Search Results

Chocolate coated waffles caught Cookie's eye resulting in a tasty purchase from Belgium Gourmet ( www.belgium-gourmet.com )  STORY BY CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS BY BRUCE KELLER Talk about having your cake and eating it, too! High on the list of my partner's favorite things are chocolate and sailing. To partake of both in the same day makes him one happy fella. Throw in a pirate or two, to add drama to the mix. So sailing on the Maritime Museum's historic Californian tall ship, munching chocolate confections under piratical gazes simply thrilled him. A pirate and another onlooker listen attentively to the history of chocolate delivered by American Heritage. San Diego's Maritime Museum recently hosted the city's second annual Chocolate Festival.  We gilded the lily by booking passage on the schooner Californian, combining the sweet pleasures of sailing with the taste treats of chocolate. We began our day at the Maritime Museum (more about that next Saturday), exploring a submarine, surveying a series of America's Cup boats, admiring the beautiful Star of India ship and a nicely preserved 1914 pilot boat, not showing its near century of service. Then we boarded the steam ferry Berkeley, and began our chocolate tour on her well polished second floor. Thanks to an engaging tutorial and exhibit presented by American Heritage, we enjoyed a crash course on chocolate. Did you know? * That chocolate has been enjoyed since at least 1100 BC. We had no idea. * That the Mesoamerican people including the Aztecs made chocolate beverages known as "xocolātl" which means "bitter water"? (The chocolate we know today is sweet. But in its pure   American Heritage, of the famous Mars Bars, took festival goers through the creation of hot chocolate, from the pods to the popular beverage. form, the seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste. They are fermented and roasted to develop the flavor we might recognize.) * That the making of chocolate is extremely labor intensive? After fermentation, the beans are dried, then cleaned, and then roasted, and the shell is finally removed to produce cacao nibs. * The nibs are painstakingly ground to cocoa mass, pure chocolate in its roughest but still bitter form. * This cocoa mass usually is liquefied then molded.  So the treat we eat begins as cocoa beans within the cacao pod, making a long and elaborate journey to the candy store. The American Heritage people, a division of Mars of the famous candy empire and popular candy, walked us through the stations of chocolate, from the pod -- resembling a squash -- to a sample of hot chocolate. The hip-looking Secret Cookie Service delivers gourmet varieties of chocolate treats. ( www.thesecretcookieservice.com ) Among the offerings at the seaside chocolate fest on the Berkeley, were wedding cakes, truffles, Belgium chocolate covered waffles, mousse, sauces and compotes, chocolate covered seeds and nuts and delectable toffees, candies and cookies. One of the most fun booths was manned by The Secret Cookie Service.  Two young men, dressed like FBI agents,  complete with skinny neckties, sun glasses and "Blues Brothers" hats, offered freshly baked gourmet chocolate cookies. Their enterprise delivers their cookies in the wee hours of the morning, throughout the city. www.thesecretcookieservice.com Chocolate pizza might be gilding the lily! A festival booth offered samples. And there were other imaginative booths, including one featuring chocolate pizza. Interesting to think of chocolate as a main course because for most of its life on earth, chocolate has not been sweet.  The Europeans were the first to add sugar, syrup and refined milk making chocolate a dessert or treat. Earlier people used it as a kind of coffee, brewing it bracingly for its tartness and enjoying the flavor and kick f the unadulterated bean.  The Mesoamericans enjoyed the beverage and used it as an ingredient in foods, presumably in ways that it is still served today, mixed with shredded meats or beans as a main-course flavoring. Chocolate played a special role in both Maya and Aztec royal and religious events. Priests presented cacao seeds as offerings to the deities and served chocolate drinks during sacred ceremonies. All of the areas that were conquered by the Aztecs that grew cacao beans were ordered to pay them as a tax, or as the Aztecs called it, a "tribute". Watching the labor intensive making of chocolate gives  one appreciation for the creation of the treat. It is true that dogs and cats should not eat chocolate.  That's because of the presence of the alkaloid theobomine. Cocoa solids also contain caffeine, explaining its early popularity as a morning beverage and its continuing use as an eye-opener . Finally, good news for the calorie conscious.  It's okay to have a few bites of chocolate because it has been linked to serotonin levels in the brain. Chocolate, eaten in moderation, can lower blood pressure! But don't feed it to your pets. Saturday's post will shiver your timbers! COMING SATURDAY:  A step back in time to the days of a 19th Century ship.  The Californian sets sail and we're aboard to help hoist the sails. Remember to explore, learn and live. Upcoming posts feature a trip down memory lane with the Manhattan Transfer, and the pleasures of Montana in the early summer. We'll also advise on taking eye-catching  photos and the camera to take them with. Sign up to receive e-mail updates! We post our adventures each Wednesday and Saturday at www.whereiscookie.com

Queen Califia's Magical Circle offers a colorful escape.            Story by Christene Meyers Photos by Bruce Keller      Days ago, we went down the rabbit hole. No, not with Alice, but with Niki.      It was marvelous! Part of me is still there.      We happened upon Queen Califia's Magical Circle on a driving trip. The magnificent creation of the late French artist Niki de Saint Phalle is quietly dazzling.       Picnic and puppies in tow, we were looking for a place to lunch within an hour of San Diego.  We found it in Escondido's beautiful Kit Carson Park, named after the famed frontiersman.  We strolled the grounds with the Yorkies, passing two guys playing frisbee golf.    They paused to pet the pups, chat and reveal that they lived nearby.         "Are you going up the trail?" one asked. "It will blow your mind.  Some eccentric French lady did this crazy sculpture thing. It's a trip. Just follow the trail." The African queen Califia, at top and back, inspired Niki de Saint Phalle's sculpture garden in Escondido.     "Crazy sculpture thing" hardly describes Saint Phalle's magic. Queen Califia's Magical Circle is through the looking glass and beyond.      Named after a legendary black Amazon warrior queen, it is a treasure not to be missed.      Saint Phalle obviously was a smart, dramatic and inspiring artist.  Her California garden tells a story -- of California's mythic, historic and cultural roots.  Nine large-scale sculptures surrounded by a serpentine wall and maze entryway entice the stroller inside. Appropriately, the amazing creation stands on grounds originally inhabited by Indians of the acorn culture. Surely the artist knew this!      Once you're in, you'll want to spend a couple hours studying this brilliant and colorful gift.  It incorporates women, jungle creatures and other elements, with thousands of precisely placed tiles, stones, pieces of glass and breathtaking mosaics. Cookie delights in the garden, patting polished stones  of an intricate mosaic .  It's impossible not to want to touch! The garden is both sensuous and tactile.      It is obvious that the artist inhabited many worlds.  Like many creative people -- artists, musicians and writers -- she was part mystic, part realist, part mature woman and a bit of a tease.  She also had the capacity to live in a child's orbit, an enviable talent.        Despite the sophisticated nature of the work, there is a childlike wonder to the place which makes me wish I'd known her.  Ron McPherson's company, La Paloma, fabricated many of the lush, large and evocative sculptures which were attracting old and young alike the day we visited. They invite touching!  Keller, Nick and Nora relax below the entrance to the sculpture garden.      A little homework provided me with these facts:      She was born in France in 1930, became a painter and sculptor in her youth, married twice and never lost her passion for art. By her twenties, she was gaining fame with her "Nanas," spectacular solo exhibitions celebrating happy, content and free women.      Internationally known and a member of the influential Paris group, "Nouveaux Realistes," she designed major exhibits in Tuscany, Germany and France, including a world-famous fountain in the Georges Pompidou Center in her beloved Paris.   Lucky California was the beneficiary of her genius when her doctor advised moving to a mild climate in 1994.  The artist was ailing from the emphysema which took her life in 2002, but during her eight years in La Jolla, she designed the spectacular gift to southern California and the world.       The gift lives in Escondido, a North county town that most San Diegans don't know well. Niki's sense of the magical and mythical delight, flanked by native trees and shrubs which the city planted.         I had no idea that this wonderful sculpture garden is tucked away in the nearly 300-acre park.  It's a wistful fact that Saint Phalle did not live to see its completion (she died before its opening in 2003) but it's comforting that she was involved in its installation from 1999 until her death. Her San Francisco based granddaughter sits as a trustee of this marvelous gift.      "The artist donated it to the city," says Kristina Owens, Escondido's public arts administrator.  "She always wanted to have a sculpture garden in the U.S., and she loved southern California."      It's ironic that these vibrant sculptures reside in a town whose name means "hidden" because the garden is not splashily advertised. Do people realize how extraordinary it is? How lucky we are?           When one considers the fame and influence of the "new realists" and that Saint Phalle was one of this prestigious group, we should consider ourselves lucky to be within driving distance of her gift.  I was reminded of Gaudi's creations in Barcelona, or some of the imaginative projects of her contemporaries -- Christo, Yves Klein, and Jean Tinguely, her second husband.  Ruth, left, and her daughter join Cookie -- new friends, drawn to the Magical Circle by a talented French-born artist.      Her sculptures make me smile -- and will you, too! The Escondido garden also makes me want to visit her European installations.  I will.     Meanwhile, we can enjoy her buxom, colorful figures, her playful animals, joyous flowers and flirtatious snakes in the lovely environs of Kit Carson Park.    The area is graced by native trees and shrubs.  Niki herself designed sculptural bench seating where one may enjoy the art and truly let it "sink in." Sadly, vandals have chipped away at some of the beauty and time has taken a toll. Some repairs are in order. And the vandalism has necessitated fencing.   Niki wanted her creations to be viewed as "happy and free" and the garden inspires these feelings. While paying homage to imagination, California and the natural world, the garden also encourages discussion and family visits.  Escondido school children make regular pilgrimages, arranged by art teachers. We shared the space with a romancing couple playing classical guitar, and a grandma and her children. "This place is simply amazing. Amazing," she repeated. "Wonderful!"     An endowment has been established to help maintain the gift.  Call 760 839-4331.  To donate, plan your trip, or learn more about Niki, go to:           www.escondido.org/queen-califias-magical-circle.aspx              Kit Karson Park also includes a wonderful aboretum and Iris Sankey Garden, an amphitheater, baseball field, picnic areas, tennis courts, ponds, hiking trails, a golf course and more. Truly a treasure for us all, a thoughtful mix of developed and natural land. Find the magic at 3333 Bear Valley Parkway, heading east then north off the I15. Good mojo awaits!          Coming Wednesday: Birds, birds, birds. Whether on road trips to Montana's Beartooths, a picnic on the beach or hikes and sails around the globe, the feathered friends keep Cookie and Keller  An egret poses behind ducks at Kit Carson Park in Escondido. company.  An homage to these feathered, winged tetrapods that surprise, delight and calm us.       Please tell your friends about us.  Our blog is now being enjoyed on five continents! And keep the comments coming:                                   whereiscookie.com Remember to explore, learn and live!

Yes, jalapeno makes a tasty, zingy, complex brittle. Chocolate candy, of course!  Photos by Bruce Keller  Story by Christene Meyers  "Lots of chocolate for me to eat     ...... wouldn't it be loverly?"    Eliza Doolittle dreamed of endless chocolate so it made me smile that "My Fair Lady" was playing right down the street from the Oregon Chocolate Festival last weekend.    Celebrants and makers of chocolate confections and more reveled in this delightful product and its many incarnations.     Chocolate has a history as rich as its flavor, a versatility as broad as its popularity. Sipping Dreams offers tasty drinks with chocolate.      The Mayans and Aztecs used it for religious events.      The Egyptians buried their royals with it.      Priests offerred it to the gods.      Its known history dates back to 1160 B.C. when it was primarily used as a tangy powder mixed with water and consumed something like coffee.      It took centuries for the Europeans to develop our present day treat.  They added cream and sugar to sweeten the deal.      We Americans eat chocolate whenever we get a chance -- and this reporter had the opportunity last weekend at the ninth annual Oregon Chocolate Festival in Ashland.      It was a chocolate lover's high.      The festival, headquartered at the lovely Ashland Springs Hotel, is the brainchild of Karolina Wyszynska Lavognino, who determined that the town and state needed a formal way to celebrate chocolate.      She would build it and they would come.      We tied the tasty festival into a traditional pilgrimage to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival where we heard Eliza sing her chocolate lyric. Chocaholic Bruce Keller studies literature about the festival and his options!      My partner is an avowed chocaholic.  He sprinkles the powder on ice cream and donuts. He loves it in his coffee and espresso when we're in Europe.  He's a fan of chocolate creme brule, chocolate flavored pancakes, hazelnuts dipped in chocolate and even a jalapeno flavored chocolate which he sampled at the festival and pronounced intriguing.      "You taste the wonderful dark chocolate first, you swallow, then the peppery hotness kicks in!" he exclaimed. "It's a heady trip. Mild heat, fine chocolate, delightful!" Wines that pair well with chocolate were festival options.      He enjoys some form of chocolate    in his lunch every day. A typical co-dependent, I try to feed his addiction by baking endless pans of brownies. He likes it when I throw in pecans or raisins, cranberries and coconut. He likes chocolate with everything -- and believes nearly everything goes with chocolate.      So our two days of devine chocolate decadence were right up his taster's alley.  We sampled chocolate with strawberries, coconut, toffee, liquers, lemon juice, caramel, orange peel and pumpkin puree.      The treats began with a chocolate makers dinner.  Oregon chefs cooked up a flavorful four-course meal with chocolate featured in each offering.      It was, in a word, scrumptious. The Ashland Springs Hotel was alight with festival events.      The arugula and beet-red onion salad was laced with a lemon and cocoa vinaigrette.  The avocado and crab appetizer was served with a white chocolate cheesecake, and the main course was a delicious beef tenderloin with grilled asparagus, mapled sweet potatos and a spicy chili demi-grace.  Where's the chocolate?The beef was rubbed with a coffee cocoa that tenderized and enhanced it.      What fun.      Champagne from Willamette Valley opened the meal and a chocolate ale from Standing Stone Brewing Co. capped it. Dessert was a tangy chocolate mousse with an almond crunch and deep chocolate pretzel bark.      My favorite course was the scrumptious beet salad but it was all sublime -- and the waiters returned several hundred empty plates to the kitchen.  No one wasted a bit of chocolate.      Karolina's skill in attracting vendors drew crowds both days.  The hotel's Grand Ballroom, Crystal Room and Conservatory were filled with artful booths and tables from nearly 50 vendors:  bakeries, brewers, vintners and wineries, chocolate boutiques, candy shops, truffle specialists, gourmet coffee and pastry shops, and even Harry and David, an Oregon institution for its fine fruit, gift baskets and gourmet offerings.      Our opening dinner table mates included Sweet Thang Chocolates, a family owned operation from Drain, Ore., whose motto is "cuz life should be delicious." ( sweetthangchocolates.com ) Chocolate starred in this stately  sweet sculpture, created for the  fest in the Ashland Springs lobby.      Like many of the vendors, Sweet Thang offers high quality candy without wax and gluten. The couple also have personality and will giftwrap and send your treats anywhere. They're the real deal, and that is what Karolina insists on as she assembles the roster of participants.      She also designed two days of demonstrations and workshops to tie in with the chocolate theme.  People tasted beer and chocolate pairings, learned what chocolates go best with which wines, watched chefs create green tea truffles made with white chocolate and learned how to fashion cocktails with chocolate.      The hotel's Waterstone Spa promoted "chocolate spa treatments" -- its chocolate facial spa martini party sold out! And both the nearby Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Oregon Cabaret Theatre offerred a 20 per cent discount on show tickets during the festival.      This gesture is typical of Ashland, which has an active Chamber of Commerce and a true feeling of community. Faces were painted with many colors, including chocolate! Sweet Thang Chocolates won a peoples' choice award for best truffle. Karolina is the brains behind the successful Chocolate Fest.      Participants came from all over Oregon and we mingled with chocolate connoisseurs from southern and northern California, Ohio, Michigan, Colorado, Vermont and several other states.      Even their business names are mouth watering: Chocolate Bliss, Sweet Desire, Exotic Chocolates, Jem Raw Chocolate, The Bliss Bar, Cupcake Daily, Chocolate Dude, Smitten Truffles and more!      Top it off with face painters and a jeweler who makes chocolate-beaded brooches from vintage eye glasses!     These treats are yours next year, at the popular annual Oregon Chocolate Festival.  It's expanding -- along with our waistlines!  Won't the 10th year fest be "loverly"? Nick and Nora can't eat chocolate, but they had treats in plush surroundings at the dog-friendly Ashland Springs Hotel.       Contact Karolina at: karolina@ashlandspringshotel.com  for information about next year's chocolate festival, or to book lodging at the historic Ashland Springs Hotel. The 1925 property is restored to vintage                                   glory making it an elegant host to show off chocolate creations and delight the chocolate loving crowd!                                                     Coming Wednesday:  Four fine but distinctively different dog friendly hotels attract the bloggers and their doggies and get paws up. Check them out with Cookie and Keller, Nick and Nora. Sign up for free, safe posts if you haven't. And please tell fun loving friends about: whereiscookie.com

Pansies are perennial favorites in Ashland, Oregon, and this one was part of a shop windowbox display.    STORY by Christene Meyers     PHOTOS by Bruce Keller          Acres of ice plant are creeping down the hillsides of southern California, turning the countryside lavender, pink, yellow and purple just in time for Easter.      During a frenetic 22-lane freeway foray from Los Angeles back to San Diego yesterday, we admired section after section of brilliant, budding erosion-controlling color. It was the drive's saving grace. California's ice plant is abloom now!      Ice plant is hardy and easy to grow. Certain varieties even look pretty in bouquets.  I love watching it frame the freeways and creep toward the beaches. My state of near iceplant hypnosis prompted my wondering who first had the inspiration to "harvest" flowers and bring them inside.     The art of flower cultivation is time honored.  Uses of floral beauty are as many and varied as the petals on posies.      Greeks staged banquets featuring a floor covered with a foot of flower petals on which honored guests entered the feasting room.        The monks of the middle ages were the doctors of their day, growing and harvesting flowering herbs to treat whatever ailed the multitudes or their fellows.       Egypt, China, Japan and India have rich flower-loving traditions.       Paintings of exaggerated floral arrangements have been popular in Europe for centuries and the Italian Renaissance helped give flower arranging extra spark. By the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, floral displays were commonplace among the upper classes.  A wide variety of materials were used to make containers -- marble, heavy Venetian glass, and bronze, many gracing the world's museums today. This bouquet was delivered to our cruise stateroom, fashioned from flowers grown in the Canary Islands.   It was also during the Renaissance that tropical fruit began to emerge on vases and even in some floral bouquets.  In art, fruit was often paired with popular flowers such as narcissus, pinks, iris, jasmine, pansies, French marigolds, cornflowers and rosemary.       In England, fruits blossoms and leaves were woven into garlands to decorate walls and vaulted ceilings. On festive occasions, petals were piled into baskets to sprinkle on the floors, a custom which probably spawned our present-day "flower girl" wedding tradition. A hike in Stillwater County in Montana's Beartooth Mountains shows a stubborn little wildflower growing from rock.       While flowers were used by the gentry for centuries, large numbers of average people began to appreciate, grow, pick and arrange flowers in the 18th Century.  This was when flowers began to be fashionable around the globe. The Victorians loved color and relied on flowers to help counteract the unfortunate odors of the horrible hygiene of the day.  "Tuzzy-muzzy" bouquets were used to eliminate odors and many believed the aptly named "nosegay" helped counteract disease. (Also spelled tussie mussie, it has some vulgar connotations..... but that's another posting!)   Today's millions of gardeners worldwide enjoy flowers.  They range from ranchers and farmers in my native Montana, whose iris and peony will be shooting up soon, to my neighbors here in San Diego, whose pots of tomatoes, lemons, basil, rosemary and even figs are lovingly tended on tiny townhouse patios. A California poppy brightens up a La Jolla garden.         Whether flowers are in your world to attract birds and bees, provide shade or color, or simply because gardening relaxes, we salute these faithful floral friends.  Their presence provides soothing beauty and often fragrance.      Flowers announce the arrival of spring and the presence of love.  Flowers are food, medicine and peace of mind! Flowers say "forgive me, I love you, be my friend, in sympathy and thanks." They are also inspiration for this humble writer and her photographer partner, whose favorite pictures of posies appear here! Enjoy! A dahlia blooms in a garden at High Chaparral in Montana.     COMING SATURDAY:        In a few days, we plan a little unorthodox fun -- maybe hit the road on  our Harleys, get a tatoo or two, haul out the saxophone, dust off the fishing pole, and say good-bye to our decorous past!        In the spirit of carpe diem, watch for the revels  Saturday, March 30.       whereiscookie.com       Fighting middle age, raging against the dying of the light, Keller and Cookie plan a little fun!     We are happy to be hearing from readers Singapore to Sidney (both Sidney, Montana, and Sydney, Australia!). Today, we received a message from South Korea and heard from a man in Miles City, born in Baghdad. We post Wednesdays and Saturdays at: whereiscookie.com     Please tell those persons who might enjoy.

The Colosseum remains one of tourism's most visited sites.       Story by Christene Meyers      Photos by Bruce Keller      "Rome doesn't compete. Rome just watches all the fussing and striving, completely unfazed. I am inspired by the regal self-assurance of this city, so grounded and rounded, so amused and monumental, knowing she is held securely in the palm of history. I would like to be like Rome when I am an old lady.”   Elizabeth Gilbert, author of "Eat, Pray, Love"         The sights, sounds smells and tastes of Rome linger long after one leaves her.      Is there a city more unique? Some might say New York, London, Stockholm, Rio, Bangkok or Paris.  All have their graces and enticements.      Is there a city more exciting? I've been around the block and most of the world, and I can't think of one.      Rome's mix of decorum and cutting edge, excitement and calm, hipness and history holds it dear to my heart and the hearts of thousands of other poets, painters and tourists dating back hundreds of        years. Pope Francis now calls Rome home. Rome's stately buildings inspire and fascinate, here against a perfect summer sky.          All roads lead to Rome for her grandeur and gaudiness, her enticing ethnic mix, her intoxicating blend of elegance and bawdiness. Here is a city which hosts the Pope and more women in tight pants than anywhere else in the world. So a salute to Francis and sexy women.  Why should they be mutually exclusive? Where else can you admire hundreds of statues and monuments paying homage to the human form, then round a corner to come face to face with a $12-shop-window apron sporting a decal of a fat, happy man flipping a pizza. Oh, yes, he's buck naked! Cookie and Keller at the Trevi Fountain, before the coin toss which guarantees their return!      Rome remains vibrant while historic, trendy while old-fashioned.  There is no other city remotely like her. Once one has strolled the boulevards of Rome, savored her gastronomy, prowled her ruins, there's no looking at other cities in the same way.      Rome endures, literally layering the old upon the new.  The original city is 25 "layers" beneath modern Rome.  One looks down a several-story excavation to see the site where Julius Caesar was assassinated.       I try to get my Rome hit at least once a year.  I'm always reminded of her constancy and her ability to adapt and embrace the new.            I remember having my fanny pinched in the early morning hours when my girlfriend Susan and I hopped off in Milan for a slice of pizza. Rome's architecture continues to change and grow, as ruins are discovered and old buildings restored .       It was fun!  I hope I never stop having my fanny pinched, nor appreciating "fun" when it presents itself. Back then,  I was a cute little teen-aged girls and the pinchers no doubt had had consumed copious amounts of vino. Ice cream in Rome is simply a must.      Rome has changed with me  from puberty to menopause.  Still today, the allure of Rome and all of Italy has never abandoned me.  Through several decades and a couple dozen  visits, I've never stopped loving the country and wanting more.  It is an addiction, not unlike the one I've developed for gelato!  A buggy driver pauses to go on line.       Rome remains a wonderful starting point from which to head south or north, exploring the rest of Italy.  From the cypress groves and vineyards of Tuscany to the canals and bridges of Venice, the villages of Sicily and the picturesque fishing town of Portofino (founded at least 1,200 years ago), Italy will not disappoint. Pause in a Roman holiday.       We once rented a villa half way between Sienna and Florence.                                                                                                                               "How old is this building?" we asked the owner, our host, Gulia.       "Not so very old," she said. "It is only 14th Century."       Recently, we stayed in a lovely harbor suite at Hotel Martini in Olbia, Italia, on the island of Sardinia.  We'd flown from Atlanta to Roma, then spent six hours touring the grounds surrounding the Colosseum with old friend Lucilla, who has her doctorate in ancient Roman history. Back on the plane to Sardinia, with a quick shower and dinner in the old center. Finally we slept after 36 hours, enjoyed a restorative breakfast of cheeses, prosciutto,  brown bread, yogurt, figs and cappuccino. A couple museums, a stop in a local market, pasta in the piazza and plenty of red wine. Rome's museums, fountains, squares and government buildings are legendary.        The next day we rented a car to explore the island's east coast.  Again, we were surprised and delighted: lunch of freshly caught squid, a soak in the sea and  vespers in a 14th Century monastery.   We'll return to Italy and Rome, to toss a coin over our shoulder at the Trevi Fountain.  Lore says that means                           we'll return. So far, it's worked Hollyhocks in their glory, at High Chaparral in Montana.    COMING WEDNESDAY:    Flower power! What would the world be without the wonders of flowers? We'll share some of our favorites from Montana to California, islands, and other continents. Please tell your friends about whereiscookie.com and sign up if you have not yet done so.  Grazie.

Jason Heil, left, and Matt Orduna face off in "Clybourne Park."  It’s been a double-header week for theater – and we’ve spotted the grey whales on their way to the Baja.  We continue our revels as grateful members of the audience for all things natural and theatrical. We’ve been rocking out to Beatles tunes, thanks to a lively performance of “Backbeat” at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles.  Last night, a stellar performance at the Lyceum in downtown San Diego featured a top notch performance of the Tony and Pulitzer prize winning “Clybourne Park.”  An interesting, exhilarating pairing in two magnificent venues.  The Ahmanson is part of Center Theatre Group’s trio of beautiful theaters including the Mark Taper and Kirk Douglas, where we also enjoy world class performances.  We’ve twice stayed at the Omni, with its artful grounds and dog-friendly policy (they even deliver treats to Nick and Nora!). After several trips to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for the Oscars, it’s fun to stroll past the dramatic Walt Disney Concert Hall and into the Ahmanson, and not have to race right to a phone or computer to file reportage.  I can do so in a leisurely fashion – even a few days after. "Backbeat" tells the story of the rise of the Beatles. We attended “Backbeat” with friends Bob and Sue Hulbert, who hosted us to a stay in their Downey, Calif., home, and took us for a spin in their convertible.  Bob is one of Keller’s oldest friends – their paths crossed nearly 40 years ago as divers, surfers and students of the sea, in their university days at the Aquatic Center here in San Diego.  Their bond stretched across continents to the Red Sea. Keller’s two years in Saudi Arabia inspired Bob’s employment there, too.  Both were divers, charged with surveying the coast line.  So the weekend included a slide show of those long-ago days, along with much reminiscing and a surprise or two.  Cookie learned that Keller was briefly JAILED in the Middle East – for splashing water on the jeep of a construction boss. That’s another story. (Thanks for the tip-off, Bob. Keller never mentioned this bit of trivia!) Back to the Fab Five Then Four:  what a trip down memory lane to hear all the famous standards from our long ago youth……. I remember returning from a high school basketball game in the winter of 1965 listening to “She Loves You” in the band bus with my saxophone tucked under my seat.  The L.A. play’s storyline deals with the “fifth Beatle,”  and the band’s rise to fame in the seedy clubs of Hamburg.  It was beautifully acted with inventive staging. The cast included several of the London actors who conveyed the essence of the individuals, the spirit of the rising stars and the energy of the music we all still love. The standing ovation lasted for 15 minutes with a half-dozen encore tunes and an enthusiastic audience singing along and even dancing in the aisles. Lots of grey hair and bifocals caused us to wonder “Who were all those old people?” The San Diego play, in two acts, deals with the happenings within a single house 50 years apart.  While the theme is racism as relating to neighborhoods and real estate, it’s a play of many layers and much subtlety.  Another fabulous cast and impeccable acting.  Each actor played a double role, no easy task.  Kudos to the Rep, and director Sam Woodhouse.  His staging of “The Three Penny Opera” remains one of my all-time favorite productions in a lifetime of theater going.  “Backbeat” runs to March 1 and “Clybourne Park” to Feb. 10.  In March, we will see “The Mountaintop” at the Rep, and “Over the Rainbow” at the Ahmanson.  Several other venues capture our time and imagination – we won’t miss “Chicago” at San Diego Musical Theater, and August Wilson’s “Gem of the Ocean,” at Cygnet Theatre in Old Town, where we saw smashing performances of “Man of LaMancha” and “Sweeney Todd.”  We’re hearing two unique choral groups Valentine’s week (more about those down the road), and we’ll fly north to Ashland, Oregon, for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in late February!  Recent sightings of the migrating grey whales provide Keller with exciting photo ops!  The abundant marine life, birds and Yorkies continue to engage and entertain with their own unique “acts.”  Play on.  This migrating grey whale goes back to the deep, raking the sea floor for food enroute to the Baja for calving. -- Photo by Bruce Keller

Nick and Nora, nicknamed Hodad and Wingnut by Keller, enjoy beach life  at Wind and Sea, a world famous surf spot. The drama continues here in “SoCal” – which has nothing to do with social reform  or calories, but is what locals call this lovely little corner of the planet.  We’ve been watching seals, surfers, actors, birds and last night a wonderful classical guitarist.   The Yorkies and I are happy to be away from the cold of Montana, although the month-long winter hit under the Big Sky had its pleasures. Chief among them: migrating birdies, including two kinds of grosbeaks, inspiring Keller’s hundreds of photos of them, the deer and big horns.  Here in San Diego, even when it’s chilly, we can be outdoors in only a sweater to watch surfers brave the waves. (Sissies call 48 degrees “the cold” here. Weather’s a relative thing.) Hershey Felder appears in his impressive play  about a young Army doctor tending Lincoln. The play looks back from the Depression to the Civil War.  Theater life is fertile and varied.  Northcoast Repertory Theater near us is presenting a lauded production of Willy Russell’s “Educating Rita”  -- I interviewed Michael Caine for the film version years ago -- and  we’ll soon be among the audience for “Clybourne Park,” downtown at San Diego Rep.  The work won both the Tony for best play, and the Pulitzer Prize.  Sunday’s matinee featured Hershey Felder in “An American Story,” a wonderfully imaginative and prodigiously researched work written by and featuring Felder.  The one-man-plus-orchestra show tells the true story of a young Army surgeon Dr. Charles Augustus Leale, who happened to be in Ford Theater that fateful Good Friday, April 14, 1865, when Booth shot President Lincoln.  The character tells his tale from the perspective of a 90-year old man looking back. Felder imbues his doctor with grace, wisdom and a sense of irony.  The venue, the 1928 Birch North Park Theatre, reminded Cookie of the old 1931 Billings Fox which was in its glory when she saw the greats perform in Community Concerts as a child growing up in the 1950s.  Among the distinguished retinue to pass through Billings:  the Barrymores, Marian Anderson, Gregor Piatagorsky, Jascha Heifetz! Thanks to my parents and grandparents for seeing that a musical kid and her Columbus siblings were exposed to many of the great artists of the 20 th Century.   Wherever you are – in that lush concert hall in the sky – know that you made a Broadway baby and lifelong play and concert goer out of this redhead.  The Children's Pool in LaJolla has been "occupied" by pregnant seals.     Bruce Keller photos The Yorkies continue to accompany us wherever doggies are allowed – only certain hours on the beaches.  They waited patiently in their car bed while we heard an hour of acoustic guitar last night at our terrific North University Community Library.  Lorraine Castellanos charmed with her jazzy “I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter” which she both sang and played, a difficult Bach chaconne and pieces by European and South American composers. (We heard a preview of her master’s piece for San Diego State University.) Off to the seals, who are pregnant and basking in the warming weather.  They’ve taken over the Children’s Pool, a protected water park donated by the Scripps family.  That controversy is for another time, another story.

Cookie and pups enjoy the Natural Stage Based in San Diego until Montana has the good sense to warm, we are thrilled that we can play outdoors in only a light wrap -- and see at least one new play per week in San Diego’s burgeoning theater scene.  Life here combines our two greatest passions:  the natural world and the world on the formal stage. In the past couple years we’ve seen several world premieres and a half-dozen Broadway bound productions.  Besides “Memphis,” “The Jersey Boys,” and “The Book of Mormon,” we saw a brilliant play, “Restoration,” by Claudia Shear (of “Dirty Blonde” Tony winning fame), “Bonnie and Clyde” about the infamous  outlaws, and “Hands on a Hard Body,” a touching show about a marathon to win a car; the contestants must keep at least one hand on the car. The freeways north of us, near Los Angeles, had snow earlier in the week but we are snug in 50-degree weather here in San Diego. Keller is still a working stiff and Cookie has writing, gym and teaching obligations, but we make a weekly ritual of at least one live theatrical outing and we enjoy nature’s great performance with daily sunset treks.  There, in vistas up and down the coast, long loved by native son Keller, we plot the next couple days’ activities.  Yesterday, we saw the green flash and the outlines of the islands of San Clemente and Catalina. Walt Disney Concert Hall Sunday’s theatrical performance was in a gorgeous, restored 1929 theater and featured a world premiere by a brilliant young playwright who also stars in the production (more about Hershey Felder and “An American Story” next week.)   The Golden Globes and “Downton Abbey” lured us home after a quick sunset post-matinee stop. We have a bird’s eye view of surfers and seals, exotic birds, fishing boats, troop transports, cruise ships and all the latest military aircraft the world has to offer. Plus world class theater and some of the country’s finest restaurants – all minutes away. The next weeks of plays and play include a return to Los Angeles to the Walt Disney Concert Hall (reminiscent of the Sydney Opera House), and the nearby Ahmanson Theater. We’ll hear a concert and see “Backbeat,” a musical about the launching of the Beatles’ career.  The gorgeous Omni has become a favorite hotel, is dog friendly (complete with treats) and is within walking distance of the theaters.  It also has a fabulous restaurant and delicious sushi. We also have a standing overnight invitation at a private Los Angeles home – a perk from Keller’s near 40-year friendship with a fellow diver-sailor-surfer from their long ago university days.   On Martin Luther King Monday, we’ll visit a dog-friendly Harrah’s Hotel for a little foray in the casino; shall we say play within the play? Keller at sunset dreams about surfing. We have some splendid choral concerts in early February, and later in the month, we’ll hit the road for the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon, which co-incidentally is scheduled with the ninth annual Oregon Chocolate Festival. Nothing like gilding the lily.   We’ll stay in the historic and now pup-friendly Ashland Springs Hotel, about which we’ll write (we remember when it was the decrepit but much loved Marc Anthony Hotel.)  And we will see five days of plays and enjoy the Greek, Thai, English, Italian and French food that has distinguished this little gem of a town since Angus Bowmer set up a boxing ring and staged the first play more than 70 years ago. Until then, have a chocolate, pet a pup, savor a sunset, play. And see a play.

The migrating gray whales off the coast of  San Diego did a dance for us while paragliders whished and whooshed across the sunset. Pelicans stretched under the rainbow and Nick and Nora sniffed about.  They were welcome on the hike above Black’s Beach because it was past 4 p.m., when dogs are allowed during  the parks’ winter hours. Then home to watch the season premiere of “Downton Abbey,”  our favorite Public Television soap opera! Witnessing quality TV in this internet age is a fabulous experience and for Cookie, a thrill to see two of her all-time favorite grand dames share a scene.  Maggie Smith, who plays the dowager countess of Grantham is serenaded by Shirley MacLaine’s charater, new to the series. She plays Lady Cora’s mother, and is the fabulously rich and tart-tongued American granny to the manor’s three rich girls. Smith is nodding off in a parlor chair while MacLaine’s character sings “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.” The two actors flirt a bit – whose scene is it? – and Cookie smiles to remember interviewing them both – Smith at the premiere of “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” in 1969 and MacLaine during a press preview of “Terms of Endearment” in 1983.  Keller has immersed himself in the series – as a latecomer – learning the ins and outs of life upstairs and down in the Crawley Mansion and getting the skinny on more than 30 colorful characters. And meanwhile, life glides by – the pelicans with fuchsia flesh and the whales mating their way to the lagoons of Baja. Photos by Bruce Keller

"Play Misty for Me" -- and she did!     Cookie joined a jazz quintet to add sizzle to a sultry summer night at the Cowboy Bar in Fishtail, Montana.  Cookster's partner Bruce Keller, of San Diego,  photographed the evening with pictures of the Art Hines band jazzing it up with a way-cool evening of wonderfully arranged jazz classics. Trumpet, tenor sax, guitar, percussion and piano -- plus Cookie.  Here she is joining the talent to solo in "Misty," which she first played at a high school band concert in 1966.

Ann and Jack Mowell are proud of their rescue and renaming of Montana Jack's, a popular eatery in the little town of Dean, Montana. Rural restaurant boasts ambiance, music, tasty fare, fine service in a scenic Montana setting STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER YEARS AGO , when I first bought a country home in the rugged Beartooth Mountains of Montana, an upscale restaurant was the last luxury I expected within a reasonable drive. Entrepreneur Jack Mowell has made me one happy girl. The setting for Mt. Jack's is the beautiful Beartooth Range. The savvy world traveler, inventor and international businessman came to my neck of the woods, building a lovely country home in Stillwater County. It's one of several places Mowell and his photographer wife Ann call home. They also spend time in Switzerland, Costa Rica and Tallahassee, Florida. SO HOW  did he come to invest in Jack's? "Well, we wanted a decent place to have a nice dinner, within a reasonable driving distance," Mowell says. So he bought a struggling restaurant in the tiny town of Dean, Montana, and set out to make it an appealing place for lunch, dinner or cocktails,  Montana Jack's offers games and spectacular scenery, above, and below, the writer entertains for a Jack's gathering. First, he hired an astute general manager.  The amiable and efficient Gena Burghoff runs the place, which Mowell renamed after himself:  "Montana Jack's Bar and Grill." The attractive Burghoff and her husband, Chrisopher Lockhart, a talented chef, have turned the place into a popular eatery, with a wine list equaling any in the state, and a menu designed to please both town and country palates. THE GENIUS  of the well thought out menu at Jack's is that it is not huge.  But it is varied and tasty and features an enticing array of the best available produce, herbs and meats. Diners can tuck into a series of pretty salads and appetizers, or go straight for the meat and potatoes, with many enticing variations in between for small, large and medium appetites. Fourth of July fun includes  The waitresses and bar tenders have been well trained to be attentive, friendly and professional, on a par with any "big city" operation. What a treat to find them -- and what they serve -- in this scenic rural get-away. JACK'S ARTISTIC wife, Ann, helped decorate the place, with attractive curtains and flowers and some eye-catching pieces of art.  She also had the piano tuned (she is   a gifted musician), cleaned the beautiful stone fireplace, and redesigned the interior of the pretty wooden building so that the bar is opposite the kitchen, and the restaurant space flows nicely from the kitchen. Gena Burghoff and Christopher Lockart at Mt. Jack's. She is general manager and he is chief chef. The homemade soups are always luscious, including squash seasoned with fennel and other herbs, and the house and Caesar salads are beautifully presented. Tempura fried green beans are an interesting and flavorful starter, along with my favorite Korean short ribs -- spicy with scallions and a sweet-sour marinade. Scallops, prawns and other salads are also available, and Jack's is proud of its gluten-free and vegetarian options for every course, so just ask. MAIN COURSE  options include Rocky Mountain trout, for $24, with glazed vegetables, capers and a basil oil.  The chicken, at $23, is served with a tangy cucumber, feta and kalamata olive and pesto salad.  The surf and turf, at $34, is a flavorful New York steak with scallops and shrimp, and there's always a vegetarian pasta, very popular, to which one may  add shrimp. Jack's is, as befitting a Montana bistro, a meat-eater's paradise, with Well behaved dogs, including this proud lab, are welcome at Jack's. a ribeye, buffalo t-bone, pork chop and steak frites offered. The meats are lean, beautifully coked and served with various vegetables and starch offerings, including oven-roasted tomato, corn puree, glazed carrots, crisp green beans, and a wonderful creamy blue cheese potato dish cooked in cast iron. JACK'S POLENTA  is flavored with that same rich and tasty blue cheese.  Teri Udey makes the fabulous pastries, including flavorful cakes and a delightful creme brule. The desserts change daily! A kids' menu offers trout, cheeseburgers, chicken or shrimp with fries or green beans, for a reasonable $7.  (Plus color crayons and a Fireworks bring out the crowds on July Fourth. little menu to decorate.) Locals and summer people gather for supper and drinks at Jack's. At right, a children's menu and young Olivia's color crayon efforts. The wines and beers number several dozen, with micro brews from throughout the region and wines from both American vineyards, Europe and New Zealand. Live music options at Jack's are fun, too.  In the interest of full disclosure, the writer (yes, Cookie!) plays piano at Jack's from time to time.  She's booked a couple times in September and October, including Saturday night, Sept. 26, so check out Jack's website for more on that. Sunday brunch at Jack's is a popular tradition, often with live music. Other Jack's regulars include guitarist and ballad singer, Norrine the Outlaw Queen, who always brings out a crowd with her mix of country, swing and old-time western tunes.  Jack's also has a wonderful patio, where diners spill over on pleasant summer evenings and special events such as the Fourth of July fireworks. You'll find doggies are welcome, and you might learn a rope trick or two. Fundraising endeavors such as Stillwater Protective Association use Jack's. Don't miss an opportunity to enjoy Jack's pleasures.  You won't be sorry. Call 406 328-4110 or go to www.mtjacks.com for updates and live music listings.  And you may check the place out on Facebook.                                                                                                                           COMING SOON:   Flower power, Montana style. Montana's apple harvest and sunflowers. Coming soon. And the Alberta Bair Theater in Billings has a proud history, dating back 80-plus years as a performing arts center, the largest in the northern Rockies. Read how it was saved from destruction and went on to flourish! WE'RE  also "north to Alaska" with glaciers, whales and trains. Remember to explore, learn and live and check us out Wednesdays and Saturdays at: www.whereiscookie.com

WRITERS TOOK TO BACKROADS, MUSEUMS, RANCHES,  HOTELS IN SEARCH OF LOCAL COLOR The gorgeous Parker Ranch in Hawaii inspired a passage about paniolo life in "Lilian's Last Dance." STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS RECENT PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER Click here ==> Lilian's Last Dance ON THE TRAIL  of local color and detail for the book, "Lilian's Last Dance," my late husband Bill Jones and I traveled to Hawaii, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois and many other states. We learned so much about the United States, obscure details I'd have never found had we not been researching our characters. The late writer Bill Jones and Christene Meyers on their journey to the Parker Ranch in Hawaii. On our last road trip before Billy's final illness, we visited the site of the Miller Ranch near Ponca City, Okla., then drove to Illinois for a stay in Chicago's iconic Palmer House, a hotel still famous for its art collection and historic allure. Chicago's Palmer House -- an homage to days past.  It is also a setting for a scene in "Lilian's Last Dance."  The story of downtown Chicago’s Palmer House Hilton is as romantic as the story of our novel. POTTER PALMER  was a Chicago business magnate—well-known for a variety of endeavors, including his staring role in the development of downtown Chicago’s iconic State Street.  Marshall Field of department store fame introduced Palmer to a younger, beautiful socialite, Bertha Honore, who had a yearning for learning. A romance and engagement followed, then he gave her the A paniolo (Montanans would call him a cowboy) performs in a rodeo we took in during a Hawaii trip. grandest wedding gift of all time – Palmer House. It was and is a fabulous Chicago Hotel and we spent two nights in it, given entree to vintage photos. Because our characters visit it, we wanted it to feel "real." Bertha Palmer was a friend of artist Claude Monet. Her art collection rivaled Gertrude Stein's, a cameo character in "Lilian's Last Dance.'' OFTEN OUR  fictional characters and real people interlaced as we researched "Lilian's Last Dance." Sometimes, our road trips inspired invention of a fictional place.  Other times, a real place, such as the Palmer House, seemed ideal for our character's road trip.  Lovely little offshoots were constantly occurring! In a sense, we were bit players in the novel, too!  Cherished, illuminating memories. The Miller Brothers 101 Ranch hosts our main characters for a time during the action in "Lilian's Last Dance." IN OKLAHOMA, we interviewed historians about the Miller Brothers famed 101 Ranch.  One night, at a Tulsa restaurant, I played "Oh What a Beautiful Morning."  That night in that beautiful Oklahoma bar, we made friends including an elderly woman who shared information on early-frontier cowboys and their clothing.  We took careful notes.  She and the rest of the crowd surrounded the piano, teary-eyed and singing along as I played the entire score from "Oklahoma." . THE 101  was once a stupendous 110,000-acre cattle ranch in the Indian Territory of northeastern Oklahoma, but it's a relic of grander days now. It's located near modern-day Ponca City, where I'd never been. I knew little about many of these places, until the novel! When the 101 was king it was the largest diversified farm and ranch in America. So our characters had good taste! The place today is a National Historic Landmark, an homage to its 1903 grandeur when its owners hobnobbed with our novel's hero, Ballentine McCleave. The Parker Ranch on Hawaii's Big Island provided background for "Lilian...."   THE PARKER  Ranch on Hawaii's Big Island beckoned, as we gleaned details about the paniolo cowboys of a century-plus ago.  We went to a rodeo there and spent time in a Honolulu library researching paniolo history. History is people.  Everywhere we went, we found history through   people, to give us a feeling for the novel's colorful characters. Our female paniolo, sometimes called a paniola, passes herself off as a Mexican bandita, or at least she tries to.  But she's really a purebred Hawaiian cowgirl with a fascination for Pancho Villa. And Ballentine has her number! COMING UP:  "The Flickers."  That's what early-day movies were called. "Lilian's Last Dance" -- set in the early 1900s -- builds up to this exciting time in cinema history. Both Cookie (Christene Meyers) and Bill Jones, the novel's co-author, were arts writers and film critics during the early stages of the novel's development..  Continuing the research, Keller and Meyers revisited the birthplace of the modern movie industry. They prowled the grounds of the lots, looked at hundreds of old playbills and movie posters and took notes on four Hollywood nostalgia tours. Remember, carpe diem, so explore, learn and live and visit us Wednesdays and weekends at: www.whereiscookie.com