Big Sur Shout Outs!

I'm so proud of my friend Romney Steele (AKA Nani); her book My Nepenthe was not only listed by Epicurious.com as one of the best cookbooks of 2009, but was also awarded the Best Regional Cookbook for 2009.  Check out the article at Epicurious.com!

A screenshot of her book...

What I remember of Nani is her hair. She always had lots of curly, beautiful hair...and I always wanted to be like her.  I remember the softness of her voice and the comfort of her hair. Yeah, I know. I liked her hair.  She recently found me on Facebook, and it's been wonderful to reconnect with my family history, and a memory that was lost for so long!

Being the youngest and only one of my siblings to not have been born or lived in Big Sur during the hippy movement, it's nice to know that even if I didn't run around naked eating bananas wrapped in Nori (dried seaweed, fyi), my heritage is still there.  My great-grandmother, my parents, my aunts, my uncles, and most of my extended family have painted stories so vividly, I often times have to ask, "Was I there?"

Nani, I'm proud of you! And thank you for the time you've given!

The Big Sur folk from my parents' youth still seem to stick together - despite how opinionated, outspoken, or different they might be.  Mary Anthony is one of the other Big Sur Folk (why do we always call them "Big Sur Folks"????) who has been encouraging me to continue blogging, continue writing, and continue on this new path of self-discovery.  It's been interesting to see how we've developed a new relationship - one of respect and appreciation.  While our philosophies differ greatly, our passion for art, literature, beauty, and writing have given us a platform for communicating and, for me personally, developing a new gratitude for the knowledge that she has gained through her years of searching.  As a teen, I never would have anticipated being able to have common ground with "Sister Mary", but it's amazing how forgiveness, tolerance, and plain ol' maturing opens up new paths to growth, understanding, and wisdom.  Thank you, Mary for your support!  Here is her blog.