Quotes

I just finished reading a book called "The Reach of a Chef: Professional Cooks in the Age of Celebrity" by Michael Ruhlman. A fantastic book and a must-read for anyone whose ever been sucked into The Food Network or wandered the shelves of Sur La Tab wondering how so many celebrity chefs got their own brand of cookware.  I loved this quote from the book about "finding" yourself in the kitchen:

"We've all got to eat.  A kitchen is a good place to be, almost always the best place in the house...  A place where you can't lie to yourself. Go to the kitchen.  Wipe down your counter till it shines.  Set out a heavy cutting board. Steel a paring knife and a chef's knife.  Gather your shallots, your parsley, your tomatoes, and the rest of your mise en place, and stand in once place and cook for a long time.  That's the greatest thing about a kitchen- it's guaranteed always to be there, will always be only and exactly what it is.  That's where greatness begins."

While I'm quoting, I might as well share a few quotes I found written on the walls of Delicatus, a favorite Seattle sandwich shop of mine.

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing, and devote our attention to eating"- Luciano Pavarotti

"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well"- Virginia Woolf

"Life is too short for self-hatred and celery sticks"- Marilyn Wann

"Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond , cauliflower is nothing more but cabbage with a college education"- Mark Twain

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food"- Hippocrates