How do you give back to “the anonymous many”? Those who “speak back” to me in comments, are my most prized and loved readers. Imagine singing to an audience that provides no perceivable reaction? But I also appreciate the thousands of silent readers who sometimes email privately, and more often stay in the shadows.
What do you give to “an internet audience” whom you appreciate SO MUCH, and yet cannot “see”? Priceless Gifts you can enjoy today…and for many years to come…as long as the links don’t break.
What a wonderful gift we have in the internet. Unbelievable that we can experience this Pulitzer Prize Winning composition, The Little Match Girl Passion by David Lang performed at Carnegie Hall. We even get to see David Lang’s own account of what he hoped to convey with this piece. Gift #1
Award Winning Photography from the 2007 Winner of the Photobloggie Awards. Imagine making a 2009 Calendar for your own personal use, using 12 of these magnificent photos of your choosing. Gift #2
We love our dusty old cookbooks, and the new ones as well. But what a gift to be able to SEE and almost SMELL a recipe via the wonderful world of video on the internet. I chose this half moon ravioli recipe, made with Azumaya, because of its simplicity. A ten minute from start to finish gourmet fantasy that you can “stuff” with pretty much anything you want. I would use ricotta cheese vs. mascarpone. Gift #3
We are the internet, you…me…RCG. A powerful, growing force to be reckoned with. I give you a tale of how the power can be unleashed in real, and meaningful ways without bounds: Gift #4
2009 will not be a year of great change. It will be a year of Great Hope for Change, one small step at a time, via you and me acting the best we can in each moment.
I would very much appreciate any return gifts you may have, via links, sent to me, ArdellD at Twitter. I will continue to share my passion for real estate with you…and hope you will in like-kind, share your passions with me. Be change; influence a mind.
Buon Natale!
Have always been a fan of yours and again you did not disappointment me. Thank You for allowing me to hear, see, taste, smell and for touching my heart
Thank you, Cindy! Especially for noticing my attempt at a gift for each of the five senses 🙂 Smell is a little hard to do “on the internet” LOL!
Merry Christmas!
Hi Ardell – Thanks so much for a great post. I especially like the professional pictures. They are really wonderful. I tried (for the first time) to be Mr. Biscotti Baker over on my blog (www.kenmoreundressed). Since you’re una donna italiana, you may enjoy the recipe. Buon Natale!
Hi James! Here’s a link to James’ Biscotti Post:
http://kenmore.neighborhoodsundressed.com/2008/12/24/my-christmas-gift-to-you-how-to-bake-your-own-italian-biscotti/
They look just like my biscotti! Except we never started out making biscotti. Biscotti is what you do with the leftover pizzelle dough 🙂
The looser dough (made the same way) is rolled into balls and placed in the pizzelle maker. The authentic version we use is held over the fire of a gas burner, and each pizzelle is made one at a time and one side at a time.
When you are tired of making pizzelles, you take the left over dough, add some flower, roll into a narrow loaf and bake it. My grandmother would give us the biscotti, so we didn’t eat up all the pizzelles, which were much harder and more time consuming to make.
As children we preferred the tops to be sprinkled with colored confetti, rather than sliced almonds. Adds just a pinch of sweetness. I’ll have to go back and read your recipe to see if you are Abbrusezze 🙂
Thank you James! A wonderful gift that keeps on giving.
Merry Christmas!
P.S. Mine have lots of anise, both flavoring and seeds
Here’s a gift for you, James. If you’ve never heard of @garyvee and winelibrary.com, he’s a real piece of work and full of useful info!
One of the highlights of 2008 was when I met Gary over at Zillow and he told me I was no slouch in the looks department LOL! No Gary, I’m still not doing videos. You and Ian can carry the ball on that.
Here’s Gary, enjoy!
http://tv.winelibrary.com/
Ardell,
I “chose” gift number 4 and just finished having a great cry. What a wonderful short film. Thank you for reaching out and touching my heart this morning.
Merry Christmas, Jillayne. While the affect on the homeless man was indeed touching, the change in the behavior of the person filming was equally as dramatic. When people “engage” vs. “observe” and start caring beyond the initial reaction to ridicule…it’s a beautiful sight to see.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Seth Godin’s “Tribes” for many weeks. Will write a post about it today.
I joined Triiibes for fun awhile back. Did you mean the website or Seth’s book?
Jillayne,
It’s kind of a movement, LOL. The concept itself fits my general principles of life, and validates some of the ways I have approached things long before that book was published. I think I bought into the concept of Tribes when I saw the Pope in Philadelphia back in the 70s 🙂 The Pope said he could not change who he was in order to appeal to more people. His message stayed the same, and if “his followers” reduced as a result…so be it. You have to be the leader of your ideals, and your ideals determine the # of followers. Changing your ideals to get more followers, serves no one.
Ardell – Thanks for the tip on Gary’s site. My wife is the wine expert and she’s thrilled with his presentation style!!! Also, I hope you try the biscotti recipe sometime. It’s an especially good one. I use about a hand-full of anise and a lot of citrus rind when making them.
Ciao
James…just saw the anise in your recipe, so maybe we are comari e compari 🙂 Do you sweeten your ricotta and use nutmeg? Soup with little meatballs and escarole? We must meet!
I think I have all of the ingredients in the house. I’ll go make them now. Kim will thank you, I’m sure.
James,
We were very happy with the biscotti. I halved the recipe and had a little trouble working the dough with the almonds. I used sliced almonds vs. whole ones.
Brushing the loaf with egg, which I have only done for croissants and never for biscotti, really made a huge difference.
Thank you for sharing a piece of yourself and your passion for cooking. I have an autographed copy of GarrVee’s book around here somewhere. Maybe your wife will enjjoy it.
As to the tattoo question via LinkedIn, my youngest is a tatoo artist in Venice Beach. She did a photo shoot for Savage Magazine a few weeks back, and is hoping to make the cover of a future edition. You know I’ll be posting it if she does.