the U.S. Military Shapes the Way You Eat.

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What is a favorite simple recipe to prepare at home?
I don’t have a favorite recipe; I have a favorite way—actually ways—to turn vegetables delectable, and those rely on two workhouse appliances, the toaster-oven and the blender. The toaster-oven is great for roasting. I cut all sorts of things— cauliflower, eggplant, okra, peppers, Brussel sprouts, zucchini—into bite-size chunks, toss with olive oil and sea salt, and cook at 400 °F for anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes. I serve these at parties as finger foods and people can’t stop eating them. My other infallible vegetable cookery method is a smidge more complicated, which is to braise in water or stock such standards as asparagus, broccoli, carrots, and mushrooms; make a white sauce (aka New England soul food); puree the vegetables in the blender; and then mix everything together in a soup pot. Great winter night fare!

What brings you peace every day?
Running. Laughing with my kids. Being in bed with my husband.

What is some of the best advice you’ve ever received?
When you can’t solve something, keeping reading. Thanks, Dad!

What three people do you admire most?
I admire many ordinary people, drawing from them a collection of the qualities that seem necessary to live a good life. Some of those are courage, optimism, and dedication. Personally, I’m always asking myself if I’m being a good role model for my children. If I’m behaving in a way that I’d like them to emulate, I feel good about my decisions.

What is the best meal you ever had and where was it?
Tiny, just-dug, hot potatoes sprinkled with kosher salt eaten from a plastic sandwich bag; a hard-boiled egg (undoubtedly laid that day), also with kosher salt; and sweet coffee eaten in a small, Ecuadorian mountain village at sunrise. Why was it the best? I was hungry. I was happy. It was a moment of purity.

Combat-Ready Kitchen - coverTell me about your book.
My book untangles the profound influence the US military has had on American food science and processed foods. If you’d told me ten years ago that I’d be writing about this topic, I would have been very surprised. But one day I started thinking about a sandwich—specifically that its components all had a rather long shelf-life—and that led me down a rabbit hole into the military’s involvement in our food system. The book’s got a lot of important 20th century food science in it, although it’s been digested by me, the ultimate layperson and written in lay terms. Writing about it made me realize how scarily little we humanities types often understand about how the material world works. Time to change that, y’all!

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Thank you so much for participating Anastacia!

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Photos provided by Anastacia Marx de Salcedo. Credit: © Jorge Salcedo.

Subway Stories: Self-Injection on the Red Line

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red line train stationI’ve seen strange things on the Red Line. That’s why I started writing Subway Stories. The kid running while brandishing a machete in the train station is something I will never forget.

Manspreading is something that I’ve noticed and been annoyed by. Apparently the term is so common, that just this month it was added to OxfordDictionaries.com.

Well, my commute got even more uncomfortable this week. There are some things that really should be done in the privacy of your own home. There are some things you really don’t expect to see happening right next to you when you’re on the train. A woman injecting herself with a needle is one of them.

It was Friday evening and I had gotten out of work a little on the early side. The train wasn’t that crowded. I walked over to stand by a pole and then the woman sitting in front of me jumped up and rushed to the door. Apparently, she didn’t realize she was at South Station and needed to get out. She didn’t make it and the doors closed right in front of her.

I was just happy that an empty seat had suddenly appeared. I sat down, pulled out my book and started reading.

Then either the next stop or the one after that, the woman sitting to my left shifted to get up. But instead of getting up, she reached into her bag and pulled out a needle.

I looked at her and she didn’t look crazy, drunk or strung out, so I didn’t jump away from her. I hoped I was reading her correctly and that she would not stab me with it. I thought about that show What Would You Do? and hoped for the best.

Apparently, what I would do is not say or do anything. She started preparing her needle and injected herself in the shoulder that was farthest away from me. She put the cover back on the needle and put it away. Then settled back in her seat as if nothing had happened.

Maybe she was diabetic and needed insulin? An EpiPen probably would have been injected in her thigh. I cannot possibly imagine another reason why someone would need to self-inject on the train. Do you?

Freshly Baked Cookies @ Work!

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chocolate chip cookiesIt’s impossible for me to write too many posts about chocolate chip cookies. When you’re gathering the good things, they should be included on the list.

The current place where I am working is undergoing construction. I read a sign in the cafe saying that there would be cookies at 3pm every Wednesday. That made me glad.

It’s a new space for me and my co-workers, so I told them. We were all giddy like kids as the time approached yesterday. Then 3:00 came and went. No cookies. I investigated the situation and found that there would be none because of the construction in the kitchen. That made me sad. The promise of something, but then having none is far worse than just going without.

Then today, there were cookies! Otis Spunkmeyer cookies. Which I had not heard about in a long time. But they are still around! Otis Spunkmeyer cookies

What a perfect idea for an office! I remember hearing about Otis Spunkmeyer years ago and wondering about the name.

The founder, Ken Rawlings, let his 12-year-old daughter come up with it. It’s certainly a name that you never forget!

They were warm, gooey and delicious. They were even delivered to us in our office.

All is forgiven.