My chapters on blogging and restaurant reviewing are in The Librarian’s Handbook by Ruth Paget

My chapters on blogging and restaurant reviewing are in The Librarian’s Handbook sold by Barnes and Noble.

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Moai Lifestyle from Okinawa, Japan Explained reposted by Ruth Paget

I like this explanation of the Moai Lifestyle from Okinawa, Japan that is part of the Blue Zones Healthy Lifestyle Program. (Salinas, California where I live is a Blue Zones community.)

Moai Lifestyle from Okinawa, Japan Explained

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

My article on the Art of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia on Yshoo by Ruth Paget

My article on Art of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia on Yahoo:

Art of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia by Ruth Paget

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Images of the Virgin Exhibit Review by Ruth Paget in Metro Silicon Valley

I like this review I did of the Images of the Virgin Exhibit that appeared in Metro Silicon Valley.  Article below;

Images of the Virgin Exhibit Review

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Thank you National University of Singapore for adding my Virginia book to your collection by Ruth Paget

Thank you National University of Singapore Library for adding my book about Virginia - More Leisure than Money - to your collection.

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Thank you Loot South Africa for carrying my book by Ruth Paget

Thank you Loot Company South Africa (ZA) for carrying my book Eating Soup with Chopsticks.  

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Better World Books is carrying Eating Soup with Chopsticks and my chapbooks posted by Ruth Paget

Thank you Better World Books for my book Eating Soup with Chopsticks and several of my chapbooks.

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Abe Books is selling my books China Hand and Eating Soup with Chopsticks by Ruth Paget

Thank you Abe Books for carrying my first edition books - China Hand )Revised book title - Teen in China) and Eating Soup with Chopsticks.about being an exchange student in Japan.

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

H & R Block Online Tax Preparation Course posted by Ruth Paget

 H & R Block Online Tax Preparation Course Information flows:

H & R Block Tax Preparation Information

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Barnes & Noble is carrying my chapbook The Edible Tao by Ruth Paget

Thank you Barnes & Noble for carrying my chapbook food memoir The Edible Tao: Munching my Way Toward Enlightenment that highlights many ethnic restaurants in Seaside and Marina, California.

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

UChicago Online AI Courses posted by Ruth Paget

University of Chicago Online AI Courses and other Management Subjects Offered this Summer:

UChicago AI and Management Courses

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Ninja Storm Companion Cookbook Reviewed by Ruth Paget

Ninja Storm Companion Cookbook Reviewed by Ruth Paget 

The companion cookbook for the Ninja Storm blender/food processor combination set with blades that can crush ice has several recipes that Salinas and Monterey County California residents can easily make with local agricultural products. 

The cookbook’s official name is Ninja Storm: 50 Quick and Easy Recipes. The following recipes from the cookbook make great use of Salinas and Monterey County California’s agricultural products:  

-Apple-Chicken Sausage – This recipe is worth the price of the cookbook. I have eaten Aidells link apple-chicken sausage for decades, but this recipe for handmade patties is easy to make as well. This recipe calls for olive oil, seasonings, thigh chicken meat cubes, and apple slices mixed in the blender. 

The apples add fiber, Vitamin C, and antioxidants that remove free radicals that can cause cancer from the body to the chicken. The apples also stretch the meat to make it feed more people. For a lighter sausage, you can replace the thigh meat with white breast meat for frying.

-Fresh Vegetable Fritatta – a frittata is an Italian baked omelet made here with broccoli, red bell pepper, onion, garlic, olive oil, and eggs that is blended and then poured into a baking dish with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. 

-Spinach Feta Strata – cubes of day old bread are placed in a casserole dish with a mixture of eggs, feta cheese, and thawed frozen spinach poured on top of the cubes. The strata stays in the refrigerator overnight so the bread cubes can fully absorb the egg mixture before baking the next day. 

-Broccoli – Cheddar Soup which is mixed in the blender 

-Tomato – Basil Soup which can also be used as a sauce. This recipe calls for canned tomatoes, tomato paste, and fresh basil. 

-Cucumber feta dip made with red onion and lemon juice and used as a dip for carrot, celery, and bell pepper sticks 

-Baked Spinach and Artichoke Dip made with thawed frozen spinach, canned artichokes, sour cream, cream cheese, and mozzarella cheese that is baked. 

-Blueberry Antioxidant Sorbet made with frozen blueberries and apricot nectar. 

-Peach (or Strawberry) Ice Cream made with frozen peach slices, lime juice, sugar, and low fat milk mixed in the Ninja Storm. 

All good recipes! 

The Ninja Storm: 50 Quick and Easy Recipes cookbook contains many easy, healthy, and delicious recipes that highlight produce. 

Residents in Salinas and Monterey County will find great use for the region's organic produce in this cookbook including recipes for smoothies, frozen drinks, hummus, ranch dressing, and sauces. 

(Note: Salinas and Monterey County are practically self-sufficient in food.)

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

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Coursera Forex Trading Courses posted by Ruth Paget

Forex Trading (Foreign Exchange Trading) courses offered by Coursera.  Information below:

Coursera Forex Trading Courses

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Coursera App Development Courses reposted by Ruth Paget

Coursera App Development Courses that may be of interest:

Coursera App Development Courses

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

AI Courses offered by Coursera reposted by Ruth Paget

AI courses offered by Coursera follow:

AI Courses Offered by Coursera

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Always Great Pizza at Gino's in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Always Great Pizza at Gino’s in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

My go-to pizza place in Salinas, California is Gino’s located between Wise Music and Nob Hill Supermarket on Main Street (Highway 68). 

For the 4th of July holiday, this is the pizza my daughter Florence Paget and I have been ordering to go along with mangonadas and sundaes from Baskin-Robbins: 

-sweet pepperoni flavored with red pepper that tastes like sweet paprika from Hungary 

-chopped onion that is sweet like Vidalia onions from Georgia 

-beefy-tasting wild mushroom slices that be locally sourced from the mountains around Monterey County 

-melted but not stringy tangy tasting mozzarella di bufala chesse from the Campania region around Naples, Italy 

-sweet tomato-basil sauce to tie everything together 

-firm crust baked to a caramel brown made from 00 pizza flour that was like a soft German pretzel 

Pizza like this one from Gino’s in Salinas, California sets a standard for artisanal pizza.

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

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Hamilton Musical Download for 4th of July posted by Ruth Paget

Hamilton the musical is 4th of July fare!

Hamilton Musical Download Site

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks

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Carnitas Taco Salad at Taquitos in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Carnitas Taco Salad at Taquitos in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

The rodeo is coming to Salinas, California the second week of July, so my daughter Florence Paget and I went to lunch at Taquitos, which is right across from the Salinas Sports Complex where the rodeo takes place on Main Street. 

I ate a Mexican-American classic taco salad, which came with a choice of proteins. I opted for carnitas, roast pork that is cooked with bitter Seville orange juice and the rinds. The Seville orange juice tenderizes the meat and seems to rid the meat of greasy liquid. 

At Taquitos, they place the carnitas chunks in the bottom of a large salad bowl, spread on a thin layer of refried beans, place a thick layer of crunchy and sliced iceberg lettuce on top of the beans, and finish it off with grated Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese. 

On the very top of the salad, Taquitos uses sour cream, juicy chopped tomatoes, and guacamole salad as dressings. The guacamole is also a salad made with chopped onion, chopped tomato, chopped cilantro, and lime juice. Crispy, homemade tortilla chips were stuck in the various sauces. I have to admit, I love guacamole salad dressing.

I ate a third of the salad and made two more meals out of the leftovers at home. 

Diners who like roast pork might enjoy carnitas in this salad or alone as a tasty introduction to Hispanic cuisine. 

(Note: Taquitos is open for breakfast, lunch, and supper.)

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

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Vegetable Simple Reviewed by Ruth Paget

Vegetable Simple Reviewed by Ruth Paget 

Michelin star chef Eric Ripert writes in his introduction to Vegetable Simple that vegetables have become more important to him for three main reasons: 

-he eats more vegetables as he has aged 

-he serves vegetable buffet dinners to his friends for entertaining on weekends 

-he opened a wine bar with a vegetable-centered menu next to his Michelin-starred restaurant 

All of these reasons prompted me to carefully read the easy if you have great vegetables recipes to put together a French buffet dinner: 

Most of the following dishes can be made ahead of time and served cold or room temperature with the exception of the baked mushrooms, which can be placed in the oven as guests arrive: 

-sweet pea soup – made with frozen peas that are boiled in water and blended till smooth with crème fraîche and mint added just before serving. Ripert serves this soup hot, but in the summer I would chill it in the blender and pour it in champagne flutes to set the tone for the vegetable lunch. 

-endive blue cheese salad – the leaves of bitter endive are set out spoke fashion for this dish with a blue cheese-cream dressing place in the center of the leaves in the middle of the spoke 

-grated carrot salad – so simple, so good for your eyes with the Vitamin A in the carrots that is good for the eyes.  So easy to dress with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil. 

-cold basil past salad – a “sauce” of grated fresh basil, garlic, grated Parmesan, olive oil, and pepper fragrantly coat linguine pasta that is preferably made from semolina flour from durum wheat for its protein content 

-baked cremini mushrooms made with the butter used for snails – butter, parsley, and garlic 

-tomato “croquet sel” – fresh tomato halves sprinkled with sea salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil 

-melon balls “au porto” – If you do not have a melon baller, cut cantaloupe into fourths and scoop out the seeds. Place about 2 tablespoons of Portuguese porto in the cavity of the melon. Eat with a spoon to scoop up all the porto. 

This French vegetable buffet is very doable at home with a little planning and well-suited for American potluck lunches where everyone brings a dish to share. 

I like these recipes, because I live in an agricultural community that grows all organic produce (Salinas, California and its surrounding region of Monterey County). 

I also love Vegetable Simple by Eric Ripert for its recipes from many cultures that young people might enjoy making on their days off for international flair on a budget. 

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

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Vietnamese Hue Soup at Chopstix in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Vietnamese Hue Beef and Pork Soup at Chopstix in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

Hue is the ancient capital of Vietnam located in the center of the country. Hue soup at Chopstix in Salinas, California located at the Northridge Mall captures imperial grandeur with first-rate, organic ingredients. (Monterey County grows organic, Asian produce as part of its 200+ vegetables and fruit offered for sale.) 

The Hue soup that I tried on a recent delivery order comes with three generous slices each of roast beef and pork roast. You place these slices of meal over cold vermicelli rice noodles in the delivery bowl provided that also contains bean sprouts, sliced lettuce, Thai basil, cilantro, jalapeño peppers, and lemon wedges for squeezing over everything. 

The beef bone broth you pour over these items is already spicy, but I like to add a little sriracha for extra vitamin C. 

The meat in the Hue soup was tender and flavorful and tasted light with all the vegetables and herbs. 

Diners who like meat will probably appreciate Hue soup at Chopstix in Salinas, California for flavor, texture, and citrus flavor from the freshly squeezed lemon juice. 

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

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