Field Trip to COPIA

After a successful ideation session today with Made in Napa Valley, (who we hooked up with at the Fancy Food Show in Chicago last week), Cici and I took a little field trip down the road to COPIA. For those of you who haven't been yet, COPIA. is "a non-profit, interactive center where you can investigate the fascinating cultural intersections of wine, food and the arts." My favorite exhibit (as always) was Forks in the Road, which explores the roots of wacky American food culture - from Pez to packaged foods to squeeze packets of mustard. It's very interactive - lots of things to see and smell and test your knowledge. And you've gotta love Julia Child's copper cookware collection. Can't wait to go back.

Highlights from the Spring Fancy Food Show

Cici and I had a sucessful trip to the Fancy Food Show Show in Chicago. There was so much to see, it was overwhelming. FMI was like shooting frozen fish in a barrel. (We sure did charm those sales guys!) Here are some of the highlights:

• Saw the Chiquita Banana lady fixing her lipstick in the ladies room
• The House of Blues Hotel guide list the drug overdose hotline #
• The HOB Gospel singers opened with "Nobody Does Me Like Jesus"
• I ate my body weight in Real California Cheese
• We ate the edible paper appetizer menu at Moto
• No one mistook Cici for my adopted Chinese daughter like they did in Tanzania
  

Can't wait for the January show in SF - let us know if you're coming so we can send you an invite to our party.

Meet us at the Fancy Food Show in Chicago April 29 - May4

Let me or Cici know if you're going to be at Fancy Food in Chicago - we'd love to hook up with you - especially if you can get us into the swankiest hospitality suites. (Seriously - we want to party with Tony the Tiger.) We arrive Friday night, April 29th and jet out on Wednesday, May 4th at 8pm. Hook up with us here:

* FRIDAY NIGHT at The HOUSE OF BLUES (our digs for the week). We'll be at the bar trying our best to avoid all the Anthrax metalheads in town for the show.

* SATURDAY NIGHT - We're looking for two other fun people to join us for a five course tasting menu dinner at the hot new restaurant MOTO, where some of the food is "prepared on a Canon i560 inkjet printer on pieces of edible paper made of soybeans and cornstarch, using organic, food-based inks." MOTO was voted one of the "Best New Restaurants in America" by Travel & Leisure in 2004. Check out the glowing reviews from the NY Times and Gourmet.

* SUNDAY @ 12 NOON - GOSPEL BRUNCH at the House of Blues.

* SUNDAY NIGHT - Meet us at SECOND CITY for the 8pm performance of Red Scare, "an explosive exploration of the country’s current political and cultural climate." If you have never been to Second City, you must go - it's always hysterical and it's a great place to catch rising stars - I saw Tina Fey there a few years before she was joined the cast of SNL. Tickets are a steal at only $18 but make sure you get them in advance - it's always a sell-out.

* MONDAY - look for us walking the show floor with our retro 1959 Betty Crocker Cookbook binders. You know me - I'm the blonde - and Cici often gets mistaken for my adopted Chinese daughter (despite the fact that she's older than me).

* TUESDAY AM - help us weasel our way in to see keynote speaker Morgan Spurlock (Supersize Me) over at the Organics Show. We may be at his book signing, too. Then it's back to walking the floor.

* WEDNESDAY - Play day. If Oprah is filming, I am SO there!

Egypt

Eygpt defies description. This slideshow will give you an idea of why it's at the top of my list for places to visit before you die.

Modern Libya

My parents went to Libya in the seventies and my Mom suggested I check it out, so I tagged along with Joe one Christmas. Here's what it looks like today...