Contents

MY LIFE
Wrong Place, Wrong Time	6
Bavaria and Beyond	23
African Adventure	42
Coming to America	60
Footprints in the Sand	82
On the Pier	103
The Magic of Disney	125
Life as a Texan	150
Dreams Realized	174
MY TRAVELS
Bordeaux	185
Burgundy	193
Normandy	201
Piedmont	209
Emilia Romagna	218
Spain	226
Greek Islands	233
Syria	240
China	249
Sentimental Journeys	259

Excerpt

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

People in this country love to talk about where they're from - certainly if they're from Texas, where I have lived and worked these past two-plus decades - but also if their parents or grandparents came to America from Italy or Chine or Latin America. They talk about their countries and customs and foods with pride, maybe with nostalgia, based on how much they really know about those things or if they've ever personally visited. In my case, I can talk in detail about the country in which I was born; but it's never easy to express my feelings only in warm and happy memories. There were lots of those, of course: I was a child in a loving family, and there's no way we ever forget how good that feels. But I came of age at a time of darkness, sadness and suffering, a time of war that robbed me of my grandparents, separated my parents for years and eventually drove me from the place I loved to the life of a refugee. Most of all, the agonies and sacrifices of World War II meant that the place I grew up, the country I would always call home would, as an official place you can find on a map, simply cease to exist.

If you look up the history of Pomerania, you will quickly discover that what you read depends on who is writing. True to its roots in the Old World, Pomerania to a Pole is a profoundly Polish country grabbed up a farm or two at a time over many centuries - taken by Germans until they could dominate and absorb it. To a German, Pomerania was an open and uncivilized stretch of low-value real estate that generations of German families developed into an agricultural powerhouse. Like similar disputes throughout Europe, the Balkans and the Middle East, neither side is willing or able to listen very well, much less grant the other any validity. To me now as an American, neither party ever seems blameless in these feuds - and the tireless talk of this king's this or that treaty's that, always in the 12th or 13th century, seems too much and too long ago.

Favorite Recipes

Marinated Salmon Fillet in Dill
Yield: serves 8

3 to 3 1/2 pounds fresh salmon fillet skin on, but all bones removed
2 bunches fresh dill, cut into large pieces
1/2 cup kosher salt, or sea salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons coarse cracked black pepper

Wash salmon fillet under running cold water, and pat dry with paper towels.

Cut the salmon fillet in half, and place one half of the fish into a shallow ceramic or glass-baking dish, skin down. Place the dill generously over the salmon.

In a separate bowl mix the black pepper, sugar, salt and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the dill.

Top with the other half fillet, skin side up, and cover the dish with aluminum foil. Place a weight on top to press the salmon fillets down, and refrigerate for three days.

Turn the fish every 12 hours, and baste with liquid accumulated on the bottom of the baking dish.

When the GRAVLAX is marinated and firm, place on a cutting board and slice very thin.

Place on chilled plates, garnish with sprigs of fresh dill and serve with mayonnaise and toasted rye bread.