College Photos

Taya in Slichter hall 1964 Madison, Wisconsin, probably taken by roommate Sue Arps- note  '60s mobile in left upper corner

Since my fellow blogger Jeanette Baird is featuring vintage college photos Here, I will match her with one of me studying for exams Freshman year at UW Madison, with beloved stuffed dog Igor on left side of the pillow. Igor unzipped on his underside so I could pack things for overnights when I was little. I guess I couldn't leave him behind when I went to college. Where and when did he disappear and when did I change from this sweet young girl into a grumpy grownup?

Off to Japan

Wisteria blooming now, just in time for our visit to Japan

Wisteria or "fuji" in Nara, an ancient Japanese capital one hour south of Kyoto. We will be traveling here next week with day packs only since some of the Ryokan are too small to accommodate suitcases for the 13 guests on our tour. We'll have our suitcases for 9 of the 14 nights of our trip. Another adventure...

Our Itinerary

             Thanks Cousin Sukey for generous sharing of your extensive knowledge of Japan!

Bette's Harira

I was astonished to read that Bette Kroening, owner of the beloved Bette's Oceanview Diner in Berkeley, had died in February. She was only 71. I got to know Bette when I worked at Sur La Table on Fourth Street, across the street from her diner and Bette's To Go. I was a good customer and we would chat there and at Sur La table when she came in for supplies. We were the same age and had followed similar paths into the California food scene. We both arrived in Berkeley in 1971. She first worked in social services in Contra Costa County, while I found a job in rare books at John Howell-Books in San Francisco. She opened Bette's Oceanview Diner in 1982 while I had opened Cookbook Corner in '77. I started frequenting Fourth street when Mark Miller, an avid cookbook collector, restaurateur and anthropologist, opened Fourth Street Grill, the first business on the now thriving street. Bette was working there as the lunchtime kitchen manager. We didn't meet until 1996 when I helped open Sur La Table on Fourth Street and Bette's Oceanview Diner was a breakfast destination and her take out lunch spot was famous for pizza by the slice, sandwiches, soups, salads and pastries.  Bette and her husband Manford were frequently manning the cafe, so when I wanted the recipe for harira, her version of the the  extraordinary Moroccan soup I ordered one April day in January 2001, she promptly xeroxed it for me. I left Sur La Table years ago so I saw Bette less frequently, but  I miss her nonetheless. I can't believe that she won't be welcoming me with a smile and a bowl of her delicious soup when I walk down Fourth Street.


                     Here's the recipe that Bette copied for me in April 2001. It seems like yesterday.

And here is my offering to Bette. I make this soup a lot and I think of her every time I get out the recipe.

Harira from the recipe above

A Young Reader at the Berkeley Bowl

Young reader in her bike trailer turns a page in We Are Monsters by Mary Packard

       A Little girl enjoys her book in the Berkeley Bowl Parking Lot 
     while Mom loads her groceries onto her bike

Vintage Jeans Repair

A pair of my old (vintage) jeans had been relegated to the back of the closet for possibly fifteen years, too damaged to wear but too loved to throw out. On a recent review I realized that they were super stylish distressed denim jeans and they still fit; even better they rested mid-waist, the low-rise style having come and gone. The only problem with putting them back in the rotation was that the rips widened every time I put them on. Somehow I just  couldn't avoid poking a foot through the knees and enlarging the holes. I desperately wanted to wear these jeans but they needed to be repaired and I knew I couldn't do it.

Then two things happened: I discovered Boro, the age old Japanese art of mending textiles, and I found out that my sister Lucia was coming for a visit from New York. My sister is an excellent and enthusiastic seamstress so I warned her that I had a sewing project lined up for her visit

Jeans mended in the Japanese boro tradition

I found a DIY site with clear instructions for  Japanese boro denim repair, I sent her the link  Boro Here and she agreed to give the new technique a try. This would entail sewing fabric beneath the holes and stitching around the repaired areas with sashiko thread which I bought for the project.

stitching the jeans with sashiko thread

But in the meantime I found a picture of the jeans below and I thought patches would better reinforce my fragile pair and they would be easier and faster to make. We only had four days and this was supposed to be a vacation not a sweat shop.

I love these jeans

In preparation, I traipsed to three fabric stores in Berkeley and at Stonemountain and Daughter Fashion and Quilting shop I fell in love with a bundled set of three cotton remnants. I bought the pieces, hoping that we could use them for the patches. Then I waited for Lucia's arrival.


The morning she arrived we dug out Dean's old sewing machine, I baked a batch of my favorite peanut butter cookies to encourage her and she set to work. Here's the recipe

Energized by the cookies she tackled the hole below the back pocket which I hadn't even noticed. She finished in a flash. What a pro! I loved the result.

Next she fashioned the patches for the front of the jeans and pinned them on. We consulted about size and placement and after some adjustments she sewed  them on. For the final touch she ironed on denim patches inside the legs, cut the threads and removed the pins. My jeans were beautifully restored!

The finished product

Here I am wearing my new patched jeans on a rainy Sunday afternoon with Allie streaking by

      Thanks sissy Lucia for a great job well done. You were a good sport and fine companion

Feel My Birthday Card

Jenny's Chicks on Kauai

We met Jenny working at Limahuli Garden in Kauai in 2013. She had rescued and befriended a mother hen and her three young chicks. She named them Rocky, Mabel, Snowflake and George, the only male. She would call them and when they came running she'd  feed them and talk to them while they perched on her hands and arms. We enjoyed the spectacle.

When we returned the next year the three chicks had grown magnificently, but they still hung together as a family and they were still bonded to Jenny and would usually come when she called. She was amazed that we remembered her chickens and knew three out of the four names. We took pictures and movies of her with her brood, and as we left we promised to send them to her. Time passed, Hawaii faded and we neglected our promise.
Now another year has passed and I finally figured out that the best way for her to view our pictures and movies would be in a blog.

 So here it is, Jenny. Don't forget to click on the videos if you want to see Rocky, Mabel, George and Snowflake in action.

Jenny feeding George

                             Above we spotted two of Jenny's chickens gathering in Limihuli garden

           Three in the foreground and one in the distance, and here they come in the next video...
            We had not seen them in a year, which explains our exclamations about their size.

                                           

                                         Click to see  Jenny playing with all four chickens