The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook Ships from warehouse!

In the world of first-come, first-served, today is the day the smart foodies and those who romance local food and drink are rewarded for their assiduousness. 

Everyone who pre-ordered the Homegrown & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Voyageur, Will receive their book by next week!

This is a milestone joyous, break-out-the-champagne -- or better yet, the North Fork (NoFo) wine-- moment!

Cheers!    

The book’s in-store, street date’s book release is June 5^th.     

For more information, visit my Author’s page:

^{Author's Page}

The Pre Order Homegrown Book Date with Destiny

We are now a week away from the official ship date for my book, The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook!

Can you believe it?

It is still available in pre-order until the “street date” scheduled for June 5^th or 6^th when it will be available in book stores, botanic gardens, the featured restaurants – and anyone who would like to offer to sell a superlative book about local chefs, restaurants and their gardens.  J ha!  I am giddy with expectation. 

I am told the pre-order price is a bit more sweet than retail… So if price is a concern, go for the pre-order good through May.

You can order online from Amazon Author's Central and Pre-Order and Barnes & Noble

I need to complete the Author’s page at B&N… sorry. 

However, as you will see at Amazon and on various calendars and blogs, my first speaking opporuntiy for the book will be May 16^th at the very prestigious, 92^nd Street Y as part of their speaker’s program. 

The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook premieres at 92nd St Y

I have asked two of the master chefs featured in the book who also have a New York City presence to participate.  I know how crazy the Island’s chefs and restaurants get while anticipating the “silly season.” 

This will be a fantastic launch.  There will be an overview presentation by me, the author and I have invited two of the master chefs from the book to accompany me.

They will provide a cooking demonstration, a food tasting, and recipes from the book..

Also, this will be the first venue that the book, The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook will be available for sale in the real world! 

This will be the premiere book signing!

Hope to see you at the Y.

Postcards from the Edge -- of The Hamptons & Long Island

Good news!

The postcards for my book, The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook are ready and will be sent to me and the chefs and their restaurants  and their growers.
So exciting.

My publishing marketing team, including Steve and me and Brenda, are kicking in and planning events.

I have tried valiantly to add Pinterest to my blogs so better to share images and story boards about the book and the making of the book.
Feel free to add to my story boards.
I love this!

I have established a separate, distinct, Facebook page for the book.

http://www.facebook.com/MasterChefsandtheirGardens.blog

I'm finding it a challenge to keep a "Chinese wall" between Friends and now the book world.
But it's new and I'm trying..

Please do Like it?

I am confident we will work it out.

Thank you for your patience and support.

When you read about "my" chefs and their Growers and their recipes -- all will be forgiven...

Homegrown Long Island Book's Next Chapter

It 

You can't make this up.  


If anyone told me that as I was just about to hit the "Send" button for the final, Author's Edits, that I'd get a call that hold on. My editor said she was instructed that management would like to, needs, to add 10-12 more chefs.
We had completed all the edits, approved the photos and were good to go.  
Not so fast, as NBC must've said to Conan.


Of course I will do it.  Gladly. Joyfully.  I relish the opportunity to meet and get to know even more inspiring chefs from Long Island.  
More food experiences? Bring it on!

Maybe I will write a book about writing a book...
With the exception of those who have written a book, I know it's difficult for anyone to get beyond the romance of book writing.
However, it is indeed a business.  And I embrace and understand that element.

My only regret in moving the publishing/release date back six to seven months is that the chefs who worked so hard with me to provide their recipes and plant lists and fact check their profiles -- all while they manage their restaurants and culinary art and their relationships with their farmers and fishermen and artisanal food producers - and their customers -- will have to wait...
But as I wrote to them all to inform them of the new direction, "Publishing, like gardening, is a humbling endeavor."
Humble pie?!

To a chef, they were all supportive and understanding with most offering suggestions for the added chefs. That gracious, expert offer and my own research, yielded a most fabulous list of additional chefs.
As I told my editor, there were about five or six chefs from my original list that didn't make it into the final manuscript because of communications snafus or scheduling.
So I started with them.
Then expanded to new restaurant openings and chef assignments since the time we started the book.
So chef Joe Isidori and chef James Carpenter who may be Long Island master chefs are now in new locales with an energized, field to table menu.
Very exciting!

I have already conducted the interviews with the additional chefs and I am very impressed.
Each and every chef has an inspiring, intriguing story to tell.  Book readers will find their background and style sparks them to make their delicious, mouth-watering, unique recipes.

Who are the new field to table Long Island chefs for the book?

I could ask you to submit your suggestions... But I will tell you. But do feel free to make a suggestion or two.

Drumroll please!

In no particular order, here is the list of master farm to table chefs that will be featured in the Long Island Homegrown Cookbook:

1.Robby Beaver, The Frisky Oyster

2. Kevin Penner, 1770 House

3. Deborah Pittorino, Cuvee Bistro & Bar, Greenporter Hotel

4. Tom Schaudel, Coolfish, A Mano

5. Eric Lomando, Kitchen A Bistro

6. James Tchinnis, Swallow

7. Guy Reuge, Mirabelle

8. Rosa Ross, Scrimshaw

9. Joe Isidori, Southfork Kitchen

10.Gretchen Menser, Fresno

11. James Carpenter, Maidstone 

1.Robby Bea

Maybe Michael Mandleur, Jamesport Manor Inn or Christian Mir, Stone Creek or Elmer Rubio, Chachama Grill as the last chef candidate...

What do you think?

I am very, very excited to work with this outstanding, brilliant roster of chefs.
Clearly, the book will benefit from their inspired culinary craft.
Some already have cookbooks and restaurant books.

For example, Chef Rosa Ross has two books under her toque:
New Wok Cookbook
365 Ways to Cook Chinese

Chef Tom Schaudel has one:

















I will post some teasers and news about the interviews. On deadline now!  

Giving Thanks

The Foreword:  Much To Be Thankful For

I am so thankful, honored – and downright thrilled that Brian Halweil has agreed to write the Foreword for my book, “Long Island Homegrown.”

Brian is the perfect candidate and was my number one, preferred choice from the get-go.

Brian wears the Long Island food chain like his very own ID bracelet. 

He is the editor of Edible East End Magazine, http://www.edibleeastend.com the “local food magazine of Long Island.”

As the editor of the food magazine that is the bible of the farming, fishing, artisanal food makers, vineyards, and the restaurants of “Pleasure” Island, he intimately knows the kitchens and wine cellars and farm stands and dairies that comprise the food culture that is Long Island.

Brian is also an author, Eat Here: Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket. 

From the Worldwatch Institute Brian's profile reads:

Brian Halweil is a senior fellow at the Worldwatch Institute covering issues of food and agriculture and is currently Co-Director of Nourishing the Planet. He joined Worldwatch in 1997 as the John Gardner Public Service Fellow from Stanford University, where he had established a student-run farm on campus. In addition, Brian has helped set up community-supported farms throughout California and New York, as well as in Mexico, and assisted farmers who were making the shift to organic agriculture. As a food and agriculture expert, Brian has testified before the U.S. Senate on biotechnology, poverty, and hunger, and his research and writing have been featured in national media.

I admire his steadfast commitment to the local, Long Island food community. 

To producing a sustainable food economy and foodie culture. 

And his work in the broader, worldwide effort to provide safe, sustainable, delicious food to all of earth’s citizens. 

I know Brian’s contribution will be invaluable. It will certainly add to the integrity of the book.

Master Chefs in Homegrown Long Island

I also give thanks to the 16 chefs and the gardeners or farmers that inspire these locavore culinary artists. 

A special Thanksgiving thanks go to:

North Shore

Bistro M, Chef Mitchell SuDock Glen Head

18 Bay, Chefs Elizabeth Ronzetti and Adam Kopels, Oyster Bay/Bayville

South Shore

The Lake House, Chef Matt Connors, Bayshore

The Grey Horse Tavern, Chef Meredith Machemer, Bayport

North Fork

North Fork Table & Inn, Chefs Claudia Fleming and Gerry Hayden, Southold

Jedediah Hawkins Inn, Chef Keith Luce, Jamesport

Satur Farms, Chef Eberhard Mueller, Cutchogue

Amarelle, Chef Lia Fallon

South Fork

Nick & Toni’s, Chef Joe Realmuto, East Hampton

Della Femina, Chef Michael Rozzi, East Hampton

Loaves & Fishes, Chef Anna Pump, Sagaponick

The American Hotel, Chef Jonathan Parker, Sag Harbor

Almond, Chef Jason Weiner, Bridgehampton

Foody’s, Chef Bryan Futerman, Water Mill

Hampton Bays

Starr Boggs, Chef Starr Boggs, West Hampton

OSO Restaurant, South Hampton Inn, South Hampton,

The chefs, gardeners and farmers gave so generously of their time. 

I always cringed a little when sending a follow up email request or reminder because I know they don’t have a salty second to spare. 

However, they managed somehow to carve out time for the interviews and the photos shoots. 

I knew every chef had a unique story.  I wanted to honor that.

At the same time, I want the reader to get as excited as I am about each and every chef. 

I want them to read every story. Not read two or three profiles and come to the conclusion: “I get it, they are good chefs and use local ingredients.” 

I was compelled to write the profile chronicling the chef’s personal story of how they came to be a chef. 

Most importantly, I wanted to write what drives them to secure the best ingredients.  When it could simply be so much easier to pick up the phone and order from a purveyor’s list, why do these chefs insist on getting to know their farmers? 

And visit the docks when the fishermen haul in the catch? 

Or why they labor to produce their own gardens brimming with sultry herbs and tempestuous tomatoes and languid lettuces?  It’s hot, it’s buggy and it’s hard work. 

I want the reader to know these chefs more than care about where their food comes from.  They possess a reverence for the food source.  They never bite the hand that feeds them!

In addition, the inspired gardens and artisanal food makers infuse the chefs’ culinary creativity. 

These master chefs continually create sometimes curious and always innovative recipes using local food sources on the path to taste nirvana.  

By nature, chefs want to share their art.  I find this is in contrast to many fine artists.

I give thanks for the generosity of their culinary art.

I thank the chefs for the time they shared for the photo sessions. 

There were two sessions on the same day.  One of them was in the kitchen preparing the food and the other one showcased the chef in the garden or on the farm visually narrating the relationship linking the chef, the farmer/gardener and the land…

And I thank them for their culinary talent – assembling the amazing food ingredients to ignite astonishing flavors and combined textures that leave you feeling giddy from the first mouthful. 

Each chef has generously provided four recipes for the book too. 

The only guidelines I provided or suggested were these: 

A seasonal recipe – not just from summer’s bounty, either. 

Preferably from the winter or shoulder seasons. 

And one that uses local, fresh ingredients.

Perhaps they could provide a family or cultural recipe – such as that prized stuffed peppers dish from Aunt Imaculata (18 Bay). 

Another suggestion was to provide a signature dish – something their diners have come to embrace on the menu and that they just can’t live without.   Like the pistachio crusted halibut with asparagus, fava beans, oyster mushroom and a lemon beurre blanc (Bistro M).

And finally, a brand new recipe, created just for the book. 

Seeing the chefs’ email with Recipes attachment arrive in the In-Box created a happy anticipation every time one cycled in – not unlike that sparkly-wrapped surprise gift from your new love.

Opening each recipe and scanning the ingredients was an exercise in orchestrated joy.

I can’t wait to try them out. 

I am committed to preparing one recipe a week for the next year – and two a week for two months (I’m thinking June and July of 2011) in order to cook all 64 recipes that will be offered in the book.  This schedule should allow me to thoughtfully and respectfully preview and write about the extraordinary recipes prior to the book’s launch date next year.

This will be very exciting.  And fun.

I will share my cooking adventures with you here.  The good, the bad and the triumphant. 

I also give thanks to my photographer, Jennifer Calais Smith.   .  www.jennifercalais.com
Her photographic art is outstanding. 

We worked very hard together to produce enduring photographs that amplify the profile I wrote about each chef.  

I often said, “We need to tell the story about the relationship the chefs have with their gardens and farmers -- in pictures.  We need to visually illustrate how the relationship and commitment drives their culinary art and fuels their creative imagination.”

It’s a lot to ask of a photographer, I know. 

And while we storyboarded out the shots as a team, Jennifer was the one that was “on” for the shoot.

She had to jump through garden beds, dodge flying pizzas and hot oil, not to mention knife-wielding prep teams, hot, hot gardens and steaming kitchens. 

The food stylists and me could indulge in the just-picked vegetables and fruit.  Jennifer  couldn’t. 

For me, a Sun Gold cherry tomato is just this side better than candy.  Sweet and juicy.  Perfect for snacking.

I am captivated by oh-so-many of the Long Island gardens’ heirloom cherry tomatoes, whether a Black Plum, Isis Candy or local variety.

In a paradox of epic garden proportions, Jennifer does not like/eat tomatoes!

Along with her camera, Jennifer sprinted and crouched and scampered, staying ahead of the sun and shadows and sometimes the rain. 

Chef Matt Connor, The Lake House, Bayshore

Chef Frank Lucas on the rooftop garden of Starr Boggs restaurant, Westhampton

Chef Matt & Jennifer at St. Peter's Farm

Chefs Elizabeth Ronzetti & Adam Kopels with Karen Lee, Sang Lee farmer

Chef Bryan Futerman, Foody's

She shot waaayyy too many photos J all in an effort to honor the chefs and the gardeners. 

But don’t think it was all tough labor. It was fun too.  And we ate like sultans.

Our story was chronicled by Sarah Kinbar on the blog, Good Garden Ideas:
http://www.goodgardenideas.com/?p=3390

I am also thankful for my editor, Kari.  She is smart and creative – and most supportive. 

I cannot thank her enough for being in my corner during last year’s change in book direction to focus the first book on Long Island.

She’s been a peach negotiating, revising and finalizing artist contracts – even when it got crazy, dodgy at times!

Mostly, I am thankful for her unwavering support after the hard drive crash in June. 

She massaged the schedule and modified the deadline so I could rewrite the book’s manuscript that was destroyed in the crash.  I am eternally grateful. 

I am thankful to the farmers for their noble work. 

I am grateful for the time they took away from their tractors and farm stands and planting and harvesting to graciously pose for the photos. They did so with shyness but much integrity. 

The farmers are: 

Ian Calder-Piedmonte and Alex Balsam - Balsam Farms

Scott Chaskey - Peconic Land Trust’s Quail Hill Farm

Jennifer and Jim Pike, Pike Farms, Sagaponick

Karen Lee – Sang Lee Farms, Peconic

Rottkamp Farms, Glen Head

Bob and Denise Andrews Family Farm, Wading River

The Gardeners are:

Chef Frank Lucas, Starr Boggs Restaurant, Westhampton

Stephanie Evanitsky, Mastic Beach

Anna Pump, Sagaponick and Bridgehampton

Peter Garnham, American Hotel

Eberhard Mueller and Paulette Satur, Satur Farms

Linda & Irene, Grey Horse Tavern, Bayport

Jon Snow, Hayground School, Bridgehampton

Chef Keith Luce, Jedediah Hawkins Inn, Jamesport

A special thanks to Rob Salvatico, Hotel Indigo, Riverhead (www.indigoeastend.com), who had just opened his refurbished and fabulous new hotel and restaurant.  (I had a dream about the hotel last night!  Must be good karma). 

Rob’s opening week hospitality was generous and very much appreciated. 

I could see him working even as he sat and talked to me for an interview. 

His attention to detail was omnipresent. 

He is sincerely ambitious. His vision is transparent.  I will write more about his hotel soon.  His hotel’s restaurant, Bistro, recently celebrated its formal opening. 

Menu and operations were managed by Lia Fallon, executive chef, Amarelle, and contributing food stylist for the Homegrown Long Island book.

You can see how talented and passionate everyone associated with the Homegrown Long Island book is.

I am most thankful to each and every one of those who touched the book in their own special way.

And of course, to my cousin Maryann.  She lovingly read and critiqued each chef profile as I raced to complete the second/rewrite of the manuscript following the crash.  Her academy-award winning aesthetic and opinion meant more to me than I can summon the gravitas to say...

She is an angel. Writing can be a solitary endeavor and her contribution on the other end of the email communication kept me grounded and in touch with some small part of the world!

Merci, gracias, and molto grazie. 

But on this most American holiday, Thanksgiving, allow me to just simply say, Thank you.
From the bottom of my garden-loving, food-passionate heart....

 

GrowNYC Greenmarket Nominated Local Farmers to Attend Slow Food Conference in Terra Madre

From the city that never sleeps and where things get done in a “New York Minute,” the Greenmarket delegates will be immersed in the Slowww way of life…

For the next few days, at least.

Applause, Applause! 

What greater honor could there be for a dedicated, local farmer and artisanal food producer than to be acknowledged as a representative for the Greenmarket at the biannual Slow Food Conference? 

It makes all those early mornings setting up in Union Square, endless hours of washing the baby lettuces, tapping the maple trees and boiling the sap, fretting over the storms and heat and water count for something. 
It’s not just the trip to Torino, Italy, nor the opportunity to mix and network with food artists from around the globe, or even all the great food tastings and samplings.

I think it’s also the recognition that all the hard work, dedication and standards of excellence in honor of fresh, local food matters.

This is important, noble work and just like the Oscar or the Emmy or the Tony, foody peers will forever have respect that you were selected.

I was admiring the pristine lettuces and sassy greens at one of my favorite Greenmarket “boutiques” yesterday when I learned from Bodhitree Farms (www.bodhitreefarm.com)

owner, Nevia No, aka the Greenmarket Goddess, that she was leaving for Terra Madre later that day.  Wowsy!

I was so excited for Nevia.  Questions spilled out of me along with the kudos.

Nevia explained that she is one of two farmers selected to attend the Slow Food conference by GrowNYC Greenmarket Farmers Market (www.grownyc.org/greenmarket.org

The other delegate is Howie and Stephen Cantor of Deep Mountain Maple, Vermont – because “the Italians don’t have maple syrup.”  No said. 

The exotic, sexy elixir is sure to cause a scene in Italy…

The Greenmarket Goddess didn’t have to explain to me why her Bodhitree Farms was chosen.   

No is usually eager to explain that Bodhi means enlightenment in Sanskrit.  A visit to her Greenmarket display with its pure, clean, variety of colorful and delicious vegetables will elevate anyone to a higher consciousness.

Greenmarket Goddess Nevia No’s Bodhitree Farms is located in the Garden State, naturally. She grows hundreds of varieties on 70 acres in Burlington County.  The Farm is a darling of all the New York City Master Chefs and Bodhitree was noted on most of the menu cards at the recent GrowNYC Greenmarket benefits.

The Farm is famous for green and hard to find Asian vegetables including baby lettuces pea shoots, mustard greens, tatsoi, mizuna and some of my favorites too are love her Hawaiian sweet potatoes grown from seed here, and shisito peppers.

  

I went back to take Nevia’s picture and Debbie said I just missed her L  She was on her way to JFK. 

So here is Debbie!  She is there every day of the market along with Nevia.

The theme of this conference is indigenous food and what we can learn from them.

Both Bodhitree and Deep Mountain Maple will have the other delegates swooning. 

I feel like I’m rooting for the home team!

Deep Mountain Maple was hailed as home town heroes in their local news:

www.bartonchronicle.com/index.php/food-ventures

The biannual Slow Food conference is called Terra Madre held in Torino, Italy from October 21^st – October 25^th.

This is the Fourth conference.

Delegates attend events, sample indigenous food, cheese, bread, vegetables, they also attend workshops,  -- brings together small food producers, farmers chefs,

Carlo Petrini started the Slow Food movement as a resistance to a McDonalds going up in Rome and as a backlash to fast food and bad food and the erosion of convivial dining. He has celebrated the importance of real, wholesome food, saying that to regain sovereignty we must rebuild it through an alliance of fisherman, farmers, livestock breeders, chefs, and academics from around the world.

Petrini recently visited the Union Square Greenmarket – and American universities as president of the Slow Food Organization and to promote his new book that highlights the future of food and biodiversity.

The new book is a follow up to Slow Food Nation (2005).  “Terra Madre – Foraging a New Global Network of Sustainable Food Communities” is available now.

 No usually offers cooking demos for Greenmarket buyers to sample the delicious and sometimes new and curious vegetables.  She often does the cooking herself.  Sometime she features a guest cook.

I can’t wait to see what gastronomic surprises she will bring home with her, along with the great stories and learning.  

The Hardest Part About One’s Hard Drive

You never, ever think it will happen to you.  Ever.

Years of bliss.  All the travel and trips in tandem.  And late nights and too many all-nighters together. 

The infinite projects we coupled; witty emails and shared photos…

There was no warning.  No lover’s quarrel.  Not a hint that it would soon rip the heart out of my MacBook – and me with it…

Like a spouse who finds out too late about the cheating partner, I never saw it coming.

But it did happen.

I was blithely finishing up writing some gardening notes and had hit the “Send” button.  And while it was taking forever, I still didn’t suspect anything more than the usual silly and frustrating wireless internet connection problems we experience (sorry, Verizon), heightened only by the fact that we live in the lee of the mountain.

Then the screen was blinking a white ?

Hmmm, this is new, I thought. 

A big white question mark.

How telling. 

One’s life becomes one big “WTF” when the nether world “?” appears.  (You can’t help but think, am I in a Batman episode?)

I looked up the ? on my Google phone (sorry T-Mobile – you did know everyone would refer to the phone by its Google brand didn’t you…?)

After some Ring Around The Rosy search attempts with Apple, I got a link and phone number for Apple Tech support but it was “after hours” and was directed to call back. 

If one is calling directly for support, I am of the firm belief that it’s rather a critical plea for help and some immediate remedy would best serve the customer…

But don’t get me started on “Customer Service.” 

Is there not a more poignant oxymoron?  Oh wait, we can have fun with this too – e.g. “who put the moron in… “  Never mind, we’ll save that for another, less crisis-plagued episodic blog entry.  

Back to what was then a late night search to find out how to get back online.

Ha!  The riddles imbedded in the La Turandot opera were a snap compared to what I was in for…

But I was still thinking this was readily fixable – a hassle to be certain – but not life threatening.

The link did say to insert the original software disc back into the computer to restore everything. 

I keep all the tech stuff in a basket in the home office such as it is – and go through the basket’s contents once, twice, three times. (at what point does idiocy take precedence over desperation?)

No disc.

It must be at the apartment in Gotham.

At 4 am ish – I kinda call it a “night” and resolve that all will be resolved in the morning, or Apple’s morning – as I’m not paying for the ferry on a Thursday just to get the disc.

I get a great Apple Tech Service Support pro – Jason -- and he walks me through all the steps – several times as he can’t quite grasp why the Mac is not restarting and reloading.

I start my file on this.  Not unlike terminally ill patients who need to carry their files with them, I have learned to have all the instructions and names in one place for easy reference.  Sigh…

He finally capitulates and suggests I take it in to a local Apple store for diagnostics.

After giving him my zip code, he suggests a location in the Bronx or Staten Island ^:^ Not local…

I thank him and start my own search for Apple stores in the Garden State near me. 

Guess what?  Not all Apple stores are created equal. 

Some are not “allowed” to service Apple products… Really?  And that makes sense in what universe?

I finally identify an “approved” Apple store to service the MacBook. 

But it was the day of the new 4G I Phone launch – what are the chances?! (and I can’t win the lottery…) 

The on-site customer service woman tells me they can’t help me… Sheesh.

They are in line for entertainment. I tell her I have a book on the MacBook and NEED serious help.

I beg.  They relent. 

“OK. When you get here, come to the head of the line and tell them you have an appointment at the Genius Bar.”

Which I interpret as more code for I am totally stewed…

It’s also the beginning of the record-breaking heat wave in the east/Tri-State area. 

It’s like a bazzilion degrees and humid and with thunderstorms and hail predicted.

I am convinced it could truly be the end of life as we know it..

And yet, this was the least of my worries.

I am calm beyond belief.  Maybe I am catatonic – or in a nightmare from which I will surely awaken. 

Get me back to my life in the bubble!

Toting the MacBook and a golf umbrella (I’m prepared for sun or hail), I fight for a parking spot at the Freehold Mall.

That is, once I found the Mall – my GPS aka “Ellen” named for my British great grandmother - wouldn’t take a mall “address” -- smart Brit that she is.

So with a printed MapQuest and repeated calls to the store, I got there.

The queue for the phone was the same as all the images on the news – eager first adopters anxious, straining for the must have product. 

In my Sony days, we would have kissed each and every person on the red carpet. 

This day, they were just so much detritus…

The silly “security cop” thought he’d stop me. 

Please.

The store was jam-packed.  A celebrity premiere that I’m sure everyone there will be recounting to his or her friends and family and Facebook friends for ad nauseam…

I made my way back to the Genius Bar and was lucky to get served right away and by a real pro – compassionate too, far as I was concerned.

Rob the Genius ran the diagnostics and said I need to get to seven. 

Craps came to mind.  Baby, please, oh please roll a seven. 

We get to five.

The bar is not moving.  

I am praying. 

“Daddy needs a new pair of shoes.”  Need a seven.

I am afraid to watch. Afraid not to watch.

I find myself quietly telling Rob that I am writing a book and all of the book’s text and images are on the MacBook.

He is sympathetic but I can read his expression that seems to say, “If it was all so god awful important, why didn’t you back it up?”

I am ashamed and embarrassed. 

Without exchanging any words about this, I am already wearing the Scarlet Letter.

I feebly try to explain that I had been backing up till a month or so ago and then things got well, so busy and …

I start to shed more than a few quiet tears.

“Next to my father dying, this is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me” I hear myself saying…

Rob waits what must seem to him like an appropriate amount of grieving time (I wonder how often has he done this?) and then very politely tells me he has no problem running the diagnostics as long as I want to, but there is nothing more he can do.

Am I still dreaming I wonder…

No!

He suggests he put in a new hard drive, pack up the existing, two-timing disc and take the MacBook and the two hard drives to the Data Doctors.

What can I do? 

I have to go out of the store to get any reception (Steve Jobs, I feel your pain..) and talk to there.  After a few phone calls with me and Data Doctors and halted calls with Jim from  Data Doctors and Rob from Apple Genius Bar, I head out to what I consider the Emergency Room.

I have no idea where I am and where I’m going but follow the phone directions from the techies and after pulling over to use the Google phone GPS, I find I am, in fact, in front of the entrance to the strip mall where Data Doctors is located.

…Blessed day as I am just about out of battery on the phone and it is my only lifeline.

Upon arriving at Data Doctors, I am resolute.

No one but a technician in the store. 

I determinedly take my duct-taped plug for the Google phone (hey, duct tape got the astronauts back from space) and plugged it into an outlet on the far wall.

Immediately, the entire Data Doctors came to a halt.

I am not joking.  There was suddenly an eerie silence and darkness in the store.

Nothing.  Nada.

The technician there at the computer screen  (turns out is was Jim) asked, “What did you do?”

“Ummm. I tried to plug in my phone, “ I oblige.

“This can’t be happening” the bubble over my head is reading.  “This tech center is my lifeline and I just brought it to its knees”

What karma is this?

OK, Jim is so kind.  Not unlike the absent-minded professor, he puts his eyeglasses back on from where he’d pulled them off to rest on their chain around his neck in order better get a bead on me. 

After perusing me and determining I am not here for sabotage, he says he will be right with me once he gets everything back up and running…

We bonded.

I feel safe again. 

They will help me.  I must believe…

My husband calls for the first time since the early morning status and I tell him of the dire circumstances.  Even he can’t believe it.

I start to quietly cry again.

In the other world that is now my seeming reality, I hear Jim whispering into the Data Doctor phone, “Yes, she’s here. She’s over by the window on the phone. Crying.” 

Oh, he’s talking about me, I think.

“Gotta go, Bill. And oh, can you find me a place where to buy a new plug for the Google er T-Mobile phone.”

(I wasn’t going to mess with the tech or brand gods now. Call a spade a spade, I say.

T-Mobile knows I am a loyal-Capricorn customer for eons)

Taking the phone from Jim, this is my first encounter with the Blessed Mother or at the very least, an angel, aka Kelly – my customer service account contact.

And I mean this in the truest sense.

Not unlike a good old-fashioned hospital RN, she is authoritative and compassionate.

She could also be the soothing voice of HAL in “2001 Space Odyssey.”

I am hers.

She explains how Data Doctors is entrusted by the United States government, corporations and businesses around the world to recreate or capture data from corrupt or damaged hard drives.

She really did have me at hello.

Time is of the essence as I am on deadline for the Long Island Homegrown cookbook about the area’s master chefs and their inspired gardens, farms, and other local farm to table sources.

I had just completed all the first drafts of the Master Chefs and a number of the finished profile texts to send to my editor. Another angel, Kari..

As a writer, one does not have a formula.

There are those inspired moments that allow me to honor my chefs and write their profiles to capture the essence of their personality and culinary art. 

I can’t recreate the profiles despite being intimate with each and every word…

Kelly, my new best friend and Angel was now outlining and describing the sliding price scale for their miracle tech services.

My “can-do” no-holds barred spirit was kicking in to say, “Whatever it takes” when a higher power reined me in.

I heard Kelly say, “and overnight or within three days, the cost is anywhere from $5,500 to more than $9,000….” 

I don’t have that kind of money to make that kind of miracle happen so I was grateful I kept listening and didn’t shout out, “Overnight repair.”

I had to balance the need- the overwhelming need and desire --to get this horror over with and fixed so that I’d wake up from the nightmare with the available funds to make this right.

I opted for the two-week lowest cost option…

I am now assigned a case number.

A kidney scheduled for transplant surgery couldn’t have been more carefully prepared and wrapped.

We called Fed Ex – I splurged on the overnight delivery costs to get it to the Data Doctors center in Arizona.  I would’ve guessed the destination as Silicon Valley or Austin but Arizona it is…

All is complete.  I chat with Jim who in a twist of karma turns out to have been a chef in a number of New York City restaurants, including Bouley’s where I did volunteer kitchen prep after the attacks… 

When I tell him what the book – the book that is lying comatose on the hard drive that is packed up for its emergency rush to the Doctors – he is even more sympathetic and we bond over restaurant kitchens and food stories.

That has to be good luck, right?  How many chefs end up at Data Doctors?  Maybe he is a geekie angel too who traded in his toque for tech…

Armed with the FedEx tracking number, I promise to phone him tomorrow to make certain the drive was picked up.  Kelly will call when it arrives there in the Grand Canyon state.

All were asked to pray.  I did share my predicament and Scarlet Letter on Facebook and felt a teeny bit better that it has happened to others. 

I implored my tech, consumer electronics Friends in the industry -- Why can’t they invent or develop an early-warning signal like a gas gauge that tells you when you are getting low on fuel. 

There must be early degradations that could trigger a sign on the computer. 

Just think of the business opportunities, not to mention preventing the heartbreak – or suicide ^:^ of creators everywhere.

Think about it, engineers.  There must be an App for That!

My Facebook Friends also recommended the automatic back up – with automatic being the magical, operative element. Paraphrasing Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor’s adage (Duchess to Duchess: how’s that for a link to karma?!), my sister admonished that “you can never be too rich or too thin or back up enough.” 

Words to live by.

So Friday, June 25^th was Day One of the vigil: The prayers, the waiting for the updates from Data Doctors’ Kelly.

At the same time, I had to focus on moving forward – to complete the chef profiles from the outline texts I did still have. And think about recreating all dozen of the new ones for the Long Island book…

Essentially, the method I have found that works best for me in writing the profiles is to either do the interview in-person or over the phone. Either way, I record the interview.

I explain to the chefs that my handwriting is so bad that I need the back up of the recording and also, there is a lot of nuance in conversation that comes through better “live.” 

That is Step 1.

I then write up the profile from my notes as Step 2. 

Fill in or add from the recording as Step 3.

I put the profile into chronological order and an understandable narrative. 

I have learned more often than not, the chefs’ stories are unknown to them, or they jump around in telling of their training, their leadership and the expression of their art. 

It undoubtedly makes for a fascinating discovery and I have learned so very much from them about the early days of the locavore movement and their role in doggedly bringing fresh homegrown food to their customers and to their part of the world; impacting the world of restaurants irrevocably – and for the good of all of us. 

In terms of taste – and better health.

Finally, I write the profile.

I write what I hope is a profile that honors the incredible work of the chefs and their inspired gardens and/or farmers and fishermen and dairymen, vintners, and artisanal food makers.

And I write a profile that I hope will compel the reader to turn the page to find out more – to learn about the chef and what made him or her fight so hard to get fresh-picked, local food to the plate vs. picking up the phone and ordering common, and rather tasteless ingredients when that was – and is in many, if not most cases, the norm. 

They are all master chefs and fascinating culinary artists.

And interesting personalities who have overcome a lot of hurdles to follow their dreams. 

Curiously, and somewhat surprising to me initially, all find time to give back – to volunteer for some charity or cause that celebrates teaching children to garden and cook, to fight childhood obesity or preserve the environment, work to improve business development for the towns, their farmers and their way of life by organizing Farmers Markets, cooking classes, tourism. 

I was gobsmacked by their vision and for eking out the time to impact their slice of the world and changing us all in the meantime.

Each profile is utterly unique and writing it is akin to what I imagine giving birth must be like…

Losing those profiles is not an option. 

And we are on deadline.

I let my editor Kari know of the situation.  She is wonderful and understanding and encouraging.  Just what I needed. She lays out the schedule for me with drop-dead dates. 

The first Angel Kelly report was encouraging. 

In her smooth as silk voice, she reassuringly walked me through the process. 

I get like every third word and honestly, the only thing that registers every call is the “So, it’s looking good.” 

However, there are lots of steps: reviewing the hard drive, finding a hairline crack in it, sending out for materials to fix it, rebuilding the data…

Like Gunga Din, I end each update call with a litany of prostrating “thank you’s” to her and a special appeal to “please thank the team.” I want them to know how very grateful I am and how much my life is in their hands…

I am haunted by that big blinking ?

I will keep you updated on our progress.  Please say a prayer for the book and the hard drive?

Thank you.

Catching up with the book

Today is my first posting about writing my first book.  

I had every intention of doing this much earlier - years ago, in fact.  

Maybe because we just came home from seeing "Julie & Julia" at the cinema or maybe I seemingly have more time now (more about that later), but I was determined to launch writing about the book today.

The soon (too soon?!) to be published book started as a concept in early 2002.  At that time, I was most interested in how the garden inspires artists -- all artists: musicians, painters,  fashion designers, cinematographers, writers, photographers and .... But most significantly, culinary artists, because they so obviously utilize the bounty of the garden to create their own art.  

So I thought a book franchise might start there --exploring the art of the garden from the perspective of how provocative and compelling a garden is to the creativity of  artistic endeavor.  

And it was!  I was over the moon when I was able to secure a publishing contract at that time for the book, "Celebrity Chefs & Their Gardens."  But then, all too soon, that publisher said there were too many garden books on the market and we needed to wait.  

For me?  Other opportunities arrived and I put the book concept on the shelf, so to speak. 

 

I had a new publisher interested in 2007 and we worked through the concept throughout 2008.  

At the same time, the world of gardening changed. A lot. Increasingly, gardeners were focusing more on growing their own food.  More and more, community gardens were turning from ornamental plants to vegetables and fruits.  Food scares and concerns about the safety of our food were news headlines!  Michael Pollan and Alice Waters were becoming icons for what seemed to be a growing (sorry) movement..

So I could feel the book subtly migrate to explore and learn about the unique chefs that celebrated not just the art of the garden but the integrity and tradition and purity of the garden and what that meant to our culture.  

I set out to identify those "celebrity chefs" who I now prefer to refer to as master chefs or noble chefs, who are leaders in marrying culinary art with garden art in an almost truer sense.  They grow their own food for the restaurant, their gardens do indeed inspire their work in the kitchen, and/or they elevate their local farmers and growers as partners in their pursuit of truly fine dining.  Menus imbued with seasonal, fresh local food. Not imported. Not exotic in the old way.  

I hoped these chefs, these culinary artists, could illuminate how they heroically changed the way we think about dining, about food, about nutrition.  They helped lead a revolution - a movement.  It soon became about lifestyle and politics too.

The book contract was finalized around Christmas 2008. I was so honored and so excited.  The book is to be published for spring 2010.

This will be the story of how that book came about, my overture to the chefs, my interview adventures (and there have been some epic tales!) and securing the perfect lineup of celebrity, er, noble chefs. And  finding the most wonderful photographer, food stylist and of course, working with a fantastic and supportive editor.  

Whenever I tell my friends and family about the chefs and their philosophy, not to mention the struggles and "triumphs" to coordinate all the elements of the book, they love it. I hope you do too. It is so exciting to learn from these culinary leaders.  

This first book focuses on chefs from New York City, the Hamptons and the Garden State.  I will share the list of chefs later...  

(Tell me who you would nominate to include in the book?)

I hope you will enjoy this story....