Seattle Bon Vivant

One Last Thing...

So I am not really in the mood to celebrate. Not tonight anyway. While last year there were plenty of friends and neighbors, caviar, fresh blinis and champagne--while watching the Space Needle fireworks from our building's terrace--tonight it has been, so far, about being home, watching a marathon of Law & Order, later on a couple movies, thankful my flu is gone and that we have shelter and food and fresh water to drink.

But I was hungry and it was time for dinner so I ordered sushi from downstairs. A Rainbow Roll and a Tuna, Cucumber and Avocado Roll. I had stopped earlier today at Larry's Market to pick up some cheese and foie gras mousse, a slice of Brillat Savarin with Truffle, some crackers and a bottle of bubbly. Mind you, not a fancy bubbly, just a little Cremant D'Alsace.

The point is that for me tonight saying good bye to 2004 is really about quiet meditation, counting my blessings once more,  reflecting on a superb year of good things, happy moments, friends, too many holidays--both domestic and abroad-- and the birth of this little soapbox that I've called Seattle Bon Vivant. 

To the ever expanding blogosphere family my fondest regards. I've learned so much from you all this year. Thank you for the camaraderie and for the friendship.

And to you readers, a big thank you. For your support and readership. For your comments and feedback. For the laughs and emails.

I've always been one to count my blessings. Life has been very generous and good to me. I've always considered myself a happy camper but this year in particular this has been more true than ever before.

This little blog is part of that. Of another happy year of life and love and friends and new friends and neighbors, and of living in this blessed city that I am proud and lucky enough to call home. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. See you next year!

As The Year Comes To A Close, Something To Think About

A New York Times editorial: Are We Stingy? Yes

And from Op-Ed Columnist Bob Herbert Our Planet, and Our Duty

A Few End Of The Year Food & Wine Links

From Seattle Times...

Tasty things come in small packages -- and settings

Top 10 recipe picks of 2004

It's time to get rid of old spices

Tips on substituting baking pans, pie plates

Memories runneth over: recalling wine trends of 2004

South Asia Earthquake And Tsunami Relief

Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Indonesia, East Africa, the Seychelles and Maldives. The devastation is widespread, the numbers are staggering and baffling, the suffering and loss unprecedented. According to Reuters the death toll in the tsunami disaster is approaching 154,848.

Yes, countries all over the globe are already helping and have pledged over 220 million in help but let's face it, even that is not enough as this help will only make a dent in the needs of the millions of victims. We have to get involved and help bankroll the long-term rebuilding.

Up to five million people in the region lack access to the basic supplies they need to stay alive. Money donations are key. Millions more will certainly be needed to rebuild entire village's infrastructure systems, shelter and livelihoods throughout the countries hit.

Only yesterday did our own government acknowledged the events in South Asia and has pledged a few millions in assistance. So, it is incumbent on us all to help our friends in South Asia in any way we can. They had so little to begin with and now they are more vulnerable than ever before.

Food drops have began along the coast, mostly of instant noodles, cookies and medicines, with some areas "hard to reach because they are surrounded by cliffs". Clean and basic sanitation, airlifts of rice and water purifiers, much needed food and medical supplies are the most important items needed at this juncture. 

And even though the response from countries around the world has been extraordinarily generous that is only a very good starting effort. Please donate whatever you can now, when it is most needed.

Skip your lattes, take brown bag lunches to work and eat less restaurant meals. Donate what you save by doing this. Think of ways you can downsize your weekend celebrations. Whatever you save in your menu budget send it in. Skip the full priced shows ans go to a matinée.

Buy one less bottle of champagne or spend half of what you would normally invest in a bubbly or party wine. Run a bake sale. Take your loose change to CoinStar and send in those dollars. Every nickel counts. List a few things on ebay and donate the proceeds through Save The Children, Global Impact or Unicef.. Every little bit helps.

If you are unsure about how to go about making a donation or which charity to send your money to please visit Charity Navigator.Org. It displays the financial profiles and history of the many charities, ranking and grading these organizations. You can even see pie charts of how each dollar is spent by them.

I found Amazon's Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund very easy to use to send in my donation. If you already are a customer of Amazon, all you have to do is go to amazon.com's home page, click on the Red Cross link, type in a number you are comfortable with, confirm your Amazon email and password and press enter. It took me less than a minute to go through the process and I got an instant confirmation of my payment. Easy peasy. So far, they've collected $14,439,653.19 in donations.

And finally, speaking in practical terms, a year-end gift to organizations such as Mercy Corps, Care, Unicef, Doctors Without Borders and the American Red Cross Disaster Relief can help them continue to provide assistance to our brothers and sisters in South Asia and at the same time provide you with a valuable tax savings.

If you have a blog, please link to any of your favorite organizations and fellow bloggers through buttons or posts or both. The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog is a great blogosphere resource of all things related to this disaster. Spread the word and keep the message alive. We all need to help. We all must help.

Big Fish, Small Fish

The list of California wineries owned by larger, and often foreign, companies is long."

A very interesting article on small, independent winery acquisitions by the big guys of New York, Napa and Europe in yesterday's New York Times: Small Wineries Being Acquired by Big Names

Chocolate, Roses and Champagne

In today's New York Times Dining & Wine section there are two noteworthy articles. One is a fabulous recipe by Chef Pichet Ong that incorporates three of my favorite things, choclate, roses and condensed milk to create a Chocolate Ganache With Rose Cream and Rose Granité. This is a three part recipe that can be combined just as printed or uses individually. I can see many applications for the ganache, rose cream and rose granité.

There is also a great article (with an interactive companion feature) on very good bubblies in the $100-$200 range.

Goodbye Lenny Briscoe, Goodbye Lumiére

The ultimate New Yorker and a favorite of Mr. C and I, he will be terribly missed.

Susan Sontag

Susan Sontag 1933-2004

Pink Martini With The Seattle Symphony

Well, I know that at least Stef from Da*Xiang and I will be there. But in case you had not heard or have been procrastinating purchasing tickets, consider this a friendly reminder. Pink Martini will be performing at Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony on January 20th.

The concert is almost sold out and last I checked the available tickets were singles. So, buy that ticket ASAP or risk not getting in to one of the most enjoyable performances at Seattle's premier music venue.

And by the by, their long awaited second recording, Hang On Little Tomato is now in stores and it is absolutely delightful. One of the CD highlights (you can listen to the album on Pink Martini's site) for me is El Negro Zumbón, one of my favorite movie tunes of all time, the one sang by Silvana Mangano in Anna. If this tune does not get the crowd on its feet dancing I don't know what will.

Also by Pink Martini: Sympathique (1997)

On Wine: A Few Great Links

For obvious reasons, I've been missing out on a lot of great wine information for the last couple of weeks. A little digging on past issues of the Seattle Times rendered some great articles on wine, pairings and general wine shopping information that should come in handy for the weekend. and if you have not read these either, they'll be new to you too. :-)

An Acquired Taste: When it comes to selecting a wine, the restaurant experts really are there to serve

Blushing No More: Finally, rosé is getting the good reputation it deserves

A Nibbler's Paradise: An assortment of wine and cheese makes easy party pickin's

Sweet on stickies: late-harvest and ice wines

Open Season: When the wine is ready to pour, pull out the quality hardware

Pinot noir primes palate for winter's heavier reds

Break out the holiday bubbly