So Sylvie

A Night with Chris Isaak

We had a sweet time with "uncle" Chris the other night. For over 15 years now, when he's in town, I get a call to come to the show. My dear friend Gillian, who works with Chris, hasn't given up on me, even though I've had to decline the offer of passes for the past 7 years. I was newly pregnant with Marcel at the last show I went to. I thought now was the perfect time as Marcel would be old enough to remember it, and I'm pretty certain he will. He danced on the side, near the bass player, all night long like I've never seen him dance before, twisting and gyrating, ha!

Here he is at the beginning, with earplugs still inserted:

You would never know that I used to be a tour photographer by these shots. I had my camera on the wrong setting. Was it because I was giddy at having a night out, or cast in a dizzy spell by the music:

We had a lovely time with the percussionist Rafael and his enchanting family, playing at the neighborhood park and riding on the little wooden park train. I haven't been able to tear myself away from work at the shop and I realize how essential it is, and how important it is to be in touch, person to person. Forgive me for the lousy exposure on the camera Rafael:

My dear sweet friend Gillian with Marcel (adjusting his backstage pass):

And lastly, Chris' encore suit in a quiet moment:

Chef Marcel

We took my Marcel to see Ratatouille the other night. He was so inspired that at ten o'clock that night he wanted to start making soup! I told him that we needed to get a full night's sleep to make really good soup. So the next day I took him to the market and let him pick out the ingredients he wanted. He was determined to make a red soup(his favorite color), so we picked out the veggies accordingly. By the way, what a great way to decide what to make, by choosing a color. We had such fun making it and when we were finished I told him that when chefs create a dish they get to name it so, I give you...

Marcel's French Red Soup:

olive oil

sea salt

1 yellow onion

5 cloves of garlic

2 cups of chopped cabbage (we used green, but you could use red)

4 roma tomatoes

10 cherry tomatoes

10 baby carrots (leave whole)

1 red bell pepper

1 carton of organic veggie broth

4 oz. can of tomato paste

fresh rosemary and thyme

Get a big soup pot, pour in about 2 ounces of olive oil and saute the onion and garlic with some sea salt. Every couple of minutes add the next veggie on the list. Then add the entire carton of broth and can of tomato paste. Stir, stir, stir. Simmer for about 45 minutes. Add the rosemary and thyme in the last 15 minutes, depending on your taste. Serve with crunchy toasted french bread drizzled with olive oil. Yum!