J.D.

J.D. Salinger is dead. I think we should all re-read The Catcher in the Rye. Holden was a part of so many high-school english classes.

Franky speaking

The first Frank Lloyd Wright building that I remember seeing was the Guggenheim when I was 15. We were living in Connecticut and my Dad took us on a tour of New York City. Having grown up in the South, where buildings were very conventional and conservative on the whole, the Guggenheim was an amazing sight to behold. A few years later I learned a bit more about Wright when I took an Art History class in college. There was quite a lot of discussion on his contribution to 20Th century architecture. The gem that was talked about the most was Falling Water - perhaps because it was in Pennsylvania and so was my University. I found my way to Falling Water years later. I was going to visit my parents in central Pennsylvania - I had some of my children with me - and as often happens with my children, we ventured off of the main path to look for some interesting diversion. We found it in the woods of western Pennsylvania. What a wonderful retreat to come to from big, noisy, industrial Pittsburgh! Time marches on and my husband took our two oldest daughters to Arizona for a graduation present. They came back in love with the desert and raving about Taliesin West. They shared their adventure and photos and once again I was hooked by Wright. I wasn't able to go to Arizona, but I did pack the kids up in the car and off we went to explore Taliesin East in Spring Green Wisconsin. What an interesting place. Here in this bucolic setting, the family complex is filled with stories and ghosts of Wright and his family, lovers and friends. If you live in the Midwest, this is definitely a place worth visiting. They have wonderful guides who can talk about both the architect and his architecture. And they have a nice little cafe with good desserts and of course a gift shop. Last year we took our youngest daughter to Arizona to look at possible schools and to explore. And finally I had the good fortune to be able to visit Taliesin West. I really understand the allure of the desert having lived in the Midwest for the past 30 years. There is something so awe inspiring about the colors and textures and vegetation and the natural warmth of the place. The Taliesin complex is so interesting and organic. I think the fact that both of the Taliesin complexes are working architectural studios is a real tribute to Wright and his ideas. And so this brings me to my latest "new" trip. After exploring Frank and his architecture all over the country I realized that the beginnings of his craft were right here in my own back yard. The town of Oak Park is only about a 40 minute drive from my home. Oak Park is a lovely town filled with some truly beautiful examples of Victorian architecture and many Wright homes. The Frank Lloyd Wright house and studio is located at 951 Chicago Avenue. This is about 10 miles west of the Chicago Loop. For $15 a person, you can receive a guided tour of the house and studio. Our guide was a gentleman named Gary, who did a very thorough job explaining the history of the house and studio. I have to say that he didn't go into any of the gossip issues that our guide of Taliesin East provided. Too bad! He did a great job at explaining the architectural details and history of the home and also briefly of the neighborhood. I don't think that I would like to live in one of Wright's homes. I like more light and higher ceilings than many of his homes seem to have. He created a room for his wife that wasn't very practical - she was a tall woman and the ceiling height was so low that I am sure that she had to stoop to go into the the prettiest part of the room near the window. But I did fall in love with the children's playroom - their is a fantastic mural - and his studio. The studio is very interesting. It has ball and chains holding up the ceiling! It has good light and high ceilings and beautiful poured, colored floors that are made out of a material similar to concrete. It has some drama that I don't think the house has. It has columns with capitals that don't touch the ceiling. Was he thinking of floating space or displays or what exactly? A little theater in the round for his clients to partake in? Who knows. All in all, though, considering the age of the building, certainly interesting for its time. If you are looking for a nice little historical adventure, I would recommend it.

Mild mannered start...

Sometimes it is hard to find something that is both new and enticing. I scoured both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods for a tempting delicacy that I had never enjoyed before. I ended up with an organic fuyu persimmon and a Panquehue cheese from Argentina. Both looked interesting. The Panquehue cheese was described as a soft buttery, mild farmers cheese. It was very mild and on the soft side when brought to room temperature. I melted it on some organic black beans. It was fine, although I think that the cheese producers in Argentina aren't any better at making a farmers cheese than our friends to the north in Wisconsin. Go Cheeseheads!

I wasn't sure as to how to prepare and eat the persimmon. Apparently there are two main types of persimmons - the fuyu and the hachiya. I tried the fuyu. It has a very mild flavor - not at all what I was expecting. It tasted a bit like a combination of a cantaloupe and a mango. It was very juicy and on the sweet side. This was a surprise to me, as I was expecting a fruit leaning more towards the tart side. I found a recipe using it in a salad - fresh spinach, mandarin orange slices, persimmon slices and pecans. I used a citrus vinaigrette and I have to say it was delicious. Light and refreshing and not too bad in calories.

This has been a mild gastronomic start of my quest to find new and interesting foods and travels in 2010. Now on to the first journey..

Let the exploration begin

I want to explore some new fruits and veggies. I will admit it, I have never eaten an ugli fruit - they just scare me too much! I have been reading a lot of food blogs and books about food production like The Omnivore's dilemma (fortunately for me I am a vegetarian), Animal Vegetable Miracle, The Botany of Desire, Smitten Kitchen and Super Nartural Cooking just to name a few. I wanted to try and be very green and eat local. I went online to see if anything is listed as being in seaon in the state of Illnois in January. According to the Department of Agrulture for the State of Illinois, nothing is in season right now and nothing will be until March when we have some fresh spinach, asparagus, onions and peas to look forward to. I think I understand why some of or forefathers hitched up those wagons or fords went further West! So I am off to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods to explore some new produce - imported or not.

Hippy hi oh kie yea-Kaths journey in 2010

It dawned on me the other morning when I woke up way too early for no really fun reason that I am middle aged. Has the hippie in me turned to just hippy? IS there any hipster left? I think so. And no time like the present to begin a new adventure and find out. So I have thought about what I would like to start doing and have come up with the notion of trying to explore something new each month and then to write about it. I am going to try visit a new place - this could be as simple as going to a new museum or a new town in the area or if I am lucky, visiting a new state or perhaps with some planning and some saving, visiting a new country or two. To my friends and family, if you want to join me on this adventure feel free to do so - I would always welcome the company and companionship.
And now to start planning for my first adventure in January. Where to go? I will let you know soon...