Upcoming Chicago Minds Fundraising Meeting Dates and Places Information Sessions reposted by Ruth Pagey

The University of Chicago’s Chicago Minds Fundraising Campaign  Information Sessions Dates and Places Calendar follows:

https://mail.google.com/mail/mu/mp/465/#cv/priority/%5Esmartlabel_personal/1a087fd29d80c514

Reposted by Ruth Paget

-author Eating Soup with Chopsticks, Marrying France, and Europe’s Lessons written during overseas duty in Germany + 5 other Kindle books

-developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games + 8 Classical Western Civilization War Games

-developer of food and beverage knowledge games

-creator of online exhibits about San Miguel Arcangel Mission, French baguette making, and the Carmel Valley History Center

-creator of French travel and culture games

-writer of 1900+ Central Coast California lifestyle blogs

-developer of 9 music theory games

Rural and Small Town Scholarships at UChicago reposted by Ruth Paget

The University of Chicago has already raised $100 million as part of a $300 million initiative to fund scholarships for students from rural and small town backgrounds at the university.

For more information about this initiative, I have posted a link below from the University of Chicago News:

https://news.uchicago.edu/story/uchicago-launches-300-million-initiative-students-rural-areas-and-small-towns?utm_medium=09.09email&utm_source=UChicagoNews&mkt_tok=MjUwLUNRSC05MzYAAAGkJj_QWudErBGI0ez0XfcyKtjjn5-cRuwGniJDOPQCu9AUIihVISKji8vpG0K9QN3Azo-tTDTJ4yBh8ubKuX98qKjIx6zpX2wKCPFOiR_DBJ4D4Ao

Reposted by Ruth Paget

Coq au Vin Made and Filmed by Florence Paget reposted by Ruth Paget

Coq au Vin Made and Filmed by Florence Paget reposted by Ruth Paget

My daughter Florence Paget made coq au vin, a French chicken stew made with wine, and filmed herself doing it in the following TikTok video:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTUU3FuYS/

Coq au vin is a nice dish that you can cook with drumsticks, thighs, and wings even.  

Bon appetite!

Reposted by Ruth Paget

-author Eating Soup with Chopsticks, Marrying France, and Europe’s Lessons written during overseas duty in Germany + 5 other Kindle books

-developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games + 8 Classical Western Civilization War Games

-developer of food and beverage knowledge games

-creator of online exhibits about San Miguel Arcangel Mission, French baguette making, and the Carmel Valley History Center

-creator of French travel and culture games

-writer of 1900+ Central Coast California lifestyle blogs

-family genealogist

-developer of 9 music theory games

Super Useful Lemons from Costco in Sand City (outside Monterey), California by Ruth Paget

Super Useful Lemons from Costco in Sand City (outside Monterey), California by Ruth Paget 

On my family’s recent outing for groceries, we bought a 3-pound bag of lemons for $5.99 (as of 9-5-2026) at the Costco in Sand City, California outside Monterey. 

Some quick and easy uses for lemons include squeezing it in or over the following items: 

-iced Darjeeling tea 

-Italian sparkling water

-lemonade

-fruit salad 

-poached or fried fish 

-rice pilaf

-deep-fried Monterey Bay calamari (squid) 

I also learned from my Greek-American roommate’s mom that you can add lemon to:

-homemade or canned chicken noodle soup - (if you are using canned chicken noodle soup, you might want to add crushed garlic and chopped parsley as well)

-roast chicken and potatoes along with garlic, olive oil, and oregano before roasting it

-purée of canned white cannellini beans with lemon juice, crushed garlic, salt, white pepper, and olive oil for a simple bean dip – (I also have done this with black beans and borlotti beans to make simple dips) 

My favorite lemon recipe to make with lemons is marinated lemon and garlic shrimp that I put on skewers and grill with oregano sprinkled on at the end with sea salt.  I made this all the time when I lived in polar vortex Germany during a swine flu epidemic and believe this dish saved my life. 

These are my favorite savory dishes to make with lemons. For sweet dishes, I like lemon meringue pie and lemon bar cookies. 

Happy Cooking! 

By Ruth Paget

-author Eating Soup with Chopsticks, Marrying France, and Europe's Lessons written during overseas duty in Germany + 5 other Kindle books

-developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games + 8 Classical Western Civilization War Games

-developer of food and beverage knowledge games

-creator of online exhibits about San Miguel Arcangel Mission, French baguette making, and the Carmel Valley History Center

-creator of French travel and culture games

-writer of 1900+ Central Coast California lifestyle blogs

-family genealogist

-developer of 9 music theory games

The New Vegetarian Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen is $4.99 on Kindle today reposted by Ruth Paget

I purchased The New Vegetarian Cookbook: 500+ Recipes for a Lifetime of Great Meals by America’s Test Kitchen today for $4.99 on Amazon Kindle today (9-8-2026).

I like just about anything America’s Test Kitchen produces.  I have posted a link to the 639-page book below:

https://www.amazon.com/New-Vegetarian-Recipes-Lifetime-Great-ebook/dp/B0DW97G1HX/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?crid=XELW1J9F5T1U&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.72SPIFeqjX_pHehz_PpfKSqcwnXjuK_p8ioNYtGcXnhlWcxSfZ6GhTt4jrRwnVpQRvifcTXUgA5wRhV346c2TL2g-jbAJ7aCMERGtIOgaRmsfkXxpaL2mkdME4R8LPWBhO_zpRdv9dcs4MyJ8tj6CRO260p4wcVOUJ5xRmd0t3pS9RgwciniRiYM7UoV3vyUa4kWPjKURhLsqQip9I1nNw.JI9qubLNRisBOfqh-_HyTtMEHAlj5P17HuWl51-_Lvk&dib_tag=se&keywords=complete+vegetarian+cookbook&qid=1788901908&sprefix=complete+vegetarian+%2Caps%2C237&sr=8-2

Amazon might be doing double points today as part of its rewards program.

Happy Cooking!

By Ruth Paget

-author Eating Soup with Chopsticks, Marrying France, and Europe’s Lessons written during overseas duty in Germany + 5 other Kindle books

-developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games + 8 Classical Western Civilization War Games

-developer of food and beverage knowledge games

-creator of online exhibits about San Miguel Arcangel Mission, French baguette making, and the Carmel Valley History Center

-creator of French travel and culture games

-writer of 1900+ Central Coast California lifestyle blogs

-family genealogist

-developer of 9 music theory games

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Watermelon Harvest is in at Trader Joe's in Marina, California by Ruth Paget

Watermelon Harvest is in at Trader Joe’s in Marina, California by Ruth Paget 

While out shopping with my family this weekend, I saw seedless watermelons advertised for $5.99 (price as of 9-5-2026) at Trader Joe’s in Marina, California by CSU-Monterey Bay. 

Seedless watermelons are perfect for a Greek salad I ate when I would go to Greek – American backyard parties with my college roommate from the University of Chicago. 

There are online recipes for the following salad, but many seem to use sweeter salad dressings than I recall for this salad. 

My very loose recipe for this harvest salad follows: 

-seedless watermelon cut into squares

-feta cheese cut into squares 

-peeled and sliced cucumbers 

-1/2 sliced red onion (It is tempting to use more red onion, but it can quickly overpower the flavor of a dish so taste as you add, if you add more.) 

-seeded black Kalamata olives 

-lemon and olive dressing with oregano 

This salad was chilled with the dressing tossed into it right before serving. We ate slices of Greek bread with the salad to soak up the dressing and watermelon juices. 

The Greek watermelon salad quickly transported me from Skokie, Illinois to Crete in Greece with a glass of bitter retsina wine or sweeter roditis wine when we were older. 

For watermelon memories in Monterey County California, Trader Joe’s in Marina has easy-to-work-with seedless watermelons on sale now. 

By Ruth Paget

-author Eating Soup with Chopsticks, Marrying France, and Europe's Lessons written during overseas duty in Germany + 5 other Kindle books

-developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games + 8 Classical Western Civilization War Games

-developer of food and beverage knowledge games

-creator of online exhibits about San Miguel Arcangel Mission, French baguette making, and the Carmel Valley History Center

-creator of French travel and culture games

-writer of 1900+ Central Coast California lifestyle blogs

-family genealogist

-developer of 9 music theory games

Post-Labor Day Shopping by Ruth Paget

Once Labor Day is over, take inventory of your bar and restock.

BevMo has locations in Salinas and Carmel ( California) with lots of parking.

I went to Tierra Liquor and Deli today (Labor Day) and saw they have a large selection of red wine for sale too. They are located at the crossroads of Corral de Tierra Road and Highway 69.

Fall is a great season for making Burgundy beef..  (October is called the slaughter month in many cultures for the killing of surplus number of farm animals before winter).  The recipe for Burgundy beef is pretty easy.  I have attached below my daughter Florence Paget’s video of how to make Burgundy beef:

https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2026/08/boeuf-bourguignon-video-filmed-by.html?m=1

The beauty of Burgundy beef is that you can make it with stewing beef that is less expensive to buy and still obtain tender beef at the end of cooking.  Our family uses pinot noir wine to make this dish.

There is also a Belgian French dish called carbonnade that is beef braised in dark beer that is often made in fall.  

Jacques Pepin has a recipe for carbonnade in Food and Wine on the link below:

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/carbonnade-la-flamande-flemish-beef-stew

Another French recipe that features wine as a stewing liquid is coq au vin.  My daughter Florence Paget made coq au vin and filmed herself cooking in the following video:

https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2026/09/coq-au-vin-made-and-filmed-by-florence.html?m=1

Clearing out the bottles of summer party wine clears the way for the Beaujolais Nouveau.

Happy Cooking!

By Ruth Paget

-author Eating Soup with Chopsticks, Marrying France, and Europe’s Lessons written during overseas duty in Germany + 5 other Kindle books

-developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games + 8 Classical Western Civilization War Games

-developer of food and beverage knowledge games

-creator of online exhibits about San Miguel Arcangel Mission, French baguette making, and the Carmel Valley History Center

-creator of French travel and culture games

-writer of 1000+ Central Coast California lifestyle blogs

-family genealogist

-developer of 9 music theory games

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