Tag: food

creativity

In the pause: Balance the two kinds of happiness

Christa Avampato

There are two kinds of happiness: the one that comes from instant gratification and the one that comes from the slow slog toward a desired goal. The first makes us happy in the here and now, but it usually doesn’t last long. The second makes us happy when viewed through the arc of life but in the here and now can be difficult and uncomfortable. I’ve found that I need a good balance of both to truly feel good about life.

Art, music, good food, time with my friends, my dog, and working out are all things that make me immediately happy. Writing, working on my entrepreneurial ideas, and learning something new that I’m not yet particularly good at fall into that second bucket. It’s not that I don’t get any joy from them in the near-term; it’s just that to feel truly happy about them I need to look at them through a longer lens and with a goal in mind.

Knowing about this balance helps me figure out how to allocate my time, effort, and energy to be happy at this moment and to ensure I’m happy down the line, too.

creativity

In the pause: Supporting refugee businesses

Christa Avampato

Entrepreneurial-minded friends, I read this story about Syrian refugees in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn who started an online bakery out of their small kitchen. If you are considering starting a business, I hope their bravery, resilience, and love for their work will inspire you and wipe away any sense of fear or doubt that you may have. That’s certainly what it did for me. I also just placed an order on their website at http://www.sweetrefuge.com. I feel that supporting their business is one of the best ways to help! I hope you’ll join me in supporting this new chapter in their lives.

creativity

In the pause: Baking bread as a holy act

Christa Avampato
screen-shot-2016-12-28-at-2-15-45-pm
Homemade bagels from my kitchen. ~CRA

Tell bread to rise and it ignores you. It will rise of its own accord. You can’t make it rise faster. It often requires work, and lots of it. Baking bread is a contact sport, and you must give it your hands, arms, and heart. In all these ways, it is a holy act. It is an act of patience, belief, and faith.

Lately the only thing that makes me feel better is cooking and baking, and baking bread most of all. I can’t write or read or multi-task while I bake bread. It helps me to pause, be quiet, and reflect. It demands my mind, my hands, and my attention for a certain amount of time, and then it demands I leave it alone for a good long while.

So if you’re feeling lost or disillusioned or confused, even angry or sad or disappointed, I suggest stocking your cupboard with the magic combination of flour, salt, and yeast. Add some water, tuck it away for a while in a warm, cozy place, and magical things will begin to happen. It will rise. And you will rise with it.

creativity

Wonder: Breaking Bread with Chopped Champion and Executive Chef Demetrio Zavala

Christa Avampato

Ever wonder what it’s like to be a competitor on the Food Network show Chopped? Wonder no more. Today is my first installment of the “Behind the Scenes” segments for the Breaking Bread Podcast and I’m talking to Chef Demetrio Zavala, Executive Chef at DC’s Lincoln, Declaration, and Teddy and the Bull Bar. He became a Chopped Champion in October 2016. Chef Demetrio tells me what it’s like to be on Chopped. We talked about his love for his work, his business, his team, and most of all, his guests. I visited him at Lincoln to give you a full sense of the fun and festive atmosphere that he creates in all of his restaurants. Let’s listen in…

creativity

Wonder: Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Christa Avampato

“I fell in love with my work and dedicated my life to it.” ~Jiro Ono

A friend of mine recommended I watch the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. It’s about Jiro Ono. 85-years-old, he is considered by many to be the world’s greatest sushi chef. He is the proprietor of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a 10-seat, sushi-only restaurant inauspiciously located in a Tokyo subway station. (Yes, the finest food can be found in a subway station!)

Humble and unassuming in appearance, it is the first restaurant of its kind to be awarded a prestigious three-star Michelin Guide rating. Sushi fan from all over the world repeatedly visit and make reservations months in advance. Jiro is completely unimpressed with himself. At 85, he says he is still searching for perfection, still trying to get better every minute of every day. He is also a fierce advocate for greater environmental regulations to protect the oceans and wildlife.

His dedication, passion, and commitment to his work is without equal. I enjoy my work but I don’t have what he has. It gave me something to aspire to, to search for. I’m looking.

creativity

Wonder: Breaking Bread Podcast with Food & Friends

Christa Avampato

If you’re election weary, here’s my uplifting podcast episode featuring Food & Friends, one of my favorite organizations in D.C. Please feel free to spread this good news far and wide! Food & Friends provides one million specialized nutritious meals a year in the greater D.C. area to individuals and families who are undergoing treatment for HIV / AIDS and cancer, and those who are in hospice care. It’s a mission I’m proud to support as a volunteer and as a donor. This year I’m spending Thanksgiving volunteering at Food & Friends to send out 600 prepared Thanksgiving dinners to help their clients celebrate this wonderful holiday. 

To learn more about Food & Friends and how you can support this incredible work, visit their website at foodandfriends.org.

creativity

Wonder: A sweet Halloween treat – The Breaking Bread Podcast launch!

Christa Avampato

I am so excited to let you know that The Breaking Bread Podcast launches today. Check out my interview with the Capital Area Food Bank and learn about all of the incredible work they do to support 444 food-based organizations in the D.C. area who in turn help hundreds of thousands of our neighbors every year who face food insecurity on a daily basis. It’s an inspiring story about food as a social justice issue, the fight to end hunger, and our ability to help our city grow stronger and healthier together.

You can find The Breaking Bread Podcast on iTunes, Soundcloud, and TuneIn.

 

creativity

Wonder: Breaking Bread Podcast records its first traveling segment

Christa Avampato
screen-shot-2016-09-29-at-9-38-57-pm
Captured from the Food & Friends website

Today I’m heading over to Food & Friends, one of my favorite D.C. charities, to talk about the work they do, the role of collaboration in alleviating hunger, food equity, and nutrition as a key driver of improved health. This is the first traveling segment of the Breaking Bread Podcast and I’m so excited to highlight an organization that gives so much to our neighbors who need our care and support. Stay tuned!

creativity

Wonder: The urban farm on the roof of Union Market

Christa Avampato

Yesterday I had a great time getting a tour of the hydroponic garden on top of Union Market. The garden is owned, run, and used by the restaurant Bidwell. It inspired me to think about how I might do something like this once I buy my own apartment. It’s possible to farm just about anywhere now thanks to technology. The Breaking Bread podcast might soon be recording surrounded by the food that’s about to be served.

Here are some pictures from the roof garden at Union Market!

creativity

Wonder: Could an agrihood be developed in D.C.?

Christa Avampato

I watched a segment on CBS Sunday morning about agrihoods, housing developments that have a farm as their anchor. This isn’t community gardening; this is a true working farm, run by professional farmers who make their livelihood from the sale of its fruits and vegetables that are purchased by people who live within a few miles of the farm. We spend all this time and money building developments that have pools, retail space, and other glitzy amenities. Why not have healthy, local food and job creation be an amenity? Couldn’t D.C. do that?