I love caramel...

...Maybe you do, too.

But when I tasted HMG's creme brulee dessert with sea salt crust I started thinking that I shouldn't be liking caramel, I should be worshiping it. This is just one of many amazing things I have eaten at the Harvest Moon Grille and I know your experience at this restaurant will be just as satisfying.

The thing is, food is complex. And the real flavors are somewhat elusive. You think you know what a grit taste like, and then you have one that was milled only hours before and you're like, "whoa...." Yes, that's really the only thing you can say cause it's so dang good.

Now, speaking of misunderstanding, take wine for instance. "Red or white?" they ask you. As though choosing it was like pointing to a color wheel at a decorator store.

"What am I eating?" Is always my reply. Because wine is meant to be paired with food and it only works if the flavors compliment and enhance eachother. It's like a footman in a Cinderella story. He dresses nice, but he's only really useful when he's helping the lovely princess into her carriage.

So here's why I'm yapping about caramel (man, I want to run down there and order it again!) On May 29th, we will have the opportunity to visit the culinary expertise of chef Cassie Parsons of the Harvest Moone Grille as she selects wines and some delicious bites for our May event. We're excited about this new venue with free parking for the first two hours and a historic and gracious environment.

I hope you are thinking about attending. Worship or not, food is meant to be explored and doing it with friends and wine is just plain smart.

READ THE DETAILS BELOW AND RSVP TODAY!

Can You See Me?

I’ve often wondered why it is that the only face we are never able to see in person, is our own. We are familiar with our countenance only by reflection and touch, spending our entire lives primping, criticizing, and pondering our faces in reverse. And, when we see ourselves in a photo, we see a stranger. Everything is on the wrong side of the image compared to the person in the mirror.

What does the universe have in mind by handing us this tool of deception? Is it a cruel trick of some frantic fourth dimension? Are we unable to view ourselves if we know our own consciousness? It’s a question for philosophers and artists alike.

But let’s look at it in a different light.

Our brains, in fact see through our eyes and our eyes bring in the images of the world upside down. (Looks like there’s more to this inversion than first thought?) Then it rights it again, and through experience, tells our brains what we need to know about it. We follow a primal code, built into our cells, to see things not as they are, in order to see them as they are.

You know where I’m going with this. Yep, the true way to see things is not to worry too much about how they look at first glance. Take each idea, each experience, each image and notion and turn it over and over again, trying hard to make patterns out of what seems familiar and see if there isn’t something we’ve missed in our haste to judge ourselves, and the world.

May’s theme is suggests that you get more courage from reflection. And I submit that the lack of courage is because we feel that everything is whole and perfect except ourselves. We feel that to move forward and be brave means moving into a realm of mystery and uncertainty because we can’t see it whole from our perspective. But if we apply the logic I have offered above, we see that nothing is solid. It is all an apparition that we can mold and fashion into the life we want. By reflecting on all things we begin to see that courage isn’t something to overcome, it is something to use as a lens; a lens that brings joy and adventure into true focus.

Go ahead, lift a glass, make your way here, and see yourself in the reflection of friendship, connection and wine!

You get more courage from NATURE

April's tip was simple. You get more courage from nature. I know. You've all heard the adage that everything that ails you can be cured by going outside. (Unless of course you're suffering from allergies. Then going outside will send you to the emergency room - which I suppose is a sick but round-about way to a cure?)

In any event, I do have a point. And it's simple.

First, think about a leaf. In your mind's eye, picture the small and delicate veins that run from the base to the outer edges. We all know it's a networking of nourishment, but it's also a microcosm of the whole tree, yes? In fact it's also a small symbol of the way all organic creatures get nourishment. Whatever is taken from the sun and air is put through these networks and pulled into the tree making each leaf a conduit of life. By the same token, the vast and loamy tendrils of the root system fingers out to get nutrients from the soil and bring it to the tree.

It's quite simple. The reason nature is so valuable to us is that we are all a part of it! We are one organism, working together to share fuel and food, bask in the same sunlight and transport nourishment to all parts of our bodies and the communities we thrive in. That means that all good thing, including courage, are interdependent upon the elegant compounds and design of the small, beautiful and symbolic leaf.

We are all one, we all belong together -- so -- Gather courage from the symbolism of nature. You're never in it alone!