help from mommy

Last night, I hosted a Commonwealth Club event in Palo Alto.  I interviewed Jesse Cool in front of a good-sized crowd, and all in all it was a really great evening.  I find Chef Cook Cool (don't call her chef) to have a really refreshing point of view when it comes to sustainable eating, and will be talking about it more here within the next few days.

I had the support of a few great friends (and a new friend) who tagged along with me to Palo Alto, and as we arrived at the event I started to relax and know that everything was probably going to be okay.

******

My mother got a Blackberry recently.  This is giggle-worthy if you know my mother.  It's funny to put her in the same category as some of my friends when she buries her head in her Blackberry at all hours of the day.  Except that she has to concentrate.  Very hard.  But to tell you the truth, I kind of like it.  We now text a little ("My thumbs hurt," she texted me one day after a couple of back and forth exchanges) and I get pretty frequent, random emails from her.

******

As I walked into the event last night, my phone whistled and I looked down to find this oh-so-helpful email from my mom.  Nice to know that she had my back.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: help from mommy
Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2008
From: O.
To: J.

Here are some food jokes to warm up the crowd:

Q: What did the cannibal order for take-out?
A: Pizza with everyone on it.
________________________________

Q: What do cats call mice on skateboards?
A: Meals on wheels.
________________________________

Customer: Do you serve crabs here?
Waiter: Yessir, we'll serve just about anybody.

******

The evening ended with a lovely dinner at Tamarine.  I was a pain-in-the-neck customer as I kept calling to make our party bigger and bigger, and then we arrived 15 minutes late.  The restaurant couldn't have been more gracious at any step and the dinner was delicious, comfortable, and wonderfully paced.  The appetizers arrived right away, which was perfect as we were all starving and the rest of the meal came out in a relatively relaxed manner.  One benefit of having a wine maven as a friend is that she brought along a couple of really outstanding wines. 

******

I had a full-circle moment as trying to explain to a friend who all 10 people at the table were, and realizing how many of my roots come from Chowhound - the website that many love to hate.  Though the site sometimes drives me crazy, I am convinced that I would not be the person I am today (blogger, writer, food advocate) or know the friends I do today were it not through becoming a member of the Chowhound community when I arrived in San Francisco eight years ago. 

******

I am still thinking about our meal today, especially the clay pot black cod, the lemongrass bass, the delicate coconut rice, and the enveloping support that I felt from friends new and old.

Comments

[Ed]

I had to laugh at your Mom and the Blackberry story. Even after repeated corrections (I've stopped trying!), my Mom continues to call them Blueberries. Heck, now that I think of it, I shouldn't correct her because it's kind of cute.

[Genie]

I'm so glad the event went well -- and your Mom's jokes totally crack me up! Can't wait to hear more about the discussion and Cook Cool's thoughts on sustainability.

[Molly]

Doh. STILL kicking myself for not going.

[Fatemeh]

It's so true about the Chowhound roots. That said, though, it has to be noted that the site was such a different beast in '98-'01. Some of those dinners -- the one at Chapeau! in particular -- will remain with me forever.

[Rebecca]

Moms can be so great!
I'm no longer in the Bay Area, so I am looking forward to your interview with Cook Cool. Local is so key to the success of sustainability.
Have to ask: Did you have a chance to use any of your Mom's jokes? =)

[Jennifer Jeffrey]

Jen - totally wish I could have been there. It sounds like a wonderful time. Looking forward to hearing more about Jesse's take on sustainable eating.

And your mom - she is just plain fabulous.

[Gudrun]

Jen, thank you for the invitation to join the group! I loved the explanation of how you know everyone and must say, I am slightly jealous that you have found such a great collection of folks to share your love of food with.

The food was great, the company relaxing, and as I suspected, my husband was jealous of all the lovely wine we consumed :-)

[Biggie]

I was actually a moderator on Chowhound way back when and helped organize the first Bay Area dinner at Singapore Malaysian (under name lamascus), but drifted away when I had some health problems. Is it still worth the time now, what with the buyout? Has it retained its original character?

[renewbee]

Here's a little pizza joke for you:

A guy goes in to pick up his pizza, ordered to go. The counterperson asks him, "would you like us to cut it in 8 pieces, or 12?"

He says, "Better make it 8, I could never eat 12!" hee hee