Smolker Letter No. 8 – Gourmet Wishes and Flattering Waistlines: Show Me the Cup Cake Trail and Teach Me How to Cook with Quinoa (July 20, 2012)

“Gourmet Wishes and Flattering Waistlines: Show Me the Cup Cake Trail and Teach Me How to Cook with Quinoa”

Smolker Letter No. 8, July 20, 2012

by Gary S. Smolker

Friday, July 20, 2012

JF 

The article you sent me touting Canada (people are richer in Canada than in the U. S. A.) is very interesting.

There are a lot of interesting statistics about [where is] the best place to live.

Place is a major source of excitement and mental stimulation.

The place I live is much more important to my happiness than how much I earn.

Average net worth of residents is not the most important factor to me related to where I choose to live.  That is to say, I would not move to Canada because Canadians are “richer” than Americans.

Finding a place that makes a person happy leads to positive mood, which has a powerful effect on “activation.”

People, including myself, seek out places that fit their psychological needs in order to establish ownership over their lives.

The visual and cultural stimulation that a place provides releases creative energy, which in turn attracts more high-energy people from other places, which results in more stimulation, which gives people characteristics by which to define themselves.

New York City and Chicago, for example, have great public art, great art in public places.  Nashville has great music.  New Orleans has great food.

Having “fun” with people who are excited about what they do (such as eating) is important to me.

Eating excitingly well prepared food is mentally stimulating.  That is why I love eating in New Orleans.

Mental stimulation, learning and being around creative highly functional people, as well as living and working in a beautiful physical environment, is important to me.

The article you sent does not answer the following questions by which I would be able to compare living in Canada to some of the simple pleasures I enjoy because I live in Los Angeles. 

• Does the Bikini Chef cook in Canada?
• Does Canada have a Cup Cake Trail?

Choosing where to live is not an easy choice.  First, you have to choose what you value most, you have to make priorities, and you must have a sense of the big picture which allows you to understand what is going on in the places you are thinking about.  Money and earning money is not everything.

Remember — millions of immigrants went to Spain (during the recent housing boom there) to find employment, to secure high paying jobs.  Now they are unemployed and Spain is insolvent.

During the recent housing boom, Spain brought men from Ecuador to Spain to see if they would like living and working in Spain.  Spain paid the expense of bringing these men from Ecuador to Spain.

If the men liked working and living in Spain, Spain would bring their entire family consisting of a wife and up to four children to live in Spain.

Housing for two years was provided free.  Once in Spain they for six months these immigrants became legal residents with all rights and benefits, including welfare.

Now that the unemployment rate in Spain is over 50% and there are no more jobs in Spain, Spain has offered these now legal residents (men and their families) $50,000 to return to Ecuador.  Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money in Ecuador.

After doing the math, the men turned down the $50,000 offer to leave Spain.  These men and their families decided they would rather stay in Spain and live on welfare in Spain than return to Ecuador $50,000 richer.

Last night I attended a Beverly Hills Bar Association Social Networking Committee Social Networking Function held in the backyard of a house in Beverly Hills. It was a wonderful and delightful event.

 

At that function, the Bikini Chef gave a cooking demonstration and also discussed how to prepare fun great tasting healthy food.

While watching the Bikini Chef give a cooking demonstration and while listening to her lecture on how to prepare healthy fun good tasting food, I sat across from a man who likes cup cakes.  I also like cup cakes.

He told me he has designed and taken a “Cup Cake Trail” excursion in which he goes from one place after another to sample cup cakes served in each particular place.  I would like to go on that trail and sample cup cakes along the way too. 

Hopefully the Bikini Chef and the trail blazing cup cake fanatic will become commentators on my blog (www.garysmolker.wordpress.com).

While at that event, last night, Lynne purchased a copy of the Bikini Chef’s “Complete Idiot’s Quinoa Cookbook” which the Bikini Chef autographed.  You may order a copy of that book on Amazon.com. You can find out more about the Bikini Chef on her website http://www.thebikinichef.com. 

 At the end of the evening, we tasted “Fire Grilled Nectarines with Citrus Mascarpone and Honey Drizzle” prepared by the Bikini Chef.

 That event was another outstanding social networking event put on by the Social Networking Committee of the Beverly Hills Bar Association.

Allow me to alert you to another fun event which makes living in Los Angeles special.

A local restaurant (Maggiano’s Little Italy) is sponsoring a “Wine and Design” night where you will enjoy a glass of wine while an expert artist guides you step-by-step to create the featured painting of the night, which you may take home at the end of the night.

This event will take place on July 29th at 5:00 P.M. at Maggiano’s Little Italy Restuarant in Woodland Hills, California.

The price of this event includes painting supplies, 1 glass of red or white wine as well as cheese, veggies and fruit.  A cash bar is available for additional beverages and attendees are also welcome to bring their own wine.

The thrill of discovery makes life very exciting.

 Yum.

 

Gary

—–Original Message—–
From: JF
To: gsmolker@aol.com
Sent: Wed, Jul 18, 2012 11:08 pm
Subject: The Daily News story – Canadians are richer than Americans!

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Check out this article: Canadians are richer than Americans!http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/canadians-richer-americans-report-article-1.1116519?localLinksEnabled=false