January 2015 – Page 2 – All Things Good

If That Isn’t Power, Then I Don’t Know What Is!

Katharine Rose Rose's Ridge January 16, 2015April 5, 2017Bestselling books, Book reviews, Books, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Moisés Naim, The End of Power 1 Comment

Potency. Strength. Force. Intensity. Energy. Vigor.

These are but just a sampling of synonyms listed in Doubleday Roget’s Thesaurus under the word “power” – defined in Miriam Webster’s New Collegiate dictionary as, “possession of control, authority, or influence over others.”

Interesting, then, that the CEO of arguably one of the most “powerful” companies in the world – Facebook – has chosen a book entitled The End of Power (March 2013) as the first pick for his new book club that he so fittingly announced on the social networking site earlier this month. Read more

Journeying Into The Past

Katharine Rose Realms Of Gold January 15, 2015April 11, 2017American Wing, Artists, Founding Fathers, George Washington, Knights, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museums, Paintings 0 Comment

Two years ago almost to the day, on January 16, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City reopened the “American Wing” to the public after a decade-long restoration that included recreating the original frame for the “best-known painting in America’s best-known museum”: Washington Crossing the Delaware.

Measuring 12 ft. 5 in. by 21 ft. 3 in., it was painted in 1851 by the German born artist, Emmanuel Leutze, in his studio in Dusseldorf Germany. It entered the Met’s collection in 1897 after a much storied journey of its own, as told in the Met’s booklet: Washington Crossing the Delaware: Restoring an American Masterpiece. Read more

A Warm Winter’s Meal

Jennifer Rose Around The Table January 14, 2015May 1, 2017Cabernet Sauvignon, Caesar Salad, Comfort food, Mac and cheese, Macaroni and cheese, Recipes, Wine 1 Comment

Looking for a simple, delicious meal for the wintertime? See our recipes below for Caesar Salad and Maccheroni and Cheese, in addition to a suggested wine to go along with our post in Rose’s Ridge.

Contrary to popular belief, Caesar Salad is not named after Julius Caesar, the Roman general, statesman and consul who played a significant role in the rise of the Roman Empire. Rather, it is attributed to restaurateur Caesar Cardini, an Italian immigrant and chef who first created the salad at his restaurant in Tijuana in 1924.

According to Life Is Meals, after customers appeared late one night, he instructed a waiter to combine and toss the remaining ingredients in the kitchen, serving the salad as if it were a “house specialty.” Read more

I’ll Vote For That

Katharine Rose Rose's Ridge January 13, 2015April 5, 2017Congress, Constitution, D.C., Founding Fathers, Freedom, Independence Hall, U.S. Government, Washington 3 Comments

In a letter to an orphaned nephew dated December 5, 1790, George Washington wrote: “A good moral character is the first essential in a man…it is therefore highly important that you should endeavor not only to be learned, but virtuous.”

Similarly, four other of our most prominent founding fathers echoed this sentiment on various occasions, in various forms, from writings in The Federalist Papers to speeches at state ratifying conventions, saying:

Thomas Jefferson: “…never suppose that in any possible situation, or under any circumstances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing, however slightly so it may appear to you.” Read more

Cooking “Au Pif”

Jennifer Rose Around The Table January 7, 2015May 1, 2017Baking, Cookbooks, Cooking, David Leibovitz, French Onion Soup, James Salter, Julia Child, Life Is Meals, Meals, Paris, Recipes, restaurants 3 Comments

In Life is Meals: A Food Lover’s Book of Days, American novelist James Salter writes:

“The meal is the essential act of life: it is the habitual ceremony, the long record of marriage, the school for behavior, the prelude to love. Among all peoples and in all times, every significant event in life – be it wedding, triumph, or birth – is marked by a meal or the sharing of food or drink. The meal is the emblem of civilization. What would one know of life as it should be lived or nights as they should be spent apart from meals?”

This quote could have easily been attributed to Julia Child*, the epitome of one who never lived apart from meals and who received a great amount of joy and pleasure from cooking – and eating! As she once said, “You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients.” Read more

Skating Into The New Year

Katharine Rose Realms Of Gold January 6, 2015April 11, 2017Chicago, Cloud Gate, Millennium Park, New Year, New York City, Rockefeller Center, Vervacious, vervacious foods, vervacious portland, vervacious spices 3 Comments

The holidays are over and January – in its cold, snowy and post-holiday glory – is settling in. But, despair not! The excitement, merriment and cheer of the joyous holiday season don’t have to end.

Let a new book, a trip to an ice skating rink with friends or a cup of hot cocoa with fresh whipped cream revive your spirit, carrying you into the New Year with hope and joy, and curing you of those inevitable “January blues.”

World-famous and one of the quintessential New York City experiences, the ice-skating rink in the center of Midtown Manhattan at Rockefeller Center is worth a trip for both tourists and city-goers alike. Read more

The Wonder of the Human Will

Katharine Rose Armour of Light January 5, 2015April 11, 2017Alan Turing, Cheryl Strayed, Hope, Movies, New Year, The Imitation Game, The Pacific Crest Trail, Wild 1 Comment

With each New Year come new beginnings, new hopes and new dreams – and, perhaps less welcomed, but not less important, change. But, change – as unsettling, disconcerting and frightening as it can be – is not always bad. In fact, change is good. It is necessary; it is what pushes and advances us. It is instructive; it teaches, inspires and transforms. After all, as Henri Bergson once said: “To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” And Confucius: “They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.”

It is in this spirit that ATG puts forth two “must see” movies of the New Year (see below), both of which underscore the necessity of hope and the transformative power of change. We *hope* you enjoy! Read more

A New Year’s Message For All

Katharine Rose Rose's Ridge January 1, 2015April 5, 2017New Years Resolutions, Pope Francis, The Vatican 7 Comments

“Spiritual Alzheimer’s disease.” “Existential schizophrenia.” “Terrorism of gossip.” “Pathology of power.” These are the words that so forcefully – and, judged by their reception, perhaps unexpectedly – echoed through the ‘Sala Clementina’ of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican, during Pope Francis’ annual Christmas address to the Curia – the Vatican’s administrative apparatus.

Described as one of the “harshest criticisms to date of the Curia” and a “blistering attack on the Vatican bureaucracy,” it was an address that has caused quite a stir in the national and international media alike, as a headline from the Religion News Service so astutely captured: “Pope Francis to Curia: Merry Christmas, you power-hungry hypocrites.”

Intended as it was for the Curia’s assembled members, I think there is some underlying wisdom that laymen – or the general public at large – can take away from the Pope’s message, particularly during the start of a new year. Read more