Wizard of Oz readers and film lovers will love romping around here as they look for the Wizard in this Emerald Valley Playscape in Carmel Valley Park in California. (The outdoor pool is next door for summer swimming and poolside burgers and hot dogs.)
Text and photos by Ruth Paget
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Toadstool mushroom story time and puppetry area.
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Wizard’s Tower |
Salvadoran yuca chips, chicharron, and papusas are part of my review of Migueleno in Seaside, California. Thank you Monterey County Weekly for bringing this out of archives:
Salvadoran Cuisine at Migueleno Review by Ruth Paget
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
The Ferrari Challenges is being held September 10 - 14, 2025 at Laguna Seca in Salinas, California. I have reposted their website below for tickets and information:
Ferrari Challenge in Salinas, California September 10 - 14, 2025
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
The Ballet Folklorico of Mexico is coming to El Teatro Campesino in San Juan Bautista, California in September 2025.
For tickets and information about the Ballet Folklorico and other events at El Teatro Campesino, I have linked to their website below:
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
De.Tierra Winery in Salinas, California sells excellent Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wine. These are the two wine grape varietals that also grow in France’s Burgundy region.
We order about two cases per year for delivery to have them on hand for coq au vin, poulet a la moutarde,, and steamed Alaska king crab throughout the year.
They have a tasting room in Carmel for people who would like to sample their wines.
My daughter Florence Paget and I recently snuck a peek at the secluded winery and vineyards in the Corral de Tierra Valley outside town.
De Tierra Winery sits on a hillside off Corral de Tierra Road outside Salinas, California. California magnolias bloom in the foreground. Palm trees of varying sizes line the road up to the winery. Text and photo by Ruth Paget.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
The University of Chicago Press free e-book for September 2025 is The Political Orchestra about the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics under The Third Reich. Details follow:
The Political Orchestra published by the University of Chicago Press
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Learn to toss horseshoes, dance to Hoedown music, enjoy BBQ, and show off bling at Hidden Hills Ranch’s Hoedown fundraiser on 10-4-2025 in Carmel Valley, California.
Find out about Hidden Hills Ranch’s work to be a model ranch for ponies and miniature horses.
I linked to their website below for ticket information and details:
Hidden Hills Ranch Hoedown Fundraiser
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
The Wagon Wheel Restaurant in Carmel Valley, California still provides hearty Western fare all year round. Thank you Monterey County Weekly for pulling up this review I did out of archives.
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
The Monterey County Youth Museum in Monterey, California is the place where children play to learn. They also rent a mobile museum called the Wheelie Mobilee for birthdays and events.
I posted a link to their website below for exhibit and ticket information:
Monterey County Youth Museum Ticket and Exhibit Information
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Watch the website below for the 2026 Sheep Shearing Shindig in San Luis Obispo, California. The event usually takes place in May after the sheep have grown a thick coat from winter.
The event has hayrides, food, music, and vendors. Click below for information for this event that unites Scottish and Spanish culture:
Sheep Shearing Shindig 2026 in San Luis Obispo, California
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Fusion Seafood Feast at Lure Fish House in San Luis Obispo, California by Ruth Paget
I enjoyed the fried calamari and linguini with clams meal that I ate on a prior visit to Lure Fish House in San Luis Obispo, California so much that my husband Laurent, daughter Florence Paget, and I planned another visit to SLO for another meal at Lure.
The meal I ordered on my recent visit was a great California fusion feast. I started with mussels Basquaise from Spain’s northwestern Basque Country. (The Basque Country extends into Southwestern France as well.) The classic recipe has cooks sauté small chunks of Spanish chorizo sausage with garlic and tomatoes with white wine and parsley added to steam open the mussels. (The Portuguese also prepare shellfish with chorizo sausage.)
Lure Fish House makes this dish a fusion by not adding tomatoes to the sauté and steaming sauce. Instead, Lure replaces the tomatoes with romesco sauce from the other end of the Pyrénées Mountains in Spain’s Catalan region.
Romesco sauce is a purée of sautéed and roasted red peppers, tomatoes, almonds, garlic, and parsley. This is a very upscale steaming sauce and utterly delicious.
I used the garlic toast that came with the dish to soak up the romesco sauce along with bread. Next time I order mussels Basquaise, I might also order a side of rice to add into the leftover sauce, so I can get every last drop eaten.
My main dish was tequila lime shrimp pasta (made with house-made linguini). This dish is like Italian scampi but is made with tequila and lime instead of white wine and lemon. When you cook this dish, you sauté garlic and tomatoes in butter and oil. Then, you add in shrimp till cooked and add in tequila to flavor the sauce and shrimp. The cooked pasta is then added into the cooked sauce and shrimp and tossed before serving. Lime juice is squeezed over the pasta at the table.
I now equally love Italian-American shrimp scampi and tequila lime shrimp pasta. The combination of cooked garlic (which becomes sweet when cooked), citrus juice, and parsley just tastes great with shrimp. The alcohol makes the sauce succulent and makes every morsel delicious.
Seafood lovers willing to experiment with fusion dishes will find much to enjoy at Lure Fish House in San Luis Obispo, California including the city’s sunny, warm weather.
(Note: Lure Fish House has two parking lots located down the street from the entrance. They fill quickly, but there is street parking within walking distance, too.)
(Note: We stayed at the Towne Place Suites by Marriott this trip. The suite we stayed in had a full kitchen, living room, and separate bedroom with the option of reserving an adjoining room. The air conditioning worked with no problem. I like the shower products the hotel offers – Alice and Co Botanicals. Those products make me feel like I have done a spa day when I shower after dinner and sit in the AC room. There is a pool and complimentary breakfast. Marriott also has a good loyalty program that new visitors might be interested in.)
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Chicago Meal at Pub’s (Growers Pub) in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget
One of my favorite Italian restaurants in Chicago, Illinois was Danilo’s. I thought of Danilo’s on a recent dinner outing to Pub’s in Salinas, California.
I started my meal at Pub’s with fried coconut shrimp, which are not Italian, but available in almost all bar-restaurants in Chicago. There is a strong influence in Chicago from now-closed Trader Vic’s with its Polynesian-inspired food and décor that looked like a set from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
The décor was kitschy, but the sweet, fried coconut shrimp paired well with exotic daiquiri and piña colada cocktails. When Trader Vic’s closed, a large number of Tiki bars with similar food, drink, and décor opened and remain in operation today. Other bar-restaurants added the fried coconut shrimp appetizer to their menu.
Tropical coconut tastes great in Chicago winters and hot Salinas summers. Seafood was expensive when I lived in Chicago in the 1980s, but I could afford coconut shrimp and was happy to have some iodine-rich shrimp when I ate them.
The coconut shrimp at Pub’s tasted great. You get five large ones in your order, which is the right size for a once in awhile treat. What I really wanted to try at Pub’s this visit was the chicken a la Marsala, which I ate a lot of in Italian restaurants in inland Chicago.
I love mushrooms, but I was really in for a treat at Pub’s. The mushrooms they served in the Marsala sauce were wild and indigenous ones from Sicily – Caesar mushrooms draped over the chicken breast and fresh, sautéed procini mushrooms that were arranged around the moist and tender chicken breast.
Chicken marsala is sautéed chicken that you serve in an equally sautéed mushroom sauce that is usually flamed with Marsala dessert wine from Sicily.
Marsala is a fortified wine, which means it is a sweet white wine that is blended with brandy and aged in barrels in what is called a solera system.
There are usually 5 levels of barrels stacked on top of each other on different shelves in a solera system. The barrel with new wine is place on top of the shelves and eventually will be totally emptied into the barrel beneath it on the fourth level.
The Marsala wine you buy comes from the barrel on the bottom of the stack. The wine from the barrel above the bottom barrel on the second level is used to top off the wine in the bottom that is removed.
The wine from the barrel on the third shelf tops off the wine that was removed from the second barrel. The wine from the barrel on the fourth shelf tops off the wine on the third shelf. The wine in the barrel on the fourth level is topped off with wine from the barrel on the fifth shelf containing the new wine.
Basically, you remove wine to be sold from the bottom barrel and replace wine taken out from a barrel with that above it. When the new wine in the fifth barrel is gone, it is replaced with more new wine.
Spanish sherry and Portuguese porto are also made using a solera system. The solera system allows wine makers to bolster up weak wine years with wine from better years to maintain dependable flavor and quality.
I have digressed, but if you know how Marsala is made you can understand why it also has a price comparable to steak. The primo mushrooms also make this a premium menu dish in a steak house.
I thoroughly enjoyed my Chicago meal at Pub’s in Salinas, California and highly recommend it.
Note: Total Wine in Sand City, California carries several brands of Marsala, Sherry, and Porto, if you would like to try something like Marsala chicken at home with button mushrooms.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Artist Jennifer Colby specializes in social justice and environmental themes. She has a gallery again in San Juan Bautista, California.
Check out her engaging art at her Eco Art Studio and Gallery, visit the Mission, and enjoy lunch in sunny San Juan, Bautista.
Dr. Colby’s biography follows:
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Erin Gafill’s artwork records the pristine beauty of the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary from Nepenthe and other vantage points of interest around Monterey Bay.
For a glimpse of her work, click below:
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Raw oyster lovers take note!! Esteban Restaurant in Monterey, California is shucking oysters on Sundays. They have the perfect wine to go with them, too.
Raw Oysters at Esteban on Sundays
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Live Spanish Guitar Music on Thursdays at Esteban Restaurant in Monterey, California. The restaurant serves tapas on the patio and full-course meals inside.
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
For a listing of current cultural anthropology books from the University of Chicago, click below:
UChicago Press Cultural Anthropology Books
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Pebble Beach has a handy calendar of golf events and special programs online. I have provided a link to the website below:
Pebble Beach Golf and Special Events Calendar
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Healing Power of Coconut Reviewed by Ruth Paget
I decided to read Healing Power of Coconut by Jacqueline B. Marcus, because I can easily obtain coconuts and coconut products where I live in Salinas, California. (Lucky Supermarket and Weee Asian Grocery Delivery both carry these items.)
Healing Power of Coconut is a go-to reference for everything coconut that includes healthy recipes, nutrition information, making beauty products with coconut, and making homeopathic cures for mild and temporary illnesses with coconut.
I still view coconut primarily as food and liked the nutrition discussion in the book. According to Marcus, one medium coconut contains:
-0 cholesterol
-36 grams dietary fiber
-13 grams protein
It also has as part of a minimum daily calorie intake:
-5% calcium
-21% Vitamin C
-53% iron
-10% Vitamin B-6
-31% magnesium
Magnesium has several roles in the body including muscle and nerve function, bone health for density and absorption of calcium, DNA and protein synthesis, and the prevention of anxiety.
Vitamin B-6 is very important as well and supports nerve function, immune system function, red blood cell formation, and brain development.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps remove free radicals from the body that may cause cancer from the body. Iron helps transport oxygen in blood through the body. Calcium helps build strong bones.
There are more nutrients than you would think in this tasty fruit, seed, and nut that originated in Southeast Asia and now grows along tropical seashores according to Marcus.
I ate most coconut in banana bread growing up along with raisins and chocolate chips. There is a recipe for this banana bread in the Healing Power of Coconut. It tastes great with a mug of espresso or Darjeeling tea.
That recipe and the recipes for pumpkin curry and Caribbean callaloo soup are my favorites in the book.
Caribbean callaloo soup is made with coconut oil, onion, garlic, bone chicken breasts, butternut squash, chicken broth, jalapeño peppers, thyme, fresh spinach, and coconut flakes. This soup can be easily made in Salinas and enjoyed with reggae music playing.
The pumpkin curry is also doable in Salinas, California. The pumpkin curry is made with coconut oil, extra firm tofu, red curry paste, pumpkin purée, coconut milk, sriracha sauce, 4 cups cut-up seasonal vegetables, peas, rice, and Thai basil.
Healing Power of Coconut by Jacqueline B. Marcus is an informative and enjoyable book that cooks wanting to expand their product knowledge and skills might enjoy reading.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Watch the site below for information about the 2026 Monterey County Fair:
For information and tickets for the Monterey County Fair being held from 8-28-2025 to 9-1-2025 at the Monterey Fairgrounds click below:
Monterey County Fair Tickets and Information
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
For a link to the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, California click below for their website information on current exhibits and portfolio evaluation services:
Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, California
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with chopsticks and Marrying France
The sea otter tourism specialist in Monterey County California is Elkhorn Slough Safari located in Moss Landing off Highway 1 between Santa Cruz and Monterey. Click below for a link to their website:
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Calvados Mushroom Sauce Recipe Created by Ruth Paget
Note:
This is my go-to sauce when I lived in Paris, France in the early 1990s was a buttery, mushroom sauce that I made with Calvados, France’s famous apple brandy with the best ones coming from the Pays d’Auge, the A.O.C. region in Normandy.
This sauce is loosely based on the mushroom sauce for sole Dieppoise.. The ingredients for this sauce were sold by fishmongers in fall at the weekly covered market in the Centre Charras in Courbevoie, a Parisian suburb just across the bridge over the Seine by the La Défense skyscrapers.
I used this simple sauce on sautéed white fish, sautéed chicken breasts, fried pork chops, pasta, and mashed potatoes.
For 4 People
Ingredients:
-4 tablespoons butter with sea salt
-2 cups sliced mushrooms
-1 or 2 shots of Calvados
-1 cup heavy cream
-2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Steps:
1-Melt butter in a saut̩ pan. Add mushrooms to the pan and stir over medium-high heat until they render water (about 10 Р15 minutes).
2-Continue stirring until the water in the pan evaporates.
3-Add Calvados to the mushrooms and stir 4 to 5 minutes to burn off the alcohol, but leave the flavor.
4-Add cream to the mushroom mixture and stir till steam rises from the mushrooms. Serve as soon as possible over cooked fish, pork chops, chicken, pasta, or mashed potatoes with parsley sprinkled on top.
Note:
This recipe can be made with Sicilian Marsala as in chicken Marsala.
Other fortified wines like Marsala can be used including:
Muscat de Rivesaltes - France
Muscat de Samothrace - Greece
Oloroso sherry - Spain
Sweet porto - Portugal
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Medieval and Renaissance Studies journals from the University of Chicago Press. Click below for link:
Medieval and Renaissance Journals from the University of Chicago Press
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Fioli Gardens outside San Francisco has hiking and children’s activities. Click below for link to their website and ticket information:
Fioli Gardens Website and Ticket Information
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Every nice community needs a good zoo. Click below for information on Monterey Zoo:
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Details about Monterey Museum of Art’s Programs and Events follow:
Monterey Museum of Art Program and Events
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
FYI - The Monterey Jazz Festival is coming up in September. Details below for the event’s official website:
Monterey Jazz Festival 2025 Information
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Taquitos Restaurant in Salinas, California offers a panoply of Mexican cuisine. Must be on the Salinas bucket list of places to eat. My review for the Monterey County Weekly follows:
Taquitos in Salinas, California
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
My review of the Native American Basket Collection at the Pacific House in Monterey, California follows: Thank you Monterey County Weekly for the assignment and byline:
Pacific House Native American Basket Collection
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Watch the website below for information about the 2026 Carmel Valley Garden Show:
Carmel Valley Garden Show 2026
Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
The Carmel International Film Festival is being held from October 1 to October 5, 2025. Early bird tickets are available till September 1, 2025. Ticket and film submission information follow:
Ticket Information for Carmel International Film Festival 2025
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
The 2025 Concorso Italiano Auto Show is being held at Bayonet Golf Course in Seaside, California on August 16th. Click below for ticket information:
Concorso Italiano Ticket Information
For 2026, check the website below:
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
All-American Lobster Ravioli at Pub’s (Growers Pub) in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget
Lobster comes from the icy waters off the coast of Maine, making lobster ravioli in tomato cream sauce an Italian-American classic that may have originated in a place like Boston’s North End Italian neighborhood. (Harvard, MIT, Boston University and Tufts all have a guilty splurge dish in lobster ravioli.)
When I saw lobster ravioli in tomato cream sauce on the menu at Pub’s in Salinas, California on a recent outing there, I immediately ordered it and planned an Italian-American meal around it.
I began my meal with an order of fried calamari with chipotle aioli (garlic mayonnaise with chipotle peppers blended into it) dipping sauce. I love fried calamari with a light batter like they do it at Pub’s. That appetizer sets the tone for a delicious meal.
The lobster ravioli comes with a salad, so we next ate a mix of fresh friseé lettuce, baby greens, and chopped romaine lettuce. I ordered blue cheese dressing with my salad and liked thinking I was eating creamy Italian gorgonzola cheese with light cream as a dressing.
I guessed the blue cheese dressing was actually made with a creamy Point Reyes blue cheese from outside San Francisco. It was delicious and also set the tone for the much anticipated main dish.
The lobster ravioli looked great when it came and also had braised prawns and whole octopus in the sauce. The ravioli was stuffed with ricotta cheese with chopped lobster claw meat mixed with it. The tomato cream sauce tasted as if seafood broth had been blended into it. The delicious sauce tied everything together and made me feel exceedingly healthy as I ate it.
For dessert, I ordered tiramisu. To make this dessert, you place lady finger sponge biscuits in the bottom of a dish and dampen them with espresso coffee. Next, you spread whipped mascarpone cheese (like whipped cream) on top of the ladyfingers. Then, you sprinkle the top with cocoa powder and refrigerate the tiramisu before serving it.
This meal was delicious and a bit more luxurious than what I normally eat, but I enjoyed every bite of it and highly recommend the lobster ravioli in tomato cream sauce at Pub’s in Salinas, California to everyone as a splurge meal to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, good grades, and graduations.
(Note: The dining room we sat in had photos of the Salinas Rodeo on the wall. The back wall was covered with brand marks from Monterey County ranchers – 35 in all. These marks were placed on livestock to help separate animals after grazing and to keep cattle together on cattle drives east for slaughter in the Midwest. The meat from the cattle was mostly sold to the Northeast.)
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Another condor action video at Pebble Beach, California during Car Week 2025.
I shot these videos in the morning from my car window. Thank you Apple iPhone.
Text and videos by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Concours d’Elegance 2026 - Information below:
2026 Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach, California
Car Week 2025 was a hit! This August event on the Monterey County Peninsula drew 100,000 visitors to the area according to KION-TV.
Plan early for the hotels and restaurants you would like to book..
Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Robata Grill Izakaya in Carmel, California by Ruth Paget - one of my favorite reviews for the Monterey County Weekly (Circulation: 200,000). Click below for review:
Robata Grill in Carmel, California
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks
Ranchero Shrimp at Super Pollo in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget
I found a dish at Super Pollo in Salinas, California that I am pretty sure qualifies as a Blue Zones recipe, which is 95% plant-based with 5% of the dish being made up of six butterflied and sautéed jumbo prawns.
This dish is called Ranchero Shrimp (camarones rancheros). This dish is almost a stir-fry using olive oil (California has a lot), white onions, fat Serrano green and spicy peppers, 1 pound of diced tomatoes, cilantro, and shrimp. (Recipe source: mexicoinmykitchen.com)
Ranchero shrimp is delicious and full of Vitamin C and antioxidants like lycopene in the tomatoes that can help prevent cancer.
The light tomato sauce and vegetables pair well with the Spanish rice that comes with the meal. I always love Spanish rice as it is made with chicken broth, tomato juice, and green pepper slices. The refried beans at Super Pollo were light and tasted as if they had been made with olive oil.
Finally, Super Pollo also delivers a side salad with this meal made of crispy iceberg lettuce (tastes great in the heat), tomato slices, a ring of raw onion, shredded cheese, and ranch dressing on the side. The salad and all the vegetables that go into this dish make it country or ranchero.
I think camarones rancheros at Super Pollo tastes great and is really a good value for your money when you consider all the organic food from the Salinas that go into making it. I also think it is a candidate for a Blue Zones designation.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
The flagstone stairs leading up to the entrance of the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, California somewhat prepare you for the Norse myths and/or Hobbit décor inside the large white Victorian Inn.
Inside a large imitation Ash tree sits in the middle of the dining room, which resembles the Yggdrasil tree in Norse mythology that holds together the heavens, Earth, and the lower realms. The dining room with red horseshoe booths and round lights encircling the booth are in the lower realms. I photographed the lower realms trunk and noted the prominent orange lily, which is poisonous for cats and dogs.
This dining area was closed for breakfast, so my husband Laurent, daughter Florence Paget, and I turned left and entered the Copper Room, which has a dining area and a saloon bar. Above the bar, there is a carving that reads, “Let’s Eat and Be Forever Happy.”
Letting that saying guide me, I ordered a Madonna Frittata, a baked Italian omelet, that comes with sautéed shallot, tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, and spinach baked in the omelet with mozzarella cheese melted on top. Every bite of the frittata was delicious. It was served with a bowl of perfectly ripe cantaloupe and honeydew melon cubes, pineapple wedges, and sweet red grapes.
I shared the biscuit made with flour and corn meal with Laurent and Florence. They shared their bacon with me to add to my order of bacon. The bacon was thick-cut, crispy, and was smoked over applewood.
The coffee was Apffels brand from Colombia, an organic brand. I think I drank an entire pot of this delicious and somewhat expensive brew. (Highly recommended!)
You can buy a lot of merchandise at Madonna Inn that is really nifty. At the table, we ordered an 8-inch wedge of pink and white pink champagne cake. In the lower realms gift shop, Laurent and Florence bought Hobbit goblets and raspberry habanero jam. There is also an upstairs gift shop that sells clothing, toys, and lifestyle items for the home.
For really great breakfasts and cool souvenirs and equally cool Hollywood set atmosphere, make sure to stop in for a meal at Madonna Inn in San Luis Onbispo,California.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Photo of lower realms Yggdrasil Tree at Madonna Inn - Photo by Ruth Paget
The Fall 2025 Catalog for the University of Chicago Press is available online and in PDF format. Click below for information:
UChicago Press Fall 2025 Catalog
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
The University of Chicago free e-book this month is Lions in the Balance. Click for information below:
Lions in the Balance Free E-Book
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Italian Linguine with Clams at Lure Fish House in San Luis Obispo, California by Ruth Paget
For a family mini trip, my husband Laurent, my daughter Florence Paget, and I went to San Luis Obispo, California which is about 2½ hours south of Salinas.
The landscape changes dramatically along Highway 101 going south. We saw longhorn cattle grazing on the hillsides by the freeway and oil rigs in San Ardo. We passed San Miguel Mission with its whitewashed stucco architecture and compania bell tower that is typical of many Spanish churches with its open towers that allow bells to swing wide and freely and resound over the vineyards.
The Salinas River is underground here, but you can trace its course by looking at trees that sinew along the countryside. Vineyards and olive trees rise up the hills that become browner the farther away they are from the Salinas River.
The landscape looks like Spain with its patches of white sheep grazing along the way. English road signs remind you that you really are in the United States. (I did ask Laurent if Gibraltar is like this. His Navy ship passed by there when he did a Mediterranean deployment.)
San Luis Obispo is also named for it mission church that honors San Luis Obispo de Tolosa (1274 – 1297). Tolosa refers to Toulouse, France. San Luis Obispo sits on a plain like Toulouse, France despite going through some mountains to get to it. San Luis Obispo is the home of California Polytechnique State University, which is highly respected for its engineering, business, and architecture schools.
Our dinner destination in San Luis Obispo was the Lure Fish House. This family-owned California chain also has locations in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Camarillo, West Lake Village, Porter Ranch, and Scottsdale (Arizona).
Menus at Lure vary by location to take advantage of seasonal and local produce and seafood. As an appetizer,
I started with deep-fried, crispy calamari (squid) that came with two excellent dipping sauces. The first was a chipotle aioli (garlic mayonnaise with chipotle peppers blended in). The second sauce was a cioppino dipping sauce. This light sauce did taste like tomatoes and white wine cooked with seafood and garlic. Both sauces were delicious.
I ate all the sauce and all the calamari. Fried calamari are served all around the Christian Mediterranean and have a happy, devoted following in California.
For an Italian Mediterranean Diet dinner, I ate a specialty of Naples, linguine with clams, as my main dish. The clams were steamed with white wine, lemon juice, garlic, and parsley.
The meat from about two clams was chopped into the sauce and poured over the linguine. Six large clams were arranged a mound of linguine for this dish. I enjoyed every bite of this dish, too!
I drank a home-made agave vanilla cream soda with this Mediterranean meal. Agave is a natural sweetener that comes from agave plants that grow well in the soil and climate in San Luis Obispo.
Back at the hotel (a Marriot Courtyard), I took a hot shower followed by bursts of cold water to cool off and luxuriated in the air-conditioned room as I looked outside the room window at three kinds of trees: a rubber tree, a California magnolia tree, and a palm tree. San Luis Obispo has a city-wide initiative to develop a tree canopy that is recognized by the Arbor Foundation.
For a great health, culture, and history recharge, San Luis Obispo, California might just be the vacation town for you.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
(Note: View from hotel window. To better see the trees, place two of your fingers on the photo and move them apart to enlarge the image. The tree in front is a rubber plant that can be used to make tires. The pollen from the magnolia tree can be used for honey. The palm trees produce coconuts that can be used for food and coconut milk.)
This section of Pebble Beach, California has 4 picnic tables and is located right before Bird Rock, the haunt of long-necked black cormorants. You can see brown pelicans flying in formation here, white egrets, and seagulls. Seals and sea otters play in the waves here.
Text and video by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
 |
Good Example of stucco architecture. Plaster covers brick in stucco work and is painted white. The dark color of brick absorbs heat. Stucco is applied for white paint, which reflects heat and keeps buildings cool. The Spanish used this technique in southern Andalusia, Spain and brought it to their missions in California
The coil on top of the wall corner may refer to a beehive. Monasteries still make honey to be self-sufficient in foodand sell the excess to earn money for monastery upkeep. |
Chicken Korma Cashew Curry at Avatar Indian Grill in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget
I like everything on the menu at Avatar Indian Grill in Salinas, California. I am a big fan of freshly ground and roasted spices sautéed in ghee, clarified butter, that are cooked with yogurt or coconut milk to make curry sauce.
I love to mix curry sauce with bites of basmati rice or chicken or seafood cooked in curry in naan flatbread that is baked with licorice-flavored anise seeds.
I did wonder when I ordered chicken korma why Avatar Indian Grill did not call this dish a curry. I was intrigued and wanted to see what was different about it. So, I ordered it and knew it would be delicious, because Avatar Indian Grill was making it.
When the chicken korma arrived, the first thing I noticed was that it was a curry made with the addition of crushed cashew nuts. I love this addition to curry. (I obviously do not have a nut allergy.)
The second thing I noticed about this curry was the yellow-brown ochre color. I checked indianhealthyrecipes.com and saw that tomatoes are not used in making chicken korma, so the curry in chicken korma is not bright red. The crushed cashews also contribute to this ochre color as well as turmeric used to marinate the chicken.
The chicken pieces in the curry were moist and flavorful thigh meat. Chicken korma must be an Indian comfort food with its curry base of sautéed garlic, fresh ginger, and onion.
The preparation of chicken korma with yogurt appears to be a Northern Indian dish while that made with coconut milk is a Southern Indian dish according to indianhealthyrecipes.com. Both versions sound delicious and would pair well with a chilled mango lassi yogurt drink.
For a delicious midday comfort food lunch, chicken korma with cashew curry at Avatar Indian Grill in Salinas, California is a great option for cashew lovers.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Foods of Italy Reviewed by Ruth Paget
Foods of Italy by Giuliano Bugialli honors Italy’s everyday foods eaten by Italians in their homeland and covers recipes from lesser-known regions especially those regions on Italy’s eastern Adriatic Sea coast.
I have made the following recipes over the years for flavor and economy even while using premium, high-quality ingredients like prosciutto, parmesan cheese, and pecorino cheese in moderation:
-bell pepper salad: made with tomato, garlic, chopped basil and mint, capers (optional for me), and strips of baked sweet green and yellow peppers that have had their skins removed and that are sliced. A simple oil and vinegar dressing is used with this salad. This salad is refrigerated before serving.
-marinated zucchini salad: great when zucchini explodes in summer gardens. This dish is not as straightforward as you would think. The zucchini is first baked and then sautéed in garlic-infused oil before marinating in the refrigerator.
-squash soup Mantua style: Mantua is the adoptive city of the famous Renaissance art patron Isabella d’Este. I have mostly made this soup with butternut squash. Basically, you bake the squash and then boil it in broth to make the soup. I purée my soup with the seasonings. Mantua style calls for making seasoning with prosciutto.
-cannellini beans with rosemary: for this dish, white cannellini beans are boiled and then baked with rosemary, garlic, and olive oil to make a tasty and not-too-expensive side dish in Italy.
-bean paste crostini: this dish calls for a purée of cannellini beans, garlic, and olive oil on toast rounds as an hors d’oeuvres. I use canned, rinsed beans to make this Italian hummus.
-tagliatelle with creamed prosciutto sauce: this dish is all good! Cubes of prosciutto are added to hot pasta with cream, butter, and parmesan cheese. I use thin strips of sliced pasta to make this dish.
-pasta and beans Puglia (Apulia) style: this dish from Italy’s boot heel on the Adriatic Sea mixes cannellini beans with puréed red onions and celery as a sauce for hot pasta that is probably sprinkled with grated pecorino cheese, the parmesan cheese of southern Italy.
For a glimpse into what Italians really eat everyday, Foods of Italy by Giuliano Bugialli is a great introduction.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Mexican Seafood Enchiladas at Hay’s Place in Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget
For a West Coast family reunion, my daughter Florence Paget, husband Laurent, and I went to Hay’s Place at Pebble Beach, California for a Mexican meal overlooking the Pacific and golf course. This is a great spot for a family vacation photo.
We began our meal with our standard order of smashed guacamole and salsa. The guacamole at Hay’s Place is a salad with chopped onion, tomato, cilantro, avocado, and a little tequila. The corn chips that come with the guacamole are mostly blue corn chips and have a smokier taste than yellow corn chips.
I tried the enchiladas del mar trio (3 seafood enchiladas with different sauces). On the day we visited Hay’s Place, the daily catch for one of the enchiladas was tilapia. (I lucked out!)
Enchiladas are warmed soft corn tortillas wrapped around fillings with sauces on top that are baked to oozing goodness. At Hay’s Place, the enchiladas were filled with seafood, roasted mild green peppers that could be New Mexico chili peppers, and creamy Oaxacan crema cheese that is less tangy than sour cream with a dairy flavor.
As I mentioned, the first enchilada in this trio was filled with sautéed tilapia fillet, mild green pepper strips, and Oaxacan crema cheese. The filling was wrapped with a soft blue corn tortilla. The sauce on this enchilada was a mole poblano, a savory spiced chocolate sauce.
The second enchilada was filled with lobster, mild roasted green peppers, and Oaxacan cheese. The sauce for this lobster enchilada was a mild red sauce that tasted as if it had been made with tomatoes, onions, garlic, chili peppers, and seasonings like oregano, cumin, and paprika. The sauce was light and let the lobster flavor shine.
The third enchilada was filled with shrimp, mild roasted green pepper, and Oaxacan crema cheese as well. This enchilada was also wrapped in a soft blue corn tortilla. The sauce on this enchilada was a piquant green sauce most probably made with Mexican tomatillo green tomatoes, jalapeños, onions, cilantro, and garlic.
This grandiose selection of enchiladas came with stewed black beans mixed with tequila and Spanish rice made with tomato juice, chicken broth, and a few chopped green peppers.
As a beverage, I drank Mexican Jarritos Mandarin orange soda that is partially made with orange juice. It still has sugar, but also has Vitamin C.
For a tonic, spa meal that is also a little exotic during a golfing trip or tour of 17-Mile Drive, I highly recommend Hay’s Place at Pebble Beach. (Definitely a Blue Zones Outing by the ocean in fresh air!)
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Thank you Books-a-Million for carrying my book Eating Soup with Chopsticks.
Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
New York Meal at Pub’s (Growers Pub) in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget
My daughter Florence Paget took me out for a New York dinner at Pub’s in downtown Salinas, California for a daughter-mom outing before the big weekend with the Java House Grand Prix Monterey at Laguna Seca and the Obon Festival (July 27) at the Buddhist Temple in Salinas.
We started our meal with Monterey Bay deep-fried calamari. The calamari were lightly coated in polenta corn meal with a piquant dipping sauce and lemon wedges for squeezing. I really enjoy eating this dish in cool-weather Salinas with a sweet Meyer lemon lemonade.
Salads came with our main dishes. I chose Thousand Island dressing for my New York-themed crispy and chilled romaine lettuce salad with a juicy tomato wedge on the side. Life is good in America’s salad bowl capital. (Blue cheese dressing is available for diners who would like calcium and protein to go with their salad.)
Florence ordered a medium-rare prime New York steak with a baked potato along with steamed carrots, zucchini, and broccoli. The steak was juicy and perfect Florence said.
I ordered chicken fettucine Alfredo. The fresh pasta was bathed in a rich creamy sauce that tasted as if it had been made with cream, butter, mascarpone cheese, and Parmesan cheese. That sauce was so good, it would make garlic ice cream taste good. (Gilroy about 20 minutes up 101 makes garlic ice cream in America’s garlic capital.)
The cubes of chicken breast and thigh meat in the fettucine Alfredo were moist, tender, and flavorful. This delicious dish can also be made with shrimp and salmon at Pub’s.
To complete our meal, we had some elegant New York desserts – cheesecake for Florence and tiramisu for me.
For tiramisu, you line the bottom of a casserole with sponge cake lady finger cookies, pour espresso coffee over the lady fingers, spread whipped mascarpone cheese (similar to whipped cream) over the lady fingers, and dust the top of the mascarpone with cocoa powder. You then chill the tiramisu and serve it with raspberry sauce. Pub’s makes their tiramisu like this and it is a fantastic finish for a New York-themed meal.
For New York steak and Italian-American meals, Pub’s in downtown Salinas, California offers great food and a full bar.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Thank you Open Library Org online library for listing me as an American Food Writer and carrying my work.
Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
My summer read is going to be Monsoon by Robert D. Kaplan about the importance of the countries on the Indian Ocean for the US in the near future. Click below for Amazon details:
Click for info on Monsoon by Robert D. Kaplan
Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Thai Red Curry with Shrimp and Vegetables at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget
Diners can order Thai red curry with just vegetables, chicken, beef, or shrimp and rice at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California. I love shrimp for many reasons and ordered it to go with the organic Salinas Valley vegetables in this spicy but not hot dish.
I like Thai curries like the one I ordered, because they start out with fresh, strong “aromatics” – onions, garlic and fresh ginger that are stir-fried. Homemade curry paste made from sweet red peppers is added in with shrimp marinated in fish sauce – Thai nam pla, followed by vegetables. Coconut milk is added as the last ingredient to complete the curry.
At Ginger Thai, this dish called Pad Prik Khing in Thai, is made with 3-inch strips of Chinese long beans, carrots cut in medallion shapes, and strips of red bell pepper. The vegetables were soft but not mushy and retained their shape. The long beans were crunchy in the center. The shrimp were large with a piquant, briny flavor and beautiful orange color. Everything combined in this curry to make every bite delicious. The curry sauce disappeared with every bite of rice. For flavor, this dish can compete European seafood dishes.
For nutrients, this dish has several winning ingredients. Shrimp contains both selenium and iodine, which keep the thymus gland working in good order. Carrots, long beans, and red bell pepper have Vitamin A, which is good for the eyes. Red peppers and green long beans contain Vitamin C, an antioxidant, which helps protect the body from cancer. The Thais, like the Chinese, also view vitamin-rich food as medicine.
Red curry with shrimp and vegetables, pad prik khing, delivers great flavor loaded with nutrients at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
