The Food N00bs

We are stardust, we are golden...

Today the N00bs went to the Wordstock festival. As well as having lots of writer-geek fun and scoring both free and cheap books (three Palahniuk novels for a buck fifty each, and it benefited the Portland library!), we attended the "Art of Food Writing" panel, which featured Nicole Mones, Kathleen Flinn, and best of all, Michael Ruhlman. The panel was fun and informative, and afterward, we were fortunate enough to get books signed by Michael (Elements of Cooking in Kal's case, Reach of a Chef in Sorcha's) and have a moment to chat. Despite dealing with a brutal travel schedule, Michael was just as friendly and personable as his writing makes him seem, and his passion for his subject is just as infectious on a stage as it is on the page.  Food chat and cheap books -- it's been a good day for the N00bs.
 

Birthday Wishes...

...to my fellow N00b and dear friend, the person who got me started on this crazy, delicious love affair with food.

Kal, I'm lucky to have you as my friend, my partner in crime, and my co-conspirator. I hope the day brings you all the good things you deserve and then some. Happy birthday and may you have many, many more.

Love,
Sorcha

An Update on Grant Achatz

MIchael Ruhlman reports in his blog that Grant Achatz is doing well and his treatment is going better than expected. The Food N00bs are still praying/sending healing energy for Grant, and it's wonderful to hear that he's doing so well. Thanks so much for letting us all know, Michael!

A Blessed Bourdain Event, Redux

This just in! Food N00bs sources report that Anthony Bourdain and Ottavia Busia, aka "the Italian girlfriend," were married on April 20. The same source has revealed the name of their daughter: Ariane.

Who are these mysterious "sources", you ask? Well, let's just say that the N00bs know some people and...*sigh* Okay, you got us. Sorcha has a subscription to Entertainment Weekly and it was in their "events" column. We're N00bs, after all - you were expecting maybe some kind of culinary Deep Throat?

Don't answer that.

A Blessed Bourdain Event

A brief post from Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel No Reservations forum:

Born 04/09/07. 7.9 lbs. And beautiful.

Thanks for the well wishes.

Welcome to the world, baby Bourdain!

RIP, Kurt Vonnegut

by Sorcha

"Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — 'God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.' "

We used that on the front of Littlest's birth announcement. Okay, we left out the "God damn it" after much deliberation, because grandmothers don't always handle shit like that well, and mine were both Southern Baptists, so, yeah.

The world has lost a great mind and a beautiful soul. I can only hope that somewhere in the afterlife, he's kicking Johnny Hart's ass right now. (Johnny Hart was the bizarre mind behind the "B.C." comic strip. Dude, Christian cavemen. What the fuck? I am Christian and that shit don't make any kind of sense to me.)