Julie and Julia Revisited

Hello to all my friends: gastronomy addicts!

For 14 years, I was a professional dancer and actress working in Los Angeles and New York, including the Broadway stage.  In the 1980s, my career segued into print and commercial television work, bringing me to San Francisco.

I loved every minute of it. But I started the '90s in a cognitive fog, quite literally.  On a weekend trip with friends to the beautiful hills of Napa in California, I was exposed to Viral Meningo-Encephalitis; an unexpected and debilitating illness.  It started with a horrendous headache and a troublesome sore throat. 

In early November, I slipped into an 11-day coma. When I awoke, I couldn’t speak. After months of physical and speech therapy, one of my recovery efforts was to return to school. I went to San Jose State University as a Theatre Arts (dance) major and I rediscovered hope; I was beginning to experience a sense of confidence for the first time since I became ill. 

I knew that if I continued in school I could create a self-sufficient and successful future. In August 1999, I received a Master of Arts. I went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in Law Studies and a paralegal certificate in 2004.

Armed with a new confidence and outlook, I found a new passion to consume my life: goats! All the discipline, energy and joy I poured into dancing now go into the goat’s milk cheesecake and goat’s milk ice cream I share with my friends and family.

Some people still have trouble understanding my speech. But when someone takes a bite of my goat’s milk cheesecake or goat’s milk ice cream, they’re often at a loss for words, too. That’s why I call them Speechless Cakes! www.speechlesscakes.com

The speechlesscakes site is winding down as I write the new Julie & Julia Revisiting blog.  I love to bake of course; I love to cook as well.  So, I am cooking all the recipes from Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, The 52 Food Cookbook 2011. Starting with Winter. It is a community based cookbook.  Do you remember Julie and Julia, the movie? Julie cooked 524 recipes from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in her small Manhattan kitchen and blogged about it.

My kitchen is small.....smaller than hers! Evidently, Julia was looking for something to do in the day, Julie too when she wrote the book. Well, me too. My hope is that all foodies will enjoy my successes and failures of the recipes. Moreover, I am sure that I will learn something in the process. I will put an image of the finished product on the site and blog about it. Mind you, I am no chef but I can create a great goat's milk cheesecake and goat's milk ice cream! Happy cooking and any comments  are welcomed.

Healdsburg:  When I moved to Healdsburg about three years ago, I felt a sense of community and spirit right away. I didn’t know anyone. I went to the and walked among the bounty. Had coffee from booth, bought garlic and shallots from   Signed up to volunteer for What a great way to meet my new neighbors!

I learned about gleaning. Gleaning is collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested. Ancient cultures gleaned: old practice. founder, and volunteers, will pick surplus vegetables, fruit, from the property owner, farmer or gardener. Melita will take the vegetables and fruit to the local food pantry, shelter, local schools or soup kitchen. 

Healdsburg's scenery is beautiful and the vibe is laid back with big city tastes. Healdsburg is all about local. It is a farm community, yet local wine making, five star cuisine restaurants, inn keepers are right up there with the big city.

Don’t forget the music. to hear music for free! The town welcomed me in. They are engaging and open in my short years, here, I feel that I have become part of the community. 

When I started Speechless Cakes, many businesses helped me like from the City of Healdsburg, Nina from Laramore Communications for press releases and who took my first product, Goat's milk cheesecake bites and put them on their shelves! 

I volunteer for Farm to Pantry every week, walk the dogs and assist my friend Linda who is a great photographer, to shoot the dogs in a favorable light for web site.  I am a gym rat at doing yoga, five practices a week, Zumba and weights.

I live on a 20-acre ranch four miles outside of town. When I moved in, it was a working ranch; we had 30 sheep and Betsy, the llama. I have a little guesthouse with a small kitchen. Where I will cook the Winter recipes from the Food 52 Cookbook.

It is small but, when I open the front door, I see 20 acres that I can roam and there is room for my garden. The garden is bigger than my space! The winter garden is sprouting with kale, Chinese lettuce, garlic, potatoes, radishes, chard, turnips and leeks.

My sweet Betsy, I love her. She always was protecting the babies; seven ewes were born last spring.  You can see Betsy on www.youtube.com (“My friend Betsy”). I fed her apples and shot from my Canon powershot! I looped her mouth on the computer and put the dialog with an English accent. She is talking about Speechless Cakes. It is pretty funny. My landlord Lorraine, who is 80, wanted to simplify her life so she sold them BUT they will come back to graze on the ranch in the spring. Yippee.

Next post: Leek, lemon and feta Quiche