Heading to Warmer Climes

I'll be offline for a bit as Karen and I leave the Bay Area to enjoy some warmer weather down south. We'll be back soon, so stay tuned for the report from our beach vacation.

Happy Holidays!

Menu for Hope 4

Today marks the kickoff of Chez Pim's Fourth Annual Menu for Hope fundraising event, benefiting the UN World Food Programme. In the words of Pim,

"It's that time of year again, when food bloggers from all over the world join together, taking leave from our usual frivolity. Throughout the year, we celebrate food as a source of joy, but for two weeks every December, we ask you, our readers, to help us support those who are not so lucky, to whom food is not a mere indulgence but a matter of survival. This Menu for Hope is our small way to help. Please join us."

For the next eleven days, food bloggers around the world will be working together to host an online raffle for a vast assortment of culinary prizes. For every $10, the donor will receive a virtual raffle ticket. This year's fabulous list of prizes include a tour of El Bulli with Ferran Adrià, dinner for two with wine pairing and a private tour of Manresa's biodynamic garden, and a private lunch with Harold McGee.

Last year, Menu for Hope raised $60,925.12 to help feed the hungry though the UN World Food Programme, the world's largest food aid agency, working with over 1,000 other organizations in over 75 countries.. Proceeds from this year's fundraiser are earmarked to benefit the school lunch program in Lesotho, Africa.

For additional details, including how to donate and a complete list of prizes, check the home of the fundraiser at Chez Pim.

A New Layout (or Not)

Some of you may notice some minor changes in the look and feel around here. I just finished migrating the blog from Blogger Templates to Layouts. I can hopefully take advantage of the some of the features in Layouts as well as get fixes to issues that have never been resolved in Templates. If you encounter any problems or have any comments or suggestions, please let me know!

Happy reading!

A Quick Update

I apologize for the recent drought of new posts. I was out of town for most of last week attending a work event at the Seascape Resort in Monterey Bay. With family in town visiting me this week, I haven't had much time to catch up on my favorite blogs, much less add to my own. I definitely hope to get back into the swing of things next week with some new blog entries.

However, I did want to pass along some unfortunate news coming out of the Chicago food scene. Grant Achatz, executive chef of Alinea, announced that he was diagnosed with Stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth. Achatz, who worked under the tutelage of Thomas Keller at The French Laundry, opened his restaurant two years ago to much acclaim, serving up unique and innovative dishes such as his "PB&J", the essence of the sandwich compressed into a single bite. Achatz is undergoing chemotherapy treatment which could potentially affect his sense of taste. Hopefully the treatment will go well and he will have a speedy recovery.

100!

This post marks the 100th post of my blog. I've really enjoyed writing about my food adventures in and around the Bay Area and I hope that you've enjoyed reading about my exploits as well. Thanks to everyone for their comments and encouragement, especially my sweetie Karen, who has been phenomenally supportive of me and my writing. Please pass along any comments and suggestions that you have. What started out as an exercise to help me improve my writing has turned into a very fun and fulfilling experience for me. Thanks again!