#QuotableMondays: EVOO from Italy, Under Pressure

“One thing is clear: We can’t take olive oil for granted.”

The piece’s nut graph:

“More than any time in recent memory, olive oil is an increasingly precious commodity. Last year’s harvest was severely damaged by extreme heat, torrential rains and hailstorms, as well as a devastating fruit fly infestation. But even worse, a few regions to the south, in Puglia, olive trees have suffered a catastrophic bacterial infection that has wiped out at least one million trees. It’s been a disastrous year. Some experts predict many olive farms will go out of business; others foresee skyrocketing prices. One thing is clear: We can’t take olive oil for granted.”

Before you assume EVOO will always be at your fingertips and at the exact same price, read this piece in full on the NYT’s website.

#QuotableMondays: Learn Your Craft ‘Until it Belongs to You’

Our Julia Child pizza, “Only Child,” is one of my favorites of the bunch.

The recipe offers a twist on an old favorite—chicken piccata—and can be put atop a pizza or served on it’s own. Healthy, flavorful and awesome.

Today I stumbled upon a quote from frequent Child collaborator and chef extraordinaire Jacques Pepin that applies to anyone who wants to hone a craft.

Pepin’s appearance on Bravo’s ‘Top Chef’

Here’s his thought:

“I tell a student that the most important class you can take is technique. A great chef is first a great technician. ‘If you are a jeweler, or a surgeon or a cook, you have to know the trade in your hand. You have to learn the process. You learn it through endless repetition until it belongs to you.'”

So, own your capabilities, whatever they are. I’ve made “Only Child” so many times that I can do it in my sleep. Cheers to happy practice. – WP

 

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> Pizza for Good: Buy it for the recipes… Use it to change the world <

#QuotableMondays: Truth is Like a Mosaic [World AIDS Day]

On a day of reflection for the 26th commemoration of World AIDS Day, we kick off ARTvision Atlanta‘s fund-raising season with a quote from a new artist presenting this year in support of Positive Impact. Dee Ruff, in her submission statement, talked a bit about how positive change and illumination do not always come in an instant:

“Having worked for more than 17 years as a MSW in health care, and 7 years in Medical Massage Therapy, I would be honored for my mosaic art to benefit Positive Impact. I reluctantly retired early from a beloved career because of some health issues (now mostly resolved). Shortly after retiring, I unexpectedly discovered mosaic art.

Positive change can transform disappointment into contentment. Positive change can transform PI clients into a state of peacefulness, and it can happen piece by piece, just like a mosaic. One of my favorite quotes: ‘There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic.'” (Anaïs Nin)

ARTvision got its start in 2006 as an offshoot of my annual New Year’s Eve gourmet-pizza celebration, and would launch its online fundraising every 1st of December. ARTvision, now a stand-alone event that culminates at the NYE party, has raised more than $50,000 for Positive Impact. And it all leads back to the power of the pie—bringing people together to make a difference.

Pizza for Good tells that story at great length, and gives you the tips and tricks to do it yourself at home, to build your own community.

(And if you buy it for the fun, yummy recipes nobody would blame you.)

Watch for more posts from me this month about the connection between ARTvision, pizza power, PFG and Positive Impact. ARTvision kicks off its 9th year of fund-raising today, and will continue throughout the month of December. (read more)

 

Quote about talent from Meryl Streep

Streep portrayed Julia Child, which is the subject of “Only Child,” Chapter Nine of Pizza for Good. 😉