Archive for May, 2008
Library of Congress Cybercast is finally up
Thursday, May 29th, 2008A bit delayed, but my first talk from my book tour is finally up. It was actually, looking back, a fantastic event to kick off my book tour. About 150 people in the middle of the day (almost all of whom I didn’t know). That and the Politics and Prose event, also ~150 people, made […]
Auditioning for the Jews, who love Chinese Food (and Books)
Thursday, May 29th, 2008So I recently went to Los Angeles for a two-minute audition held by the Jewish Book Council, which coordinates the Jewish Book Network of some 100 Jewish book fairs and events around the country. It is a combination of speed dating and the gong show or “JDate and a camel auction“, as Rachel Donadio wrote […]
Charlie Rose Tomorrow is different from Tomorrow’s Charlie Rose
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008I did a segment for Charlie Rose Tomorrow, which is an online-only interview done by Charlotte Morgan of younger-ish people. But a lot of people have e-mailed/IMed me congratulating me for being on tomorrow’s Charlie Rose. And I realized that they think the sement is previewing what is showing tomorrow on the television show. But […]
Eric’s book party toast — a lesson in humor
Friday, May 23rd, 2008Dave Lu of Fanpop finally put up the toast that my friend Eric, who hosted my book party gave. I swear. Like 20 people independently have come up to me and said his toast was fantastic or funny or memorable. It was actually an amazing toast. Part of it was extempted.
Time: “its many revelations will force readers to consider the often strange routes their favorite dishes — authentic or not — took to the plate.”
Thursday, May 22nd, 2008Ling Woo Liu did a review for Time.com just today. When it landed in my Google Alerts, I was like, whoa. Is this a review two.5 months out? She too did not like the around the world chapter. Oh well. Here it goes. The chic and pricey China Club in Hong Kong is about the […]
What is a chop suey sundae?
Thursday, May 22nd, 2008Sent to me by a Proquest executive. Proquest Historical Newspaper Archive is very useful for historical research. I would not have been able to do much on chop suey, Chinese restaurants, fortune cookie and General Tso’s chicken without it. She sent me an ad for a chop suey sundae…which piqued my curiosity
Maybe General Tso had a Mexican Cousin?
Tuesday, May 20th, 2008Erin passed me a press release that from Chop’t Salad which hailed “the Mott Street Chop with romaine lettuce and spinach, grilled chicken, snow peas, water chestnuts, and savory Chinese noodles drizzled with the recommended General Tso’s Chipotle dressing.” General Tso’s Chipotle dressing?! General Tso, promise you, never saw a stalk of broccoli in his […]
Fortune Cookies: “except in bed?”
Monday, May 19th, 2008This truly excellent comic from xkcd.com on the “in bed” phenomenon in fortune cookies.
Fortune Cookie Chronicles in Accra, Ghana
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008Yay. Fortune Cookie Chronicles hits sub-Saharan Africa before I do (I have only been to Mauritius). Sent to me by a fan. This is the independence monument with Kwame Nkrumah, pan-Africanist.
Random Photo of Black Bird that has Nothing to do with Chinese Food
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008This has nothing to do with Chinese food. But I found this photo I took in 2005 on a roadtrip through the southwest while I was cleaning up on hard drive for Chinese food-related photos. Thus I am sharing it with the world
Fortune cookie fungus
Sunday, May 11th, 2008Was browsing the Internet doing a search for fortune cookie by Super K (Kari-out) and stumbled upon this blog post on Thoughts from Miller Manor about fungus that looks like fortune cookies. Â Yummy?
In Denver’s SPJ’s adorable invite
Thursday, May 8th, 2008Am in Denver to speak the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalist (a four star chapter at that). I just saw the invite for the talk and dinner. It’s adorable.
Fortune Cookie Chronicles on Local Library Signs
Thursday, May 8th, 2008Did some library events earlier this week, and I love seeing the signs they put up with the name of the book in that piecemeal lettering. I love local libraries. That is how I grew up learning to read. The signs remind me of traveling through Iowa and Ohio and places like that. (though these […]
Google knows that Jews love Chinese food?
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008This is very odd. I looked up “Fortune Cookie Chronicles” on Google and was pleased that I was advanced enough to get my own little subcategories. It listed my most popular pages: Lee, Photos, About, Chinese food and then…a category called “Jews Love Chinese Food.” . That startled me, because as you see from the […]
Proquest, the American Library Association, and Fortune Cookies
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008I might be going to speak at an American Library Association conference in Denver next January (yes, Denver in January) on my use of the historical newspaper archives offered by ProQuest. I love ProQuest and even thank them in my acknowledgments. Basically their historical archives were perfect for something like my book — searching for […]
Phoenix. Why is Chow Mein the Chosen Food of the Chosen People
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008I thought this invite, sent out for my Phoenix event this Sunday, was adorable.
A Chinese Restaurant in Venice (with a boat docked out front)
Sunday, May 4th, 2008My friend Kathleen took a photo of this Chinese restaurant in Venice for me (love the boat out front).
My Asia Society Conversation Now Partially in Podcast Form
Friday, May 2nd, 2008I’m in a recent Podcast episode from my conversation at the Asia Society. 4/22/08: India Goes Hungry; Secrets of Chinese Takeout The world food crisis and Asia, with analysis by Asia Society Fellow Mira Kamdar… Food author Jennifer 8. Lee solves a Chinese takeout mystery… and upcoming Asia Society programs in Mumbai and Hong Kong. […]
YouTube Celebrates Asian American-ness (and you can win an iPod Nano)
Friday, May 2nd, 2008YouTube and The Asia Society collaborated for a video series on Asian Americanness for Asian American Heritage Month. And I got to be included in it (very flattering). It’s a pretty fneat group — including a senator, Hollywood actors and a Silicon Valley start-up folk. The main video is a montage of interviews from a […]
Boldtype: “The book balances history and cooking lessons with Lee’s humorous mythbusting expeditions”
Thursday, May 1st, 2008I’m recommended on Boldtype’s list this month (first book!). As their site explains, “Boldtype is a monthly book review focusing on smart, readable works of fiction and nonfiction, from current titles to past gems.” Available everywhere from shacks that sell it alongside hamburgers to highly rated Zagat favorites, Chinese food is one of the most […]
Philadelphia City Paper: “after you’ve digested all of that cultural insight and fascinating trivia, you’ll still want more.”
Thursday, May 1st, 2008I’m just trolling and catching up with random reviews that I never got around to adding. Here is one from the Philadelphia City Paper. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food By Jennifer 8. Lee Twelve, 320 pp., $24.99 “This book began as a quest to understand Chinese food,” New York […]
On hold, checked out, due. Fortune Cookies Chronicles in Libraries
Thursday, May 1st, 2008In searching the NYPL LEO (and their research catalogue is CATNYP, adorable no?) I discovered there were 166 holds on 19 copies of the Fortune Cookie Chronicles at the NYPL as of May 1 (none seem to be in stock, oddly, they are all on order…didn’t this book come out two months ago?). This made […]
Beyond Chinese Cuisine @ The Asia Society on May 6
Thursday, May 1st, 2008Another event at the Asia Society next Tuesday, May 6. (James Oseland, Editor in Chief, Saveur Magazine, is really a very skilled moderator) From Silk Road to Steppe: Exploring Cuisines Beyond the Great Wall In the West, when we think about food in China, what usually comes to mind are the signature dishes of Beijing, […]