It's The Life of Pi after Thanksgiving Pie

What does one do after a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner? Well, everyone on staff at Your Culinary World is going to see the just released movie hailed as the new Avatar - The Life of Pi.

Directed in 3D (and digital) by Ang Lee, who also created the visually stunning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and thought provoking Brokeback Mountain, The Life of Pi has been hailed by early reviewers as a masterpiece.

Based on an award winning book by Yann Martel, the story superficially tells the tale a boy shipwrecked in a small rowboat with a tiger. But the story is about much much more than that. It is also a story about fear, division, courage and the power to understand the heart of Life itself - themes the author often seeks to write about.

Make time this holiday to see a movie you will long remember -it's one great present you can give yourself and your staff. No gift wrapping required!

Post Note, November 30, 2012: If by now you have seen The Life of Pi (which we hope you have as the film is truly amazing), why not celebrate a great movie with a piece of Tiger Cake in honor of Richard Parker himself.

(Just adjust the colors and you can also make a Zebra Cake - if you've seen the film...poor zebra).

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2012

Massive Indian Power Outage Offers a Wider Lesson to the World

Our hearts go out to the 680 million people in northern and eastern India who are enduring that nation’s largest electric blackout ever. If that number seems too large to grasp, the recent outage has impacted a population group larger than that of the United States, Russia and Brazil combined.

That is a lot of people suffering – hotels, hospitals, restaurants, schools, rail transportation... all stopped still.

The world should take note and learn a very important lesson: we are all interdependent one to another.

Recently the President of the United States was misquoted when he correctly said that no business owner achieves success alone.

Any successful business needs lights, power, roads and healthy employees.

Often that large supportive, and very necessary, infrastructure is built and maintained by the collective effort of government, paid for with public taxes for the benefit of all.

Once during the early days of American history (1777-1789), the U.S. adopted a singular, every state for itself approach and the result was disastrous. Today we should know better.

Working together is always stronger that pulling apart with an “I/we don’t need anybody else” attitude.

No hotel department or restaurant division is successful in isolation.

Each has to be an integrated co-supportive professional community to be a truly successful and creative business. 

India will survive because she is one of the world's greatest nations blessed with an indomitable spirit.

It is our hope that India's recovery will be inclusive, embracing the right of all to the safety of light and an equally bright future for everyone.

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2012