Miss Me?

I haven't blogged much since losing Mom. Actually, I haven't manage much of anything. That's not true, I have managed the occasional travel article as the Phoenix Travel Examiner for Examiner.com (check out my homepage on my Blogger profile or visit http://www.examiner.com/travel-in-phoenix/jay-hammond to read the travel news I've been covering).

My travel beat for Examiner.com is great but sometimes things just happen that make me want and need to  blog. One such serendipitous event was meeting Sedona restaurant owner and sous chef Lisa Dahl yesterday at her book signing at Saks Fifth Avenue in the Biltmore Fashoin Park in Phoenix, Arizona.

I'm not supposed to but anymore cookbooks. Before she died, I promised my mother that I wouldn't buy anymore books, especially magazines, knitting books and cookbooks. I've tried to keep my word. Lisa's The Elixir of Life was my downfall, even if calling it a "cookbook" vastly under-represents this delicious volume of photographs, travel and oh, yeah, recipes. Did I mention the DVD that comes with it full of enchanting music from local Arizona musicians and a glimpse into how Lisa fits travel and cooking together? All in all The Elixir of Life is a feast for the traveling foodie's heart, head and habits! And at only $34.95 this amazing collection is a steal.


In fact, were it not for the price, which is amazingly low given how much the book contains, I wouldn't believe this was a self-published book. Or maybe I would. I can't imagine a traditional publisher going out on a limb for a untried author (no matter how successful a chef) and producing this book. For starters, the book is overflowing with beautiful photographs that make you just want to dig in, whether that taking a trip to Sedona, Arizona to visit Dahl & Di Luca or Cucina Rustica restaurants, going all the way to Italy or just trying out one of these wonderful recipes at home. Speaking of recipes, the recipes Lisa shares are all from the Dahl & Di Luca or Cucina Rustica menus, so it's a great way to bring great food home from your Sedona trip. Each recipe serves about six, which gave me pause initially because I have a two-person household. Conversation revealed that all of the recipes were designed to be frozen, allowing you to "spend a Saturday afternoon in the kitchen, cooking all sorts of wonderful things and enjoying time at home with your family and eating wonderfully during the week when you may not want to spend a lot of time cooking." The Elixir of Life doesn't stop there, the way most cookbooks would. Instead, this book takes you on two remarkable journeys, one through Tuscany and the other through Lisa's adventure of becoming a self taught sous chef and owner of two of Sedona and Arizona's most notable restaurants.

I don't think I've ever read a cookbook before. Sure, I've thumbed through them, looked at what few pictures there are and tried the recipes that piqued my interest. But actually sat down and read a cookbook from cover to cover? No. Not once. And I boast that I'll read anything. Believe me, you'll read this cookbook. I did.

Most book signings are polished or at least orchestrated things. Lisa Dahl at Saks Fifth Avenue was not. It felt more like a popular friend was out shopping and decided to sit down and chat for a while. She seems to know everyone in town. Or maybe everyone in town knows her. It's hard to tell. The whole affair was so comfortable, despite a rather unfortunate location beside the UP escalator, that I recorded my first mobile interview. The sound quality is not great, nor is the lighting, but Lisa's insight into what traveler want and should expect of a restaurant is fascinating. Here's a portion of what she had to say:



More excerpts from the interview can be found on my YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/ContentMarker You can also find my professional review of The Elixir of Life on Examiner.com.

Lisa is by far the most inspirational persona I have met in a long time. She obviously doesn't heed to internal naysayers that dog me (and sound like my mother) or she never could have achieved the success she is now enjoying. Whether you are a writer or a chef, there is so much to learn and admire about this amazing lady. I'm so glad I went to Saks yesterday, even if I didn't get any of the Holiday shopping I was planning to do done.

Growth Defies History for Amtrak's Sunset Limited

The Sunset Limited has long been the poster child for all that is wrong with passenger rail service in the United States. Yet, somehow, this troubled route has defied history increasing both the number of riders and ticket revenues.

For more than 110 years, the Sunset Limited trains have meandered between California new New Orleans. Back then, it was operated by Southern Pacific Railroad (now part of Union Pacific), which still owns the tracks the Sunset Limited travels over from Orange, Texas to Los Angeles, California. Southern Pacific dropped the Limited from the name, along with many of the amenities that make long-distance rail travel enjoyable, in the 1960's. Amtrak took over operation in 1971, restoring the Sunset Limited name along with the sleeper and dining cars and continues offering service 3 times a week to this very day.

Amtrak extended service east of New Orleans to Florida in 199o's. A decade later, track damage from Hurricane Katrina disrupted this service which Amtrak has decided to discontinue it indefinitely. This truncated service is just one of the challenges the Sunset Limited faces.

In 1993, the Sunset Limited was involved in one of the worst Amtrak accidents on record when the train fell from a damaged bridge into a Alabama bayou killing 47 people. A year later the two locomotives derailed along with 8 other cars in Arizona, killing one persona and injuring 78. The case remains unsolved. Eighteen people were injured in 1999 when two locomotives and two cars derailed after colliding with a truck. Add such incidents to one of the worst on-time records of any Amtrak train and it's hardly surprising that the Sunset Limited has inherited Southern Pacific's reputation as the railroad people love to hate.

What may surprise people is that, after years of declining use and revenues, the Sunset Limited appears to be enjoying a renaissance. According to the most recent numbers reported by Amtrak, the Sunset Limited's ridership increased by more than 22 percent during fiscal year 2007 while ticket revenues grew by nearly 32 percent. Growth in both areas exceeded that of any other long-distance service offered by Amtrak and many of the short-distance routes.

Put another way, more than 63,000 people traveled through history last year. The territory between Tucson, Arizona and Del Rio, Texas is much the same as it was when the Sunset Limited first rolled across it in 1894. Travelers can easily imagine themselves in a Western movie or the Old West itself as they rush past mesquite and cactus and play peek-a-boo with the Rio Grande. Crossing the Pecos High Bridge they might forget they aren't flying as the train is invisibly suspended 265 feet above the Pecos River on one of the nation's highest railroad bridges. San Antonio's station is within walking distance of the Alamo.

Traveling aboard the Sunset Limited is an adventure. There are no guarantees for on-time arrivals or departures, scheduled stops or even properly working equipment. One thing travelers can count on is making new friends as they experience the southern United States in a way too few do.