Reuben Sandwich Deal at Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget

Reuben Sandwich Deal at Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget 

The Pebble Beach Market across from the Lodge in Pebble Beach (California) has a pretty good sandwich deal for Reuben sandwiches, that comes with Vicki’s sea salt chips and a large soda for about $24 as of 4/3/2025. 

There is a picnic area to the right of the store with tables and wooden lawn chairs in front of the store to do people watching at the Lodge. There are also picnic tables at three pull-offs between China Rock and Bird Rock. 

The reuben is a German-inspired sandwich I learned to eat at the University of Chicago when I was a student there. It is made with grilled rye bread, corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing. 

Corned beef has been preserved with salt. Before refrigeration existed, this preservation method ensured that you could eat beef on a regular basis without getting sick. 

The corned beef at The Market was freshly cut for the reuben sandwich. It was moist, flavorful, and warm from grilling. 

The sauerkraut was mild and plentiful and packed with Vitamin C and fiber. The Swiss cheese was sharp and added some pleasant acidity to the sandwich. 

What made the sandwich stand out was the Russian dressing. At Pebble Beach, this dressing is made with mayonnaise, a hint of ketchup, lots of grated horseradish, and chives. The horseradish is also loaded with Vitamin C and piquant. The Russian dressing pulls the sandwich’s flavors together. 

The Market at Pebble Beach offers hot and cold sandwiches, salads, and soup. 

For more information on sandwiches, check out: The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches: Recipes, History, and Trivia for Everything Between Sliced Bread by Susan Russo 

Every college student and parent should know what is in here for making sandwiches for themselves and/or getting gig jobs in sandwich shops. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Phô at Saigon Noodle in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Phô at Saigon Noodle in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

I have always liked the savory taste of Vietnamese chicken noodle phô soup. The last time I ordered it from Saigon Noodle in Salinas (California), I looked more closely at how it is made. 

Author Linda Nguyen writes in the Phô Cookbook: Simple, Delicious, and Authentic Vietnamese Phô Recipes for your Family (on Amazon Kindle) that the following ingredients go into this yummy, comfort food: 

-fresh ginger 

-a quartered chicken with bones 

-jalapeño pepper 

-basil leaves 

-yellow onion 

-sugar (1 teaspoon) 

-salt 

-Asian fish sauce 

-rice noodles

-chicken bones or chicken wings 

-bean sprouts -lime wedges 

-sriracha or other chili sauce 

For the recipe, you roast the onion and ginger till brown, which gives the final broth its beautiful, golden brown color full of nutrients. 

Then, you place water in a stockpot and add the chicken bones, chicken, onion, ginger, salt, and sugar. The chicken bones will add gelatin to the final broth, which adds extra protein to the soup. 

You simmer the soup till the chicken is tender. You remove the chicken at this point and separate the meat from the bones and skin. The meat goes in the refrigerator. The skin and bones from the chicken go in the stockpot with the broth to be simmered for another hour. The broth is drained with solids removed at the end of the hour. 

The drained broth goes back in the stockpot and is reduced to 6 cups. You add fish sauce and the chicken meat and boil till thoroughly heated. 

While the broth is reheating, you make the rice noodles. The broth is served over drained rice noodles with vegetables added on the side including the following: 

-bean sprouts 

-jalapeños 

-chili garlic sauce 

-lime wedges 

Saigon Noodle places its delivery soup in a large bowl with rice noodles on the bottom, a generous helping of chicken on top, and a handful of chopped green onions on top of the chicken. 

There is about 1½ pints of scrumptious broth that comes with the soup. 

The Vitamins A, C, and E are in the phô along with protein and fiber from the bean sprouts. The chicken noodle phô soup at Saigon Noodle in Salinas, California tastes good and is very good for you, too. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Jack's for Latte and Pastries in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Jack’s for Latte and Pastry in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

Jack’s in Salinas, California is located on a small business island in the parking lot of Nob Hill Foods by Weinerschnitzel.

Jack's is a drive-thru, locals place for strong espresso-like lattes like the ones I drank in Germany with cinnamon rolls and other pastries for sale.  It is a little less expensive than other local coffee chains and has many of the same kinds of products. 

When I go to Jack’s, I like to think that I am doing a Swedish fika or coffee break. The cinnamon rolls at Jack’s are flavored with cinnamon, cardamom, and sugar like the ones in: 

Fika: The Art of Swedish Coffee Break with Recipes for Pastries, Breads, and Other Treats by Anna Brones and Johanna Kindvall (Available on Kindle) 

The only thing you have to know about Jack’s Drive-Thru is that you order, pay, and get your coffee at the same window. The first time I went to Jack’s, I ordered and pulled around to the other window. I got my coffee, but not without a little giggling. 

Once you have your coffee, you can drive down Blanco Road to get your oil changed at Valvoline (you can sit in your car while they do this and sip your coffee) or go to the self car wash next to Valvoline and reward yourself with sips of coffee.

If you do an oil change or car wash and still have energy, you can return down Blanco Road back towards Main Street to do recycling of plastic, aluminum, and glass beverage containers in the Star Market parking lot or drop things off at Goodwill behind Ace Hardware, also in the Star Market Plaza. 

Jack’s is open till 2 pm in case you need to get another coffee after doing errands in town. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Surviving Babel - a review by Ruth Paget

Surviving Babel – a review by Ruth Paget 

Babel by R.F. Kuang is a highly readable story about how racism in 19th century Great Britain affected its foreign policy. 

Kuang’s anti-hero is Robin Swift, an Anglo-Chinese student at the Royal Institute of Translation, called Babel, at Oxford University. Kuang’s novel is set in 1830s England where silver makes the British Empire run. Babel’s translations create magical silver that fund the student stipends and contribute to the British Empire’s wealth. 

The British Empire’s problem in Babel is that the silver is running out due to buying luxury goods from India and China. These two countries want nothing that England produces making the Indians and Chinese accumulate vast reserves of silvers as the British silver funds are being depleted. 

This situation creates the need for certain languages to be taught at Babel and the economic argument to promote the Opium Drug Wars between England and China. 

Robin Swift and his classmates learned languages to fill needs of the British Empire with no other perceived alternatives offered for employment. This negative learning environment brings in Babel’s crime element, which is threaded throughout Robin Swift’s student years and “career.” 

Learning about the traditions and lifestyle at Babel and Oxford University keeps Kuang’s novel from being a pessimistic reading experience. I liked learning about the insider names of the various academic quarters at Oxford and about the third and fourth year qualifying exams, the internships, the immersive language experiences, and profitable languages for translation. 

That students could work during the social upheaval of 19th century Great Britain illustrates the strength of Oxford University as an institution that it still benefits from today as the training ground for the United Kingdom’s leaders.

Readers who might enjoy Babel by R.F. Kuang include: 

-diplomats

-translators 

-economists 

-students applying for fellowships to study at Oxford 

-travelers 

I enjoyed Babel by R.F. Kuang because I was an undergraduate student in East Asian Studies. This novel is definitely a book I would have discussed with my classmates over coffee and pastries at the University of Chicago in the Regenstein Library’s coffee shop. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta Fazool) Soup at Olive Garden in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Italian Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta Fazool) Soup at Olive Garden in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

Pasta e fagioli soup is stand-by dish at the Olive Garden in Salinas, California that is not too expensive and full of protein. Pasta e fagioli is similar to the chili mac that I made as a teenager in very cold Detroit (Michigan) with the difference that chili is made with all red kidney beans and flavored with smoky cayenne red pepper. I credit chili mac with being to withstand subzero walks to school in Detroit. 

Pasta e fagioli is soup with a thinner liquid base than a chili, but is loaded with lots of nutritious ingredients. 

I consulted a recipe for one similar to Olive Garden’s at wellplated.com that calls for: 

-olive oil

-ground beef

-salt

-carrots 

-onions 

-garlic 

-chicken broth 

-crushed, canned tomatoes 

-red kidney beans 

-cannellini beans 

-seasonings – bay leaf, Italian seasoning, black pepper, and red pepper flakes 

To make the soup like the one at Olive Garden, you brown the ground beef till it is no longer pink. You add chopped carrots, onion, and garlic and cook them till soft. Olive Garden might also use chopped fennel stalks for a slight licorice or anise flavor in their soup. 

Once the vegetables are sot, you add the crushed tomatoes, canned red kidney beans, canned cannellini beans, and pasta such as elbow macaroni. 

The seasoning in pasta e fagioli is savory not spicy hot, which I like. 

The pasta e fagioli at Olive Garden is tasty as we would say in the Midwestern US. My daughter Florence Paget and I ordered ½ gallon of the soup that cost $19.79. We also ordered mozzarella sticks (8 for $9.99) and garlic bread sticks (12 for $7.49). Grated Parmesan cheese came with this meal for the soup. 

For a weekend lunch, I think these prices are reasonable for the taste and nutrition content of the food we ate. 

Busy parents might especially like pasta e fagioli soup, mozzarella sticks, and garlic bread at Olive Garden in Salinas, California (on North Main Street). 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Spicy Alaskan Flounder (Sole) Sandwich at Popeye's in Gilroy (South of San José), California by Ruth Paget

Spicy Alaskan Flounder (Sole) Sandwich at Popeye’s in Gilroy (South of San Jose), California by Ruth Paget 

Salinas dwellers like I am can take a quick 30-minute drive to Gilroy, California (south of San José on 101) for seasonal spicy Alaskan flounder sandwiches at Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen. 

Popeye’s is famous for its generous portions in their fried chicken sandwich combos and their fried shrimp combos, but when Alaska flounder is in season, I always order their large spicy flounder combination meal. 

The large flounder filet is deep-fried and served on a brioche bun with spicy mayonnaise, thick pickles, and lettuce. The large combination comes with two side dishes. I always order the red beans and rice and thick and creamy coleslaw made with chopped cabbage, onions, and carrots in cream dressing. The beans and rice and flounder sandwich are spicy and get toned down by the coleslaw. 

Popeye’s offers lemonade among its beverage choices. The lemonade is tart, which l like a lot. I imagine the tart flavor comes from the Vitamin C in lemon juice. 

Popeye’s headquarters is in Miami, Florida, but the restaurant’s theme is Cajun food from Southern Louisiana. Cajun food is eaten throughout the southeastern US and is now spreading to California. 

After eating a delicious spicy flounder sandwich meal, you can stop in and buy books at Barnes and Noble, which is in the same shopping center. My daughter Florence Paget ran in on our last trip to buy The Poppy War series by R.F. Kuang for her mom, who was an East Asian Studies major in college. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Great Deal on British Food Book Today on Kindle by Ruth Paget

Mary Berry’s Complete Cookbook of British food is $1.99 today on Kindle.  It has 650 recipes and is 2,372 pages long.  This is a deal, if you like British food.

I own this book and reconnect with my British heritage as I read through the recipes.  Other readers might enjoy it for this reason as well.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

University of Chicago Press Book Sale and Odyssey New Release by Ruth Paget

The University of Chicago Press has a book sale now through June 15, 2025 and a new release of the Odyssey translation out by Daniel Mendelsohn.

University of Chicago Press Sale Information

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Thank you Mercado Libre in Argentina for carrying my book by Ruth Paget

Thank you Mercado Libre in Argentina for carrying my book Eating Soup with Chopsticks!

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Visiting Mozart's Childhood Home in Salzburg, Austria by Ruth Paget

Visiting Mozart’s Childhood Home in Salzburg, Austria by Ruth Paget 

When my husband Laurent and I lived in Stuttgart (Germany), our daughter Florence Paget came to visit us when she was on a semester break from Juilliard for three weeks. 

She was studying playwriting, but I thought she really should visit the Mozart House in Salzburg, Austria for school spirit. (Stage mom Ruth was the one who secretly wanted to visit Austria again.) So, we set out for Austria in our car and enjoyed driving through Bavaria east to Salzburg. 

Salzburg, which means salt city, is close to the German border. Once we arrived in the Altstadt, old city, where Mozart’s home is located, we went out for a walk. This area has soaring Baroque architecture, which may have inspired Mozart on carriage rides or walks around town as a child. 

Mozart’s home is not elaborate which reminds you that music requires a lot of practice to master the basics before you delve into creativity. Mozart was a child prodigy, who no doubt practiced a lot, but he must have been motivated to achieve what he did at such an early age. 

I like to think that he was motivated by positive rewards such as performing in beautiful clothes for the emperor and aristocrats on big occasions, but for the everyday motivations I think the pastries of the Austro-Hungarian Empire might have been ample rewards for getting practice done. 

The big three desserts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire might have encouraged Mozart’s creativity I think – Sachertortes, Dobostortes, and Linzertortes. I used the Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafes of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague cookbook by Rick Rodgers (496 pages - $2.99 today on Kindle)  to look up what is in these pretty pastries in the window:

-Sachertorte – This pastry is the culinary symbol of Vienna, Austria. It is a chocolate glazed cake with horizontally split layers with apricot preserves placed between the layers. 

-Dobostorte – This pastry is a Hungarian dish from Budapest. It is made of five thin layers of chocolate cake layers with chocolate buttercream filling and topped off with caramel. 

-Linzertorte – This is a pastry from Linz, Austria. It is a fruit preserves pastry like a Danish with a lattice crust. 

Positive feedback in the form of pastries might well have been the daily motivation for practice for young Mozart. 

All this is speculation, of course, to discuss while enjoying a pastry and coffee with whipped cream during a typical Austrian jause, coffee break, in Salzburg, Austria. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Curried Fried Rice Meal by Ruth Paget

Curried Fried Rice Meal by Ruth Paget 

A fast lunch I prepare for myself is curried fried rice. The inspiration for this meal is Chinese. However, the Chinese add more ingredients like peas and ham or shrimp, especially in restaurants. 

For everyday lunches, I use the following recipe: 

Serves 1 

Ingredients: 

-2 tablespoons olive oil 

-2 teaspoons Madras curry powder or another brand 

(Look for turmeric in the curry ingredients. It is a good antioxidant.) 

-1 (7.4 ounce) container of cooked Bibigo sticky Korean rice 

-2 beaten eggs 

-salt and pepper to taste 

Steps: 

1-Heat olive oil and curry in a sauce pan till steaming. 

2-Add the cooked sticky rice. Break up the rice and turn it to coat with the yellow cooking oil. 

3-When the rice is steaming, add the beaten eggs and turn for 2 to 3 minutes or until cooked. 

4-Remove the rice and eggs from the heat. Season them with salt and pepper and serve. 

As a dessert, I eat two or three clementines after the curry rice and drink a small carton of whole milk. 

This meal is fast and easy and still relatively inexpensive even with the higher price of eggs. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Pancake Supper Fundraising in Detroit, Michigan by Ruth Paget

Pancake Supper Fundraising by Ruth Paget 

I learned about pancake supper fundraising as a child when I attended pancake suppers at my family’s Baptist church in Detroit (Hazel Park), Michigan. 

The entire congregation came often with friends to eat pancakes and raise money for children’s programs. The cost was around $5 per person plus any voluntary extra donation in the 1960s and 1970s. 

The following items came with the pancake supper: 

-3 pancakes 

-3 packages of maple syrup (This was easily obtainable in Michigan.) 

-3 butter packages 

-a fruit salad for dessert 

-cold, sweetened iced tea

-lemon wedges, if requested 

-a silverware and napkin packet

Our church had a cafeteria-style kitchen where we would get a tray and be served our pancakes, fruit salad, and silverware packet. 

At lunch tables covered with paper tablecloths, servers would bring us our sweetened iced tea on trays to avoid spills. The fruit salad was low-calorie and pretty nutritious. 

 The fruit salad was made with the following items: 

 -canned, no-sugar-added mandarin orange sections with the can juice

 -fresh apple cubes 

-slices of fresh banana 

The fruit contained Vitamin C, and the pancakes made with milk and eggs contained protein and calcium. 

Sometimes the teen group would perform a skit from the Christmas play. Little children sang Sunday school songs. 

Pancakes cost very little to make, if made from scratch. Pancake fundraisers are profitable and easy fundraisers if organized well. Check if you need catering insurance to do this for your organization. 

I always enjoyed going to pancake suppers as a child in Detroit, Michigan and think these events might do well in the 2020s as well. 

(Note: Pancakes have their origin in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, but the Dutch are credited with creating their modern version.)

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Visiting Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina by Ruth Paget

Visiting Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina by Ruth Paget 

The first time I visited Asheville, North Carolina was with my mom. She was driving me home from my childhood vacationland – Murrells Inlet, South Carolina (outside Myrtle Beach) – where I had stayed with my sister. 

Mom drove her black Thunderbird, which I thought looked like a movie-star Mercedes, back to Detroit (Michigan) up and around the Appalachian Mountains. The ride is thrilling since a lot of the freeway sits on stilts around the mountains with treetops below. 

We listened to country music on the radio. The only other choice at the time was gospel. We stopped to visit “an American castle” when Biltmore Estate surged into view. 

Biltmore looks like a French Loire Valley château notably the fairy tale Ussé château but on a grander scale like Chambord château further down the Loire River. I was so happy they had room on the guided tour for us despite not reserving ahead of time. 

I think I was in the fourth grade at the time and vaguely remember that the guide said the Vanderbilts made their fortune in transportation (railroads and shipping) in the 19th century. I was impressed that the Biltmore Estate had 100 bedrooms each with their own bathroom. 

I asked if each room had a telephone when I saw what looked like a manual dial phone by the door of each room. “Some rooms have telephones, but that is an intercom. If a family member or guest needs something, they call the butler on that intercom. The butler decides if what someone requests is a job for him or the head of housekeeping,” the guide explained. Modern hotels still function like this when you make calls to guest services to request something. 

My next question was, “Do you have a hotel here?” 

My mother intervened at this point, “We have to go home, so I can work Monday.” 

I was disappointed, but understood. The tour guide mentioned at the end of the tour that the Vanderbilts had a university nearby, if we wanted to visit that, too. 

Back in the black Thuderbird on the way to Detroit, my mom drove around Vanderbilt University to check out the campus. I thought the campus was pretty, but even as a child I liked cities. (Detroit was fun.) 

I thought about Biltmore a lot in high school. I had two pairs of favorite jeans by Gloria Vanderbilt with swans on the label next to her name that I wore to be cooler than the Calvin Klein wearers. We had anorexia wars to see who could be thinner in their straight leg jeans. 

On some more recent visits to Asheville, my husband Laurent and I toured the University of North Carolina – Asheville campus and bought a 501 German Verbs book at the university bookstore to do some verb conjugating as a souvenir of living in Stuttgart, Germany. 

The Biltmore Estate now has become a tourism magnet for Asheville, North Carolina offering an outdoor concert series, garden tours, exhibits for families like the current one on Tutankhamun, biking trails, wine tastings, and a hotel with a spa no doubt. 

I like it that this American castle can be maintained by offering services to the public that allow everyone a chance to be a prince or princess for the day. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Food History Buff book for $1.99 today on Kindle by Ruth Paget

Food history buffs might be interested in today’s Kindle deal - The Food Book by DK Publishing - 1,197 pages about the origins, traditions, and use of everyday foods from “salt to sushi” for $1.99 today.

I absolutely purchased this to learn more about what I eat and be a better consumer.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Visiting Georgia's Gold Town of Dahlonega by Ruth Paget

Visiting Georgia’s Gold Town of Dahlonega by Ruth Paget

On a pre-hurricane Helene trip to Georgia, my husband Laurent and I drove to Georgia’s gold town of Dahlonega high up in the Appalachian Mountains to visit the Gold Museum downtown. 

Dahlonega feels surprisingly close to Atlanta. To get there from Smyrna on Atlanta’s north side, you take 285 East to 19 North. 

You pass over two rivers on the way to Dahlonega – the Etowah River and the Chestatee River. When you reach Chestatee Road, you make a left turn from 19 North and arrive directly downtown. 

The Gold Museum is small, but highly informative. 

One of the first things you learn in the museum is that gold began being mined in Dahlonega in 1829, a full 20 years before the California Gold Rush. 

The gold region, which extends from today’s northeastern border of Georgia to northeastern Alabama was mostly occupied by Cherokee Native Americans. To make way for mining operations, the Cherokee were removed from their lands and forcibly made to walk westward, the Trail of Tears, to be resettled in Oklahoma. 

Once the Cherokee lands were available for mining, a lottery was held which gave the lucky winner the right to own and set up mining operations. People who did not get land in the lottery received blank lottery tickets and were said “to draw a blank.” 

People who wanted to mine gold, but drew a blank are rumored to have left Georgia for the California Gold Rush in 1849, 

Georgia’s gold is still highly sought, because it is 96% pure. The state capitol’s dome is sheathed in shimmering Georgia gold. For smaller investors, there are coins with the Eagle gold coins still providing good returns according to the museum guide. 

The gold mines in Dahlonega are closed today. The town is now famous for orchards, wine tasting, and the University of North Georgia. 

For a pleasant outing about an hour outside Atlanta, Dahlonega (Georgia) has history, culture, and food that will appeal to visitors from Western United States as well as the Eastern Seaboard. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking is $1.99 on Kindle today by Ruth Paget

Dupree and Gaubert’s Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking is on sale today for $1.99 on Kindle.

It has 600 recipes and is 1,954 pages long.

I own this book and use it for reference.  

I think this is a great buy for Kindle owners.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Rustic Spanish Cookbook - 322 pages -on Kindle today by Ruth Paget

Rustic Spanish Cookbook by Richardson from the Willams-Sonoma collection is $1.99 on Kindle today.

It is 322 pages long, which I consider a great buy for the money.

If you do not have a Spanish restaurant in your neighborhood, making Spanish food at home is a way to learn about the country and make a family meal at the same time. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Rachel Ray’s Italian cookbook deal today by Ruth Paget

I am not sure how long the deal will last, but I saw that Rachel Ray’s 1,000+ page Everyone is Italian on Sunday cookbook costs $1.99 on Kindle today.

I always liked her show for using canned beans and tomatoes instead of doing everything from scratch, especially when these items were basic ingredients in a larger recipe.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Eggplant Stir-Fry Mash at Avatar Indian Grill in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Eggplant Stir-Fry Mash at Avatar Indian Grill in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

Eggplant stir-fry mash is called baingan bharta on the menu at Avatar Indian Grill in Salinas, California. 

This vegan (food made with no animal products) dish a little tricky to make at home. You have to char and fully cook the eggplant before being able to mix it with a tomato and onion based curry. I always get this dish at a restaurant for this reason. 

I consulted hebbars.com for a recipe for baingan (eggplant) bharta that is similar to what Avatar Indian Grill does for its version of the dish. Once the eggplant is fully cooked and cooled, the skin is peeled off and the interior of the eggplant is mashed. 

After this is done, you heat oil in a sauce pan and add cumin, dried red chili, ginger, and garlic and sauté these spices along with chopped onion. Once the onion begins to shrink, you add chili powder and coriander powder. 

When the spices become fragrant, you add the eggplant mash and chopped tomatoes and cook the mixture till the tomatoes are soft and mushy. You let the vegetables cook down and add garam masala (curry powder) before serving. 

Avatar Indian Grill differs from this recipe a bit by mashing everything down and then adding peas to the curry. 

Baingan bharta is usually paired with rice. The peas, a pulse, combine with rice, a grain, to form a vegetarian protein combination according to vegetarians. 

The result regardless of scientific claims is delicious, especially if you eat some naan flatbread studded with licorice tasting fennel seeds with it. 

Baingan bharta is from the Punjab region in northwestern India that crosses over into Pakistan as well. 

I eat vegan foods in case of any disruption to meat supply that could happen due to disruption to constant temperature for safe meat handling and preservation such as electrical blackouts that can affect butchering facilities and stores. 

I am happily going through the vegan menu items at Avatar Indian Grill in Salinas, California to learn about foods that have withstood the blistering heat on the Indian subcontinent for millennia. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Visiting Kennesaw Mountain Civil War Battlefield outside Atlanta, Georgia by Ruth Paget

Visiting Kennesaw Mountain Civil War Battlefield outside Atlanta, Georgia by Ruth Paget 

The Kennesaw Mountain Civil War Battlefield is located about half an hour north of Atlanta, Georgia off I-75. 

Kennesaw Mountain has become a “swords into ploughshares” recreation area in the modern day. If you do not arrive early on the weekend (around 7:30 am), you most probably will have to park ½ mile to a mile away from the base of the mountain to access the hiking and biking trail. The track team from nearby Kennesaw State University runs easily up and down the mountain, making you feel really old. 

Before Kennesaw Mountain became a favorite wooded refuge for Atlanta dwellers, it was the site of highly contested battle between the Confederacy’s General Joseph E. Johnson and the Union’s William Tecumseh Sherman on June 27, 1864. The Union suffered losses of 3,000 troops and the Confederacy suffered losses of 1,000 troops on that day. 

The decisive moment in the battle came when General George Stoneman’s cavalry division put Union troops close to the Chattahoochee River that protected the city of Atlanta. Breaching that river would make it easy to enter Atlanta. 

Kennesaw Mountain has become such a nice park that it is difficult to imagine war there, but it is worth noting that it is still one of Atlanta’s natural defenses to this day as one of several hills surrounding Atlanta along with the Chattahoochee River. 

Locals would also say that the kudzu plant, which can take over buildings in the South’s sweltering heat, is also a natural defense. Kudzu had not been introduced from Japan yet during the time of the Civil War. Today, this plant with its glossy leaves would be slick to deal with in the rain for hill and mountain fighting and might even change battle outcomes. 

This is speculation, of course, but it does explain why battle re-enactments are an educational exercise worth doing due to new environmental conditions and technological advances particularly in communication. 

The battle re-enactments need analysis and knowledge management to make sure war outcomes remain the same. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Visiting Resaca Civil War Battlefield outside Lake Dalton, Georgia by Ruth Paget

Visiting Resaca Civil War Battlefield outside Lake Dalton, Georgia by Ruth Paget 

The Resaca Civil War Battlefield is about one hour north of Atlanta, Georgia along I-75. My husband Laurent and I set out to visit this small yet informative battle site that featured an inconclusive end for both armies despite the larger number of troops on the Union side. 

As I read through the America’s Battlefield Trust website entry on Resaca, I saw that the reason for battle at Resaca was control of the railroad just south of Dalton for supply deliveries. 

I had learned on a prior visit to the Chattanooga Battlefield in Tennessee that Union troops from the North were starving due to lack of provisions including food for the horses in the cavalry, which usually determined battle outcomes. (Cannons are also important for battle outcomes, but they are difficult to manoeuver and having them is not always a guarantee of battle victory.) 

The Resaca Battlefield was on flat ground, but the cavalry forces were weak due to malnutrition, which contributed to the initial Confederate win at Resaca. Despite winning, the Confederate army was unable to maintain its victory. The battle’s outcome is inconclusive. 

When Laurent and I arrived at Resaca Battlefield, I photographed the battle timeline and read that it was a two-day battle between May 13 – 15,1864 in Gordon and Whitfield counties. The Union lost 2,747 troops and the Confederacy lost 2,800 troops. It was the second bloodiest battle of the Atlanta Campaign with an inconclusive outcome. 

The first Confederate cemetery in Georgia was established at Resaca. The lesson of Resaca is the importance of ensuring transportation for food and medical supplies in war time as well as times of peace. 

Starvation may have contributed to what is called General William Tecumseh Sherman’s “Death March” through Georgia. 

The Resaca Battlefield is well maintained with informative signs located throughout the battlefield that now resembles a golf course with its well-manicured fields. 

The Resaca Battlefield outside Lake Dalton Georgia is a historical site worth visiting for history buffs when visiting Atlanta, Georgia. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Visiting Albrecht Dürer's Home in Nürnberg, Germany by Ruth Paget

Visiting the Albrecht Dürer House in Nürnberg, Germany by Ruth Paget 

My husband Laurent and I visited the Deutsches Museum in Nürnberg, Germany several times when we lived in Stuttgart, Germany for several years. 

On our first visit, we made a beeline for the Albrecht Dürer (1471 – 1528) galleries. Dürer was the Leonardo da Vinci of the Northern Renaissance, who was equally at home in art and science. 

The most striking artwork in these galleries for me was Dürer’s self-portrait with his head full of flowing chestnut curls that are outlined in real gold. This portrait must have shimmered in candlelight in a Renaissance home. 

After our museum visit, we set out for Albrecht Dürer’s house. We had visited Leonardo da Vinci’s home that he lived in at the end of his life, the Clos-Lucé at the foot of Amboise Castle in France, and wanted to see if we could find any clues for genius in Dürer’s home like we did in da Vinci’s. (I learned from da Vinci’s home in France that knowing how to cater for a king is a good job skill.) 

Dürer’s house was about a mile away from the museum. We passed three- and four- storey homes where I imagined wealthy burghers would like portraits painted by Dürer that also had hair locks outlined in real gold to shimmer in candlelight as well. 

Dürer’s home was on a corner. It was small with a printmaking press on the second floor. Dürer employed commission agents who would sell his drawing prints to aspiring artists. The agents would send Dürer part of the sale money once a sale was made. This arrangement was a Renaissance gig job. 

Dürer probably walked across the street to the horse stables in the fort wall to collect mail that might have some money in it. (The stables are now an indoor market.) 

The educational prints also advertised his ability to do larger, pricy portraits for customers worldwide. 

I enjoyed learning about Renaissance artistic marketing at Albrecht Dürer’s home in Nürnberg, Germany. It is worth the walk to get there from the museum. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Italian Frittata Omelet at First Awakenings in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Italian Frittata Omelet at First Awakenings in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

Italian frittata omelets are claimed to have been around since the time of ancient Rome. I do not know if that is true, but I certainly like them. 

When I saw the Heartland Frittata on the menu at First Awakenings in Salinas, California, I told the server, “That dish is talking to me. I have to have it.” 

Frittatas are beautiful “ladies who lunch” dishes. They are omelets that are baked not cooked on the stovetop. At First Awakenings, the final dish comes to the table in a round ceramic baking dish with hash browns served next to it. 

The Heartland Frittata is what I would have called “fancy” as a child. The omelet is thick with sautéed spinach and 1-inch strips of cooked and chopped bacon. Once the frittata is baked golden, First Awakenings blankets the top with shredded Monterey Jack cheese and places it back in the oven till it melts. Then, chopped and seeded tomatoes are scattered on top of the melted cheese.  

The spinach-cheese-tomato flavor dominates with an occasional salty burst of bacon. This frittata was delicious with coffee and real cream and side of bacon. (About $30 per person) 

The reason I said the dish was talking to me was all the nutrients I could get in this nice breakfast: 

-eggs – protein and Vitamins A and D 

-cheese – calcium and protein 

-spinach – Vitamin C and potassium 

-bacon – protein and selenium 

-tomatoes – antioxidant lycopene and Vitamin A 

(Nutrition information source: Verywell.com) 

For the flavor and nutrition, I thought the Heartland Frittata at First Awakenings in Salinas, California was a good buy for me.  Other diners might like it as well for the same reasons.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Fried Apples with French Toast at Cracker Barrel in Augusta, Georgia by Ruth Paget

Fried Apples with French Toast at Cracker Barrel in Augusta, Georgia by Ruth Paget 

The fried apples with French toast at Cracker Barrel in Augusta (Grovetown), Georgia tie together foods from both ends of Tennessee, where the company’s headquarters are located outside Nashville. 

Apples come from eastern Tennessee in abundance thanks to Johnny Appleseed (1774 – 1845) and his associates, who had apples planted from Massachusetts to Indiana. Apples keep well over winter after a fall harvest and offer a fiber boost and a good amount of Vitamin C. For these reasons, apples are a great partner for French toast. 

French toast comes from western Tennessee, which lies on the Mississippi River upstream from New Orleans. In New Orleans, French toast is called “pain perdu” or “lost bread.” The French say the bread is ‘’lost,” because it is dunked till soaking in a mixture of egg, milk, and vanilla before frying it. 

At Cracker Barrel, they fry apple wedges in butter, sugar, and cinnamon. For the final presentation of the French toast, Cracker Barrel cuts the French toast into fourths and stands them in a pyramid surrounded by standing apple wedges for a real diner 3-D effect with a cup of warm syrup on the side for dipping or pouring. 

The fried apples and French toast were all good and eggy sweet. I loved it and had a side of salty bacon to go with it. 

I was full and happy as I wandered through the store and really loved seeing Johnny Cash and Prince records for sale. I could not help but thinking of an Alan Jackson lyric “Well, they’re not as backward as they used to be.” 

That lyric is true of the customers and staff, too. Cracker Barrel in Augusta, Georgia serves people, who like American food and the restaurant has a store with products that reflect the United States. 

For a no-surprises, delicious breakfast, I like Cracker Barrel when I am visiting the southern United States.  

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Pecan Pancakes at Cracker Barrel in Augusta, Georgia by Ruth Paget

Pecan Pancakes at Cracker Barrel in Augusta, Georgia by Ruth Paget 

Pecan pancakes at Cracker Barrel are a seasonal treat. Pecans grow in the southern United States including Georgia where I was visiting in January 2025. 

When I saw pecan pancakes listed on the menu at Cracker Barrel in Augusta (Grovetown), I immediately ordered them. Pecans are harvested September through November, so I knew the January pecan pancakes would be made with fresh, flavorful pecans. 

About a cup of chopped pecans goes into pancake batter made with flour, eggs, butter, maybe some pecan oil, and buttermilk for a slight tang in the final golden product. At Cracker Barrel, the fluffy pecan pancakes arrive at your table with two warmed bottles of Cracker Barrel’s house brand maple syrup, so you can control the amount of calories on your pancakes. 

The pecan pancakes I ordered came with bacon, sunny side up eggs, and hash browns as sides. Everything was perfectly prepared. I just gobbled everything up and ate for the day. I also liked the strong coffee with cream. 

Another thing I like about Cracker Barrel is the store, which I go through after eating. I found a neat book published by Harvard Common Press entitled: Old Time Wisdom and Lore: 1000s of Traditional Skills for Simple Living by Jerry Mack Johnson. 

Among the book’s chapters, I found some useful skills that convinced me to buy it including: 

-predicting weather based on cloud type, wind direction, and barometer readings 

-gardening tips by season -tips for tapping maple trees for sap to make syrup 

-recipes for grilled venison with sauce to basic corn bread to maple syrup pie 

-patterns for sewing quilts 

-making handmade soaps 

-fishing secrets and scaling tips 

-making down-home toys -moon gazing notes 

This book is just full of activities to do with children and teens that are not too expensive. I recommend it for this reason. 

I was happy with this Cracker Barrel outing for the chance to eat pecans that are high in fiber, healthy fats, and protein and for finding a great book to read during my stay in Augusta, Georgia. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Salade Niçoise with the Works at La Parisienne Restaurant in Aiken, South Carolina by Ruth Paget

Salade Niçoise with the Works at La Parisienne Restaurant in Aiken, South Carolina by Ruth Paget 

After a morning of touring the Savannah River Site Museum where my husband Laurent and I learned about the physics and chemistry used in running a nuclear power plant, we set out for the La Parisienne Restaurant and Bakery located just off Chesterfield Street in downtown Aiken, South Carolina. 

The day was warm already in the 70s in January in Aiken. I ordered one of my favorite French lunches – a salade Niçoise, which comes with the works at La Parisienne. 

When Laurent and I lived in Stuttgart (Germany0, I made salade Niçoise every week to help fight colds. My easy version of the salad has tuna on top of a mound of baby greens. I place rinsed, canned green beans around the sides of the lettuce along with a few anchovies. 

On the bottom of the salad mound, I alternate boiled egg halves, tomato quarters, and large Greek Kalamata olives. We used Paul Newman vinaigrette most of the time in Germany. 

My salade Niçoise is good for everday, but La Parisienne’s version is really tops with all the garden fresh ingredients they use. La Parisienne places a generous helping of dandelion greens in the bottom of a large salad bowl as the foundation of their salade Niçoise. 

On top of the dandelions greens, they place the following ingredients:  

-flaked tuna -boiled potato halves 

-sliced small peppers of various colors 

-sliced red onions 

-sliced boiled eggs 

-small Niçoise black olives 

-sliced tomatoes 

-sliced radishes 

-thin green beans 

The small and thin vegetables are supposed to offer concentrated and distinct flavors, which is true of the layered flavors in the salade Niçoise at La Parisienne. It tasted great on a warm and humid day. 

The vinaigrette especially made the salad taste good. It was made with white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and sunflower oil. That flavor combination always reminds me of eating in the countryside in France. 

The salade Niçoise at La Parisienne Restaurant and Bakery in Aiken, South Carolina filled me up, but dessert lovers might like a piece of the lattice crusted pies that remind me of linzertortes from Linz, Austria. 

Travelers will be well rewarded with a stop for lunch or dinner at La Parisienne in Aiken, South Carolina. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Mushroom - Cheese Pizza and Greek Salad from Marco's Pizza in Augusta, Georgia by Ruth Paget

Mushroom – Cheese Pizza and Greek Salad from Marco’s Pizza in Augusta, Georgia by Ruth Paget 

One of my travel rituals when I go to the East Coast of the US from California is to order a large mushroom – cheese pizza and a large Greek salad from a local pizzeria to perk up after several airline flights.

In Augusta (Georgia), the pizzeria my husband Laurent and I order from is Marco’s Pizza, a local Georgia chain. They use high quality ingredients and deliver late at night, which pleases a hungry traveler like me. 

While waiting on the pizza delivery, I open the room window for fresh air, put away clothes, wash my hands and face, and brush my teeth. 

When pizza delivery arrives, I start dinner with the Greek salad. I am a Californian from Salinas, who can tuck into a family-size salad and easily eat the whole thing. 

At Marco’s, they make their Greek salad with a combination of crunchy, chopped Romaine lettuce and baby greens. On top of the lettuce, they place about 1/3 cup chopped yellow banana peppers, 1/3 cup chopped tomatoes, 1/3 cup chopped red onion, 1/3 cup sliced black olives, and 2/3 cup of diced, salty feta cheese. 

I add tangy, Greek lemon-oregano vinaigrette on top of the vegetables and feta cheese and toss everything together. This tart and tonic salad chases away any germs I may have encountered on the plane it seems and gives me the strength to finish organizing the room and take a shower. 

Once I am all squeaky clean, I leisurely eat two or three slices of mushroom-cheese pizza. At Marco’s, they use a mozzarella cheese that melts yet is firm and salty, which I like. The tomato sauce is savory and tastes great with the meaty mushrooms that probably come from the forest around Augusta. 

Marco’s uses protein-rich semolina flour in their pizza crust, which I also like for the rough finish on the crust edges. 

With tip, delivery of our large artisanal pizza and large Greek salad was $36. We ordered Marco’s several times during our stay in August, especially on NBA game nights when we watched the New York Knicks play teams from around the country. (I love games decided by 2 or 3 points.) 

Marco’s Pizza was a delicious, enjoyable, and convenient part of our stay in Augusta, Georgia. If you like pizza, it is definitely worth a try. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Goat Cheese and Dandelion Greens at the La Parisienne Restaurant in Aiken, South Carolina by Ruth Paget

Goat Cheese and Dandelion Greens at La Parisienne Restaurant in Aiken, South Carolina by Ruth Paget 

The La Parisienne Restaurant and Bakery in Aiken, South Carolina is about 30 minutes away from Augusta, Georgia and offers visitors a relaxed atmosphere for lunch in small town America among its many touring options. 

Aiken is home to a campus of the University of South Carolina, the Savannah River Site nuclear facility, and an active polo club. Its English heritage is visible in its orange brick architecture and tree-lined boulevards downtown that promote businesses that elite Englishmen prefer like French restaurants and Belgian chocolate shops. 

One of Aiken’s busy restaurants is La Parisienne Restaurant and Bakery located just off Chesterfield Street downtown. The restaurant has its own parking lot. You order at the counter, take an arrondisement (Parisian district) marker to your table, and wait for your waiter to bring freshly made food to you. 

On our first visit to La Parisienne, I ordered the goat cheese salad served on a bed of dandelion greens. A thick slice of oven-baked toast sat in the center of the salad with a large ball of goat cheese to spread out over the dandelion greens and cherry tomato halves in the salad. The vinaigrette was made with a perky raspberry vinegar and olive oil. I could have eaten two of those delicious salads. 

My husband Laurent ordered me a lemon crêpe instead that was filled with powdered sugar and freshly pressed lemon juice. That dessert was perky as well and filled me up. Both of these items were perfect for the hot and sultry weather in our restaurant located by the Savannah River. 

La Parisienne has a wooden guillotine in the parking lot to remind diners that not all of French history is rosy. 

Laurent and I walked through the convenient gate behind the restaurant to the Belgian chocolate shop next door – La Bonboniere. The handmade chocolate comes in a variety of flavors. I like the lemon cream filled chocolates with the head of an Egyptian women imprinted on them. 

I also like the chocolate ganache filled white chocolates that have “Aiken” printed on them in chocolate. The cutest chocolates are the ones shaped like horse hooves for the polo lovers in town. 

Tourists interested in a nice lunch in a nice place will love the La Parisienne Restaurant and Bakery in Aiken, South Carolina. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Italian Sausage and Linguine at the Italian Oven in Stockbridge, Georgia by Ruth Paget

Italians Sausage and Linguine at the Italian Oven in Stockbridge, Georgia by Ruth Paget 

One of my favorite places to eat lunch in Georgia is the Italian Oven in Stockbridge about thirty minutes south of downtown Atlanta. 

On my most recent visit to the Italian Oven, I tried several dishes that I could make at home with a little planning even if I do not have the restaurant’s secret seasoning mix. Every southern restaurant seems to have a secret seasoning mix, which makes it only possible for reviewer’s to give an approximation of a dish’s flavor. However, it is worth describing dishes for their nutritional and economical value. 

The first dish I tried at the Italian Oven is a perfect example of these values: sautéed slices of yellow Italian squash with lemony yellow horseradish mayonnaise. The squash slices were very thin from being cut with a mandolin. Squash is a little bland without a coating of horseradish mayonnaise that clears your sinuses and makes you feel healthy from all the Vitamin C in the horseradish 

My main dish was sautéed Italian sausage with strips of sweet red peppers sautéed in olive oil with garlic with linguine added. This dish requires two sauté pans in addition to a pot of boiling water for the linguine.

In the first pan, you sauté slices of Italian sausage until they render fat. The sausage they use at the Italian oven is pork from an acorn-fed pig. The sausage is dark colored with a nutty flavor. When the sausage is sautéed, it has a beautiful aroma of anise (black licorice flavor) from the fennel that is used to season it. This pan’s contents cook while the second pan also has items cooking. 

In the second pan, you sauté strips of sweet red pepper with garlic and olive oil until they are soft. Then, once the linguine is cooked, you add the drained linguine to the sweet peppers and toss them together. After that, you add the sliced cooked sausage to the linguine as toss them together. 

This aromatic combination arrives at the table sizzling hot at the Italian Oven where they grate Parmesan cheese over it. This dish is delicious for someone like me who likes pork. 

For dessert, I at a classic layered tiramisu dessert made with Savoiardi lady finger cookies, mascarpone cheese, stiff whipped cream, espresso coffee, coffee liqueur, and cocoa powder dusted on top. This dessert is a luscious treat for coffee lovers. 

Without reservation, I would say that this was another superlative meal at the Italian Oven in Stockbridge, Georgia that I would recommend to other diners. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Thriftbooks.com is carrying my books!

Thank you Thriftbooks.com for carrying Eating Soup with Chopsticks!

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chosticks and Marrying France

Thank You Biblio.co.uk by Ruth Paget

Thank you Biblio.co.uk for carrying my book Eating Soup with Chopsticks!

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Mager’s & Quinn is Carrying my Book by Ruth Paget

Thank you Mager’s and Quinn Booksellers in Minneapolis, Minnesota for carrying my book Eating Soup with Chopsticks about living in Japan as an exchange student!

Best wishes,

Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe Created by Ruth Paget 

Serves 4 

Ingredients: 

-1 pound bag of cleaned lettuce 

-6 medium Campari tomatoes 

-1/2 red onion 

-black, pitted Kalamata olives (optional)

-4 chicken breasts (about 1 pound all together)

-3 tablespoons olive oil 

-oil and vinegar dressing or lemon juice and oil dressing 

Steps: 

1-Rinse 1 pound lettuce in cold water and drain it to perk it up and chill it. Mound lettuce in a large serving bowl. 

2-Rinse tomatoes. Cut them into sixths. Place tomato slices in a separate bowl. 

3-Peel red onion and slice it thinly. Place onion slices in a separate bowl. 

4-Place black olives in a separate bowl.  

5-Cook chicken for 5 to 6 minutes per side. Cut to verify it is thoroughly cooked. The flesh should be white not pink when it is cooked. Cut the chicken into cubes and place in a separate bowl. 

6-Place on all bowls on table with serving utensils, so diners can personalize their salad.

If possible, sprinkle fresh chopped chives or parsley on the salad.

(Note: You can substitute tuna, canned black beans, sesame seeds, or cheese cubes for the chicken or offer all of them for an eclectic dinner party.) 

(Note: Table wine can easily be turned into vinegar to use in vinegar and oil dressing - 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard for 2 to 3 people.  Maille or Pommery Dijon mustards are both good.  Sunflower oil can be used for a true Burgundy vinaigrette.)

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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