Simply Delicioso Chorizo

Food Network launches Simply Delicioso on July 14 at 11:30 am Eastern. Ingrid Hoffman promises to do for Latin cuisine what Giada DeLaurentiss did for Italian home cooking. It is hard to miss the cleavage of both!

We can get a peek at Ingrid's recipes at her website, Delicioso. Recipes are in English and Spanish and look like they were first broadcast on her Spanish TV segments. I am excited to to see dishes that feature chorizo and lime juice, flavors I came to love from working and dining in Miami.

The recipe I can't wait to try:

Chorizo Rolls

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 package frozen puff pastry sheets
1 12-ounce package chorizo
2 slices white bread, crusts removed
2 tablespoons milk
Egg yolk, slightly beaten

Preparation

1. Remove the chorizo from its casing and put directly into a hot pan. Cook the chorizo, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Once it is completely cooked through remove from the pan and drain on paper towels. Take the two slices of crust-less bread and pour enough hot water onto them so that they become soggy. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible and add to the chorizo. Combine the chorizo and soggy bread. Set aside.

2. Remove the puff pastry from the freezer and defrost according to package instructions.
   Preheat oven to 375°F.

3. Place the milk in a small bowl. Place the thawed puff pastry sheet, one at a time, on a cutting board and cut it in half. If the pastry becomes too soft lightly flour the surface you are working on so the dough does not stick. You can also place the dough in the refrigerator until it becomes firm again. Place a few spoonfuls of the chorizo mixture in the center of the sheet of puff pastry and roll tightly sealing the edge with some milk. You may cut the ends of the roll with a sharp knife so that it looks neater. Place the roll on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, seam-side down. Flatten roll slightly with the palm of your hand. With the tip of a knife prick the top of the pastry three times. Repeat the same process with the remaining chorizo mixture and puff pastry. Before placing them in the oven, brush the top of the pastry evenly with the beaten egg yolk. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden in color.

Mean Something

The pleasure of my company was requested for An Evening With Ron Fletcher June 22.

Ron Fletcher, is a man of distinction in the Pilates world. He is one of only a handful of dancers who studied with Joseph and Clara Pilates who went on to become a teacher of Pilates' approach to fitness and well being. Those of us who have been introduced to Pilates as an exercise regimen likely have him to thank. If he had not relocated to Beverly Hills and began working with the rich and the famous in Hollywood, the average Joe or Josephine may have never learned of Pilates, now a much sought after practice known for its body beautifying benefits.

My first introduction to Pilates was at a studio that practiced Ron's style of Pilates. After taking classes with his Master Teachers, Kathy Corey and Pat Guyton, I knew that I wanted to learn Pilates comprehensively as a teacher with his company. This December, I will complete the Ron Fletcher Program of Study. Each day, I teach Ron Fletcher's Pilates, Floor and Towel work at a Program of Study facilitating studio under the guidance of Aida Zorrilla. Every day, I find my awe renewed as I witness the changes brought about in my clients by the wisdom of the Ron Fletcher technique.

I find it quite intriguing that Ron studied with two pioneering legends, Joseph Pilates and Martha Graham. Ron's brand of Pilates is unique. He has incorporated the movement wisdom of Martha Graham and made Pilates contemporary by bringing it to vertical (standing).

At the event I attended, I heard Ron restate an idea that I have come to view as a principle in my Pilates work and in my life in general. He said, "It has to mean something ---and nothing else can matter but that meaningful something." That night, Ron was speaking about moving with meaning and practicing your personal creativity with meaning. Ron spoke with the eloquence, bluntness and urgency that comes from living 86 years and being under no illusion that there is another year for him. I want to heed his words and his example.

In these words, you can hear the echo of the great Martha Graham. She said, "Either the foot is pointed or it is not." Either the foot is pointed or it is not. Either it is ____ or it is not. It either is or it isn't. There is such naked truth in her statement. I can scarcely bear the scrutiny of such truth at times. I am either a good wife and mother or I am not. I am either progressing in my work or I am not. I am either contributing or I am not. I am either choosing a happier life or I am not.

When people like Ron and Martha, people who have achieved so much in the time they were given, point us so emphatically in a direction, I can't help but be jolted into fruitful action. I can only know Ms. Graham through what has been recorded, filmed and written. I feel blessed to have come to be a student of Mr. Fletcher.

Are we not grateful that someone reminds us that it is not just the action, but that it has to mean something?

"For art, there is no future." - Paul Bocuse

"There are no beginnings or endings, only movement."

"Think of everything you do as an opportunity to express yourself"

"Get moving."

"Everything matters." - Alexandra Stoddard

"Nothing is more revealing than movement." -Martha Graham

"I am aware of every step I take." -Thich Nhat Hanh

"I want to go back to the beginning."

"Love, Ron" - Ron Fletcher

Bless His Heart

Bless His Heart. This is a phrase we Southern gals say when the men we love exhibit some thought or action that leaves us secure in our superiority among the two sexes. It is also the title of a new book by my friend Deborah Ford. Doug and I have arranged for Deborah to come to San Antonio as part of her book tour. We are hosting a cocktail reception in her honor on July 7. She will also appear at Barnes and Noble July 8 from 2-4 pm at 281/1604.

My daughter, Jessica, first introduced me to Deborah with her book,
GRITS (Girls Raised In The South) Guide to Life. She is the merchandising genius behind the GRITS apparel and gifts you see in boutiques and at Cracker Barrel. Jessica and I had the opportunity to meet her in person when she was a speaker at the Southern Lady Celebration held in Nashville two years ago. I liked her instantly. When she spoke about the challenges she had encountered and overcome to run a award winning, multimillion dollar enterprise, I was touched.

I was also motivated to find an opportunity celebrate her. Now that time has come. The Texan women I have come to know will likely confer with Deborah that loving and living with Southern men requires a good sense of humor. Since the men will be present, we will laugh with, not at, them!

Story Of Enlightenment

Last Sunday, I devoured Deepak Chopra's latest book, BUDDHA, A Story Of Enlightenment. It is an engaging tale and does not suffer from also trying to detail the beliefs of the Buddhists. I discovered some thought provoking statements:

"...seething cauldron of emotions; every person-except for only small infants-was immersed in a fog of confusion, a dense blanket of fears, wishes, memories, fantasy and longing."

"...fear, temptation, disease and death."

"Demons' work is to amplify the mind's suffering. Demons enter the mind when we resist them."

"The stronger our efforts to fortify ourselves against temptation, the stronger temptation has us in its grip."

"Whatever can run can also stand still."

Gautama: "What shall I do first?" Hermit: "Be quiet."

"Each person carried an invisible burden. Everyone walked or rode with their lives on their shoulders, a pack of memories that spilled over with disappointment and sorrow. And always there was the pall of age and sickness, the endless worry over money, the unceasing doubts about the future."

"I've never seen anyone think their way to heaven."

"When all else fails, whatever is left must be right."

"Karma is the body's endless desires. Karma is the memory of past pleasure we want to repeat and past pain we want to avoid."

"Why should you continue to do more of what doesn't work in the first place?"

"Two journeys had to be made without companions: the journey to your death and the one to enlightenment."

"The mind can make anything happen."

"Buddha had revealed a truth that every person could recognize: suffering is a fixed part of life."