painperdu

Arriving in Havana - and a Mojito Recipe

 Ah, Cuba- where do I begin?

 

It is ironic that I would arrive in Cuba - a country about which many Americans would say there is no freedom there - during a week when a few have been free, in the United States, to disrupt the lives of so many.

 

A little over 2 weeks ago, I boarded a charter flight in Miami, filled with other tourists and many Cuban expats. 

 

The expats were carrying all sorts of merchandise - T.V.’s, computers, baby carriages - to bring to their families in Cuba. Our Cuban guide later told us that even at the $20 per pound fee the charter flight levies, it’s still the cheapest way for Cubans to get these products. There was a palpable air of excitement among them. One was wearing a paper and plastic bejeweled “Happy Birthday” crown.

 

When the plane touched the ground in Havana, the Cubans broke into a hardy round of applause. I don’t know how this practice originated, but I took it to be a sign of joy that they were back in their homeland, and it gave me goosebumps.

 

We entered into a small nondescript airport entry room. There were a few guards with very friendly looking little doggies sitting at their feet.

 

 “They’re drug dogs,” one of our group said.

 

 “They look so friendly and laid back,” I responded.

 

“That’s all right, they know what they’re looking for.”

 

“Ah - so they’re profiling dogs.” 

“Yes, profiling drug dogs,” we all laughed.

 

The dogs eventually got up and wandered through the small crowd, wagging their tails and sniffing around the bags. 

 

After a brief time in the airport waiting room, we were met by our wonderful Cuban guide and driver - Martin and Felipe. We had already met up with our unlikely American tour leader, Tracy, a lovely Southern belle from Georgia who has fallen in love with Cuba, the night before in Miami. Turns out, Cuba has a very stringently enforced drug law. Martin told us- any amount, of even marijuana - 25 years in jail. 

 

I suppose that’s an understandable position, as the government of Fulgencio Batista which Fidel Castro and his forces overthrew, gave its tacit approval to (and greatly profited from) the Mafia’s turning Cuba into a huge international drug trafficking port. Martin reminded me later that Cuba is an island closely surrounded by countries where drugs are plentiful.

 

We finished up fairly quickly at the airport, loaded on to our bus, and off we drove to Revolucion Square.

 

Edwin, my fellow tourist and a Nuyorican, who, like me, keenly felt his kinship and shared history with Cuba, and who also like me, had looked forward to this trip for years - whispered to me that this was still a surreal experience for him, as we stood on the square, looking around us at the 1940’s and 50’s autos, and the huge icons of Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos, both heroes of the Cuban revolution. Indeed, it took a while to sink in that we really were on Cuban soil.

 

After our stroll around the square and a brief ride around central Havana, we were driven to Old Havana, a district in the heart of the city, which is the core of original Havana, and is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

 

I searched in our walk through it, and over the next couple of days, for signs of commonality with New Orleans - the Plaza de Armas, so similar to Jackson Square and Pirate’s Alley, the former Place D’Armes - even the name tiles are the same as the street name tiles in New Orleans - the narrow streets lined with Spanish style houses built so close together but yielding sights of lovely expansive courtyards within, even a little storefront tavern in a private house, so reminiscent of many I passed by as a child in the 7th Ward.

 

Then it was time for lunch, where we were served our first welcome cocktail (usually a Mojito, but Cuba Libres were available, too), and were entertained by the first of many bands (music is everywhere in Cuba) that played for us during our visit.

 

You'll find a recipe for Mojitos and more pics on the next page...

My Welcome Back Home Dinner at Fleming's Steak House

 

You know how it is when you return home from traveling. There are loads of laundry to do, stacks of both snail and e-mail to look through, phone calls to return - ah, and then, there’s getting out to do some grocery shopping so you’ll have something edible in the house.

 

Fortunately, as I was going through my e-mails in my first couple of days back from my trip, I came across an invite to a fabulous wine pairing dinner at Fleming’s Steak House and Wine Bar in Beverly Hills - which is just about to launch new menu items - and several of us media folks were invited to preview it. Am I a lucky lady, or what? Yeah, I can put off the grocery shopping another day.

 

Okay, I’m not a huge, big meat eater, but I do enjoy a great burger once a month or so, and a good steak once or twice a year. And, of course, I always love good wines with my meals - did I mention that this was a steak and wine pairing dinner, at a restaurant renowned for its wine list? Fleming’s offers what they consider not to be missed wine selections, over 100 of them by the glass.

 

Here’s another fun thing Fleming’s has introduced - the WinePad, an IPAD that’s not only filled with wine selections, but is an interactive tool to help customers navigate the wine list - by varietal, even just by mood, with their wine pairing selections. Come on - now that’s something most of us (even though we may not want to admit it) can usually use a bit of help with.

Fleming's "WinePad"

 

And if the steak dinner wasn't enough, we started with a mound of shrimp, lobster and various kinds of crab (paired with a Schramsberg- one of my favorite bubblies - Blanc de Blanc), which as you all know, I'm definitely up for more than once a year.

For that once or twice a year steak dinner, it’s a rib-eye that I want, and Fleming’s had Prime dry-aged to offer me, with a selection of “Steak Companions” to complement. I chose the King Crab with Herb Butter to top my steak (paired with a Round Pond Cabernet Sauvignon), but I have to admit, I kind of wished I had changed my mind when I saw the Truffled Poached Lobster with Béarnaise atop the steak served next to me. There were even “Steak Spreads” just to gild the lily even further - my fav - Gorgonzola and Mascarpone Brûlée, although most people at the table seemed to prefer the Sweet Bacon Jam. And with a yummy Potato Gratin, and Garlic and Rosemary Roasted Cipollini - well, I thought my life was complete, until the Cappuccino S’mores paired with an intensely rich dessert wine called Chambers Muscadelle (from Australia) was served. All I can say is, if you ever have a chance to taste this wine, jump at it.

 

Thanks Fleming’s, for making my re-entry to Los Angeles so tasty.

 

Ah, one more thing- because I could not possibly finish eating all that was on my plate there, I was sent home with a doggie bag which included a link to the chef's site for leftover steak recipes. How sweet is that?

Keep checking back, 'cause I'll be sharing on my Cuba trip soon ...

 

In Miami - Flying to Cuba Tomorrow

Fish may fly through the purple sea; Golden birds take to air.

I am bound to the earth it seems; My life can seem so unfair.

Only in Miami is Cuba so far away.  - Max Groenenthal

 

 

As I delved deeper into studying the history of New Orleans, it became clear to me that one could not be interested in the history of New Orleans without also being interested in Cuba.

 

I have wanted to do this for years now. There were stories I heard that caught my attention - my father's uncle was a cigar maker - and things I read - immigrants from Spain stopping off in Cuba on their way to Louisiana, regular travel and trade back and forth between Havana and New Orleans - that fueled my sense of connection. My mother told me that there were choir exchanges between the two cities when she was a young music student.

Then I read Ned Sublette's brilliant book, The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square. He writes "The 1962 U.S. embargo of Cuba was also in effect an embargo of New Orleans, taking away a chunk of what has been the city's core business and damaging the economy of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast." 

Even more significantly to me, he states that "more than forty years of communications blackout between New Orleans and Havana has clouded our memory of how important that link was, from Spanish colonial times through the 1950's."

 

He goes on, quoting from a private interview with renown scholar on Creole New Orleans, Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, "Shortly after the Spanish (in the 1780's- around the time my original Spanish ancestor arrived in New Orleans) took over, it became heavily Kongo in New Orleans." Then he says this - "if we want to have some idea of what Kongo culture in New Orleans might have been like, all we have to do today is visit Cuba."

 

It's like being cut off from a branch of ones family. So off I am going - hoping for some echo of my past, some link to my history, some key to a deeper understanding of who I am. 

 

Of course, it has not been easy for Americans to visit Cuba. I have been thinking about it for many years now, but the opportunities have risen and fallen depending on who is in the White House. Now that my chance has come, I've found myself excited at times, and also waking up fearful in the wee hours, as the day has grown nearer. I've talked to others who have visited - one who hated it, and two others who have loved it, and found it a "magical" place.

 

So, what will I find? Some slight resonance, maybe - a kinship, or maybe nothing at all. We'll see. 

Touring Jordan Winery's Estate - and Harvest Lunch

Am I a lucky lady, or what?

 

A few weeks ago, I was invited (for the second time) to Jordan Winery in Healdsburg, CA. This time it was to experience their estate tour. 

A grapey aroma permeated the air, as I was escorted to the guest house the evening before the tour. 

"Yes" said the escort, "it's crushing season. There's lots of activity here now."

"The first shift of workers arrives very early to meet the first truck of grapes, about 5 A.M."

 

"So the grapes are picked at night" I ask.

"The picking begins at about 11 P.M., and goes straight through the night, for both the sake of the grapes and of the workers. The kitchen serves 3 meals a day here, to suit the workers. Depending on their schedules, the staff here is served either breakfast, lunch and/or dinner."

 

And this time of year, there's a harvest lunch open to the public, to which I am also invited.

 

It was the smell of yeast that greeted me when I opened the windows later that evening - the smell of fermentation. 

 

After the lovely continental breakfast brought to my room, I join several others for the tour. Although it was sunny and warm - in the low 80's -  when I arrived the afternoon before, the morning is socked in with heavy fog. Good for the grapes, though, right? That's precisely what makes this a great wine area.

 

We climbed into the Sprinter van, and started our day (guided by the lovely Claire), first to visit the estate's animals, and then the gardens. Being the Southerner at heart that I am, I was very happy to see a beautiful okra pod with its showy flower growing in the garden. Then it was on to visit the grapevines.

 

Next, we were off to a lakeside setting for our first tasting and food pairing, where we spotted an egret and heron, as we tasted small bites of Coconut Scented Nigiri Rice with Pickled Plums and Vegetables (paired with Chardonnay) packed in charming little oval boxes.

 

From there, it was a drive to the top of the estate where a newly built glass-enclosed dining house awaited us, the dining table filled with elegant individual wooden trays of cheeses and estate grown olive oil samples paired with both Jordan's Chardonnay and Cabernet, and lovely individual Staub casseroles filled with Mirin Glazed Sonoma Beef and Brasied Vegetables - one of which was that lovely okra from the garden. We dreamily enjoyed all of it as we soaked in the sweeping vistas below, and hawks and vultures flying overhead. 

 

Right there was enough for a perfect day, but then it was on to join the harvest lunch where we leisurely dined on dishes utilizing the estate grown produce, and sat and chatted with, Greg Miler, Director of Wine (isn't that a great job to have!)

 

Yes, I am a very lucky lady, sigh...

 

Oh- but you , too, can enjoy these things- the estate tour is open to the public, from mid-April through mid-November for $120, and the Harvest Lunch as a reward to Jordan Wine Club members.

 

More pictures on the next page...

Chatting with Chef Jason Giles of Monterey's Portola Hotel

Private Dining Room at Jack's Restaurant

 

In my last post, I began telling you about my stay at the Portola Hotel in Monterey. On Saturday night, we were treated to a beer and food pairing dinner, designed by Chef Jason Giles, in the private dining room of Jack’s Restaurant at the Portola.

 

Chef Jason served us a very inventive menu (which I’ve posted below), each course created to pair with a specific beer. Okay - I’m not much of a beer drinker, but I did give the tastings a try, before Janine, the hotel's wonderful general manager, graciously brought out a great bottle of Rosé from their cellar for me. Wasn’t that sweet of her?

 

Turns out Jason’s not a big beer drinker either, so I asked him about his process in creating the menu. 

 

“I rely on meeting with the brewer (the hotel’s in-house brewer, Kevin Clark), and talking with him. I find out what he was thinking when he brewed a particular beer. From there, it’s trial and error- I find out what works and what doesn’t work. For example, I learned that a ‘hoppy’ IPA doesn’t particularly work with spice, even though every one associates something like spicy Asian foods with beer. Lagers work, as they have a richer, more rounded flavor. Whereas that ‘hoppy’ IPA is great with something like a ribeye steak, as it cuts through the fat, and the flavors of both the beer and the steak come through well."

 

“Then I just have fun with the menus.” 

 

Indeed. We started with a Lemon Thyme Popcorn paired with a blond ale. “You know, we did brewer’s dinners once a month for 18 months. We started every one of them with a flavored popcorn, and that was my favorite.”

 

“And the Corn and Grape Soup- that was so unusual- how did you come up with that?”

 

 “Corn is so perfect this at that time of year - late summer into early fall. I don’t have to do much to it. I like to add a contrast of textures and even temperatures, so I added the grapes cold at the last minute. And the corn is sweet, but the grapes add a different sweetness.”

 

“Has it stayed on the menu,” I asked. 

 

“I brought it back last year. I like to offer seasonal soups, and switch them out every couple of weeks or so. We had a green garlic and potato one this spring, and a pea soup with a lemon broth. Initially, it was served with crumbled bacon, but now it’s a vegan version, to accommodate the rise in request for those dishes.”

 

I ask him if he minds the upswing in special request diets- vegan, dairy free, gluten free.

 

 “Well, I’m sure it’s easier being located where we are. My chef de cuisine and I shop every week at our local farmer’s market. We’re able to create menus from what we find there. Even for our larger needs, like banquets, we source from Swank Farms, one of the larger, local, organic farms in Hollister.”

 

He also adheres closely to the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch when it comes to the seafood he uses. So I had to ask, are there “no-no” seafood products that you really miss using. 

 

“There are things I miss, but I understand that we have to preserve the oceans and product for future generations.”

 

Salmon, year round, came up immediately.

 

 “It’s so difficult, because it’s so popular, and it’s tasty. We serve local salmon when it’s in season, but people expect it all the time, and ask for it. And shrimp - we use Gulf shrimp, but there’s more work involved for us. We have to peel and devein them, and then Gulf shrimp are smaller than (farmed) Tiger shrimp. We miss having a jumbo shrimp we can stuff, or wrap with prosciutto and grill, but the Aquarium does a good job working with chefs, talking to us, and they’re constantly looking for underutilized fish, and suggesting ways we can use them. Black cod, for example, was formerly mostly byproduct, and now it’s a premium fish.”

 

 “And I’m passionate about this whole issue,” he adds. “I think chefs in our day and age are a little more creative given the product they have to work with. More thought goes into how they cook and what they use, as opposed to relying on the same old tricks.”

 

I noticed from his resume, that he also spent some time as a pastry chef at a restaurant in Salinas.

 

“I enjoy doing pastry work, as opposed to many chefs. For one thing, I have an insatiable sweet tooth,” he admits. “And the two processes are so different. I’m not much good at drawing. I can’t get the pictures in my head out on to paper, but when I cook, I can be creative. My artistic side comes out. The pastry work appeals more to my scientific side - getting the right balance and structure, making sure a cake comes out right every time.”

 

Well, I can tell you this. The Portola serves a killer chocolate chip cookie! 

 

I have recreated the Lemon Thyme Popcorn recipe for you. It's on the next page, and also posted Chef Jason's menu...

 

By Peaceful Waters- Driving up to Big Sur and Monterey Bay

"By peaceful waters He leads me, to revive my soul."  Psalm 23

View from the deck of Café Kevah at Nepenthe, Big Sur

 

Just about 2 years ago, I was invited on a weekend media trip to visit Monterey. The invite came at an extremely difficult time in my life and I wondered if I should go at all. But in discussing the opportunity with my family and a friend who was helping us at the time, I decided to take the time out. "The next few weeks will be hard, there will be a lot of work", the friend told me, "if you can take a break and rest, I would do it."  

 

So off I went, driving up the Pacific Coast to spend a couple of days. I have driven up and down Highway 5 (the quicker route) to the greater Bay Area countless times in my life. I know it like the proverbial back of my hand, but even though I enjoy the drive, it's not particularly inspiring scenery. The Central Coast of California, however, is another story altogether. 

 

It's a sparsely populated, heavily forested area - filled with old growth redwoods, and jaw dropping views of the ocean from elevated heights. I stopped in for lunch at Café Kevah at Nepenthe, a quirky spot perched high above one of those vistas in Big Sur. The food was all right, although nothing extraordinary, but sitting on the deck, enjoying the above view, I felt as if I was in a whole other world. Actually, I had that feeling more than once in traveling up the Central Coast.

 

And then I reached the little town of Monterey, situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, where I was the guest of the Portola Hotel. The hotel is an environmentally friendly, Silver LEED certified space. In a move to meld the indoor and outdoor spaces, even the lobby of the hotel was built right around the trees to preserve them. Ah - and the hotel is pet friendly, too, so there were quite a few pooches warily sniffing around each other as I checked in.

 

The lobby of the Portola Hotel

 

General manager, Janine Chiccourat, made sure our every need was attended to.

 

These fabulous chocolate cookies were waiting for me up in my room:

There was a meet and greet cocktail hour a little later, and then it was off to a private dinner at Rancho Cielo, overlooking the Salinas valley. A former judge in the juvenile court system - and friend of Janine's and her husband, Dave -  had begun a culinary program there to train at risk young people he had grown tired of seeing pass through his revolving door. Over dinner, they explained to us the divide in Salinas County, where on one side of "the lettuce curtain,"  there is tremendous wealth (for example, Carmel is the home of Clint Eastwood), but the other side was populated mostly by agricultural workers with little opportunity.  

 

The next morning I was wakened just before dawn by the distant calls of sea lions. I found that delightful, but as we sat at dinner later that night, Dave told me other guests had complained about it. What is wrong with them - we both shook our heads, wondering.

Later in the morning Janine took us on a trip to join ag against hunger to glean in a broccoli field (even this second picking filled a very large truck which was sent off to a food pantry). I was grateful, however, that she didn't pack every minute of our weekend, as can sometimes happen on media trips. The afternoon was left free for us to wander on our own. While there are several galleries and shops just up the street from the hotel, and great wineries nearby, I gratefully relaxed and had a wonderful massage at their in house spa.

 

That evening we met for a beer and food pairing dinner, prepared for us by Chef Jason Giles, at Jack's Restaurant, the hotel's fine dining room. I hope you'll come back for my next post, where I chat with Jason about how he pairs beer and food, among other things.

 

Gleaning in a broccoli field in Salinas

 View of Monterey Bay from the Portola Inn

 

Loving Baking More Than Anything

Lemon Pound Cake

 

Several years back, I used to travel up to the San Francisco Bay Area to meet with the Baker's Dozen, a like-minded group, open to anyone who loved to bake, which I was first introduced to while in culinary school in San Francisco. You never knew who you might meet or sit next to at a meeting- it could be a very famous cookbook author, or could be a secretary who just happened to be passionate about baking. Everyone was there to willingly share their baking expertise and experiences with each other.

One of the leaders of the group was baking teacher and cookbook author par excellence, Flo Braker. When I was starting out in catering, one of the caterers I worked for always spoke of Flo as being her favorite cooking teacher. And it's no wonder. She is blessed with the just about the sweetest demanor a person could possess, as well as being an exacting baker.

At one meeting, Flo was a featured speaker, and made this statement "Next to my family, I love baking more than anything." That moment stuck with me for years afterwards, because she had such a dreamy look in her eyes and loving quality in her voice when she said those words. She was so adorable.

 

Years later, I recounted the story to her. This is what she said, in response - "And I meant it, too."

 

This wonderful Lemon Pound Cake is adapted from Flo's Sour Cream Pound Cake recipe, originally printed in The Baker's Dozen Cookbook, a compilation of recipes from some of the group's more well known members - ah, and with a small entry, in the glossary notes, by yours truly, too.

Bread Pudding with Sautéed Peaches - or Pears

Bread Pudding with Sautéed Peaches

 

Bread Pudding sits at the top of the list of the limited dessert repertoire that developed in traditional New Orleans cuisine. Could have something to do with the hot and humid climate. Who would have wanted to turn on the oven to produce cakes and pies? And items like croquants or spun sugar didn't stand a chance in the humidity. But we do love Bread Pudding, and Lousiana's Creole cooks' thriftiness superceded their heat phobia - they hated to waste any of the French bread traditionally eaten with every meal. We indulge in it all year round.

 

At the end of summer, I hurry to pair it with the last of our peach crop, which here in L.A., will last for a couple more weeks. But not to worry, when our peaches are done, fall is nipping at summer's heels, and there will be pears to sauté with a brandy, or a tasty liqueur, to serve alongside my bread pudding.

 

Bread Pudding 

• 5 ounces stale croissants or brioche *, cut into small pieces
• 2 cups half and half
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 4 ounces sugar
• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• 1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
•  8- 4 ounce ramekins, well buttered 

1. Mix together the bread, raisins and coconut. Fill the ramekins loosely with the bread mixture. Alternatively, the pudding may be baked in a small well buttered loaf pan, and sliced to serve.
2.  Scald the half and half.
3.  Blend together the eggs and sugar. Slowly whisk the scalded cream into the  egg/sugar mixture, then pour the mixture evenly into the molds. 
4.  Bake at 350 degrees until set, about 20 minutes.
5.  Allow the puddings to set before unmolding them onto a plate, or slicing. Serve napped with Sautéed Peaches or Pears (recipes below).

* New Orleanians traditionally make Bread Pudding with leftover staled French Bread (some are quite adamant about it), but leftover Brioche, Croissant or Danish pastry make a delicious, somewhat fluffier - and richer- bread pudding. 

Recipes continue on the next page...

Cool Summer Cocktails - Wild Hibiscus Margaritas

The Labor Day weekend, in many parts of the country, signals an end to summer and the start of cooler days. Here in Los Angeles, it's usually when things begin to heat up. This summer we had a particularly cool July and August, but September is coming in with a vengeance. We sweltered through the Labor Day weekend! So that means there's still plenty of time to drink cool summer cocktails, and here in So Cal we especially love Margaritas.

When it comes to Margaritas, I tend to be a purist (just the lime - with maybe just a squeeze of some other citrus, thank you), unlike my brother, on the other hand, who loves to blend fruit in his - strawberries, nectarines, raspberries, mangoes, passion fruit - you name it, he’s thrown it in. I don’t know, to me that’s too much like a smoothie (which I’m also not terribly fond of) with alcohol. They’re just too sweet, and well, too viscous for something I drink to refresh my palate.

 

But last spring, when the family gathered for a Cinco de Mayo lunch, we had planned to make a pitcher of Marg.'s with some Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup (an item created, as the legend goes, when a wildflower floated its way into a glass of bubbly) - a gift from my friend and their PR rep, Ronnie Campbell. And you know what? It was just right, not too sweet, as the flowers have a bit of their own tartness. They’re a drop dead gorgeous color, and really, they’re not that far from being authentic, either, as hibiscus flowers (known as jamaica in Spanish) are used to flavor one of Mexico’s most popular thirst quenchers.

 

Enjoy!

 

Recipe on the next page...

 

A Special Farewell Party for Justin

Mocha Fudge Cake with Caramel Sea Salt Icing

 

My young cousin, Justin, spent many an afternoon with me in his 3rd through 4th, or so,  year of life, while his mother was at work. He would drive around with me as I ran my errands (I found out this weekend that listening to NPR on my car radio was a formative experience for him). We would sometimes bake cookies when his older brother, Byron, and his cousin, Martin, joined us after school. We’d often take walks and see magical things - like pelicans feeding, and sea lions diving in and out of the water - along the bike path in the Marina with my dog, Angel.

 

“Angel- you mean like those things with wings?” Justin asked, a bit impertinently, when my mother introduced them. Mom chuckled, “like those beings that watches over us” she said.  One day, on one of those walks, when I took a break from the non-stop chatter we were engaged in, Justin said “Aunty G., let’s talk about stuff some more.”  

 

Right there was a clue to where Justin was headed in his life. It turns out Justin is possessed with an extraordinary mind. He swept so many awards at his at El Rodeo Middle School graduation ceremony, that his mother, my cousin, Illona, said it almost became embarrassing.

 

From there, he was offered a scholarship to The Thacher School, a prestigious private boarding school. Illona had a very difficult time letting him go, but was convinced by those in our family who are educators, that this was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. Justin expressed the most excitement about the prospect of having his own horse while there, although he told me the one time I visited him there, that he had spent the whole day in poop. When he graduated from The Thacher School, he was awarded The Thacher Cup, which is described as being given to the one individual that exemplifies “all of the ideals that represent Thatcher: academic excellence, extracurricular achievement, moral leadership, and concern for others”. My young cousin, Aida, wrote in her blog, allboldeverything.com that as they sat  “listening to the school’s headmaster describe the final award, I know we were all thinking the same thing, ‘it has to go to Justin’.” And amid a flood of tears, they heard these final words “and he will be leaving for New Haven, Connecticut this fall..."

 

Justin flew off this morning to begin his journey as a student at Yale, his choice of several universities that wanted him. 

 

Our Justin is as humble and laid back as he is brilliant, so even though he didn’t really care about it, last weekend we threw a big party to bid Justin farewell. Oh -  he did care enough to let me know he wanted a chocolate cake with caramel sea salt icing.

 

Justin