Judgment of Paris situation. I played in an ensemble where

Noting that the classical contest of this name involved the
three most beautiful goddesses in Olympus; the winner was
Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and I forget who the others
were. The Judgment of Paris I was talking about (whose
nickname came from that Greek mythology) was the one that
showed that Californian wines had come into their own: a
selection of the best California Cabernets and Chardonnays
was put up against a selection of the most famous Bordeaux
reds and Burgundy whites, and, guess what, the US took the
top prize in both categories. In whites, the results were
mixed; in reds, #1 was Stag's Leap, but the rest of the top
finishers were French. The French members of the blind judging
team were outraged, with some of them trying to disavow their
ballots. Nonetheless, the wine industry was shaken up forever.

I was a little surprised - I'd thought from my then limited
experience that the Americans would show well, but not that well.

My worldliness being greater at the time of the violin
demonstration, I was not surprised at all.

all the other violins were Gaglianos of one generation or the
other, and I was playing on a fresh minted Wallin from the
1990s, and my instrument, if not my playing, blew the others
away. It was not a great classic instrument of a famous make,
nor ancient, and, horrors, it was made by a woman. In those

The prejudice against women in the professions, still present
in many circles, was crushing back then. I'd played some of
Marilyn Wallin's instruments against some of the big guns and
found that they competed well - there were at the time still
more eminent modern makers, but they were in midcareer, and she
was just starting out, so hers were the best I could afford, as
well that she was a friend of mine and married to one of my best
friends at the time. People arched their eyebrows at me until I
played as equals with their Pressendas and Guarneriuses and
tehded to beat the Gaglianos and Amatis cold.

It's kept me company for maybe 500000 of my 3 or 4 million air
miles and has remained mostly intact. She persisted and went on
to become the first woman president of the Violin Society of
America, and her instruments command more than a house in Detroit.

Do you still have that violin? Do you know where all of your violins
are these days?

The Wallin and the unknown viola from the Boston Symphony
live at Bonnie's. The McDermott viola lives with my friend
Dave but currently stays at Bonnie's. The Puccini violin
is at Lilli's. The Stoss violin, so far as I know, is at
Marilyn Wallin's shop in Nebraska on sort of permanent loan.
The Arkansas violin has been reabsorbed into its original
family. The Pedrinelli and Iizuka, violin and viola
respectively, were lost to an unfortunate relationship.

Title: Monte Cristo Sandwiches
6 Turkey slices -- cooked

I'd prefer the version without turkey. I like the stuff
fine, but it doesn't seem to fit here; I admit it might
mitigate the bite of too-salty ham. Deli turkey is in
every way inferior to real, though, being saltier, leaner,
drier, and way less tasty. Oh, yeah, and white.

6 Swiss cheese slices -- thin

The better the cheese the better the sandwich. Gruyere,
Emmental, Jarlsberg, Comte.

6 Ham slices, extra lean --
-thin

What's this extra-lean business? I find that hard
to swallow.

12 Bread slices
From: George Elting Date: 04-30-00
Home Cooking

Poor George. I wonder what became of him. And ditto.

Swallow's Nests - Nidi di Rondine
categories: main, Italian, pasta, San Marino
yield: 15 to 18 nests

1/2 batch homemade pasta dough
- sub store-bought sheets of fresh lasagna
h - Bechamel sauce
2 Tb butter
3 Tb flour
1 1/2 c whole milk
1/8 ts nutmeg
salt
h - Filling
8 oz thin ham slices or as needed
8 oz emmentaler or mozarella sliced very thin
- or shredded (or as needed)
1/2 c parmesan to spoon on top of each nest
2 Tb olive oil or as needed

In a hurry? Try using ricotta instead of bechamel and fresh
lasagna sheets from your grocerÿs refrigerator section.

Even more in a hurry? Our neighbors made a version with puff
pastry instead of pasta and cooked the casserole at 400F for
20 min. They even topped it with a little tomato sauce.

Make the pasta. Set it aside to rest for 20 min.

Meanwhile, make the bechamel. Melt the butter in a pot.
Whisk in the flour and nutmeg until completely combined,
then whisk together with a little milk. Keep adding milk
a little at a time until a smooth, thick sauce forms.
Set aside.

Roll out the pasta dough into a large rectangle. Top
with half the bechamel sauce, then ham, then cheese.

Roll up into a long tube. Freeze 30 min (this will make
it so easy to slice).

Preheat the oven to 325F and oil a casserole liberally.
Spoon in the remaining half of the bechamel sauce.

Remove the pasta roll from the freezer and slice to make
individual nests. The best way to make them equal sized
is to slice the roll in half, then half again, and so on.

Brush the sides with olive oil so they don't stick to
each other and then place, cut side up in the casserole.
Top with 1/2 to ts grated Parmesan per spiral and bake
at 325F for 45 to 50 min. The less Parmesan you use, the
easier it will be to see their lovely design.

Sasha Martin, globaltableadventure.com
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