A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words, and Then Some
Although he can hold his own in any salon in eight languages, Fareed is by nature very quiet and retiring. His wife, Rania, has the advantage of having the women in our group who by nature are more open, more willing to throw their arms around their women friends and help them grieve their losses and renew their spirits. Unfortunately, we men aren't quite so huggy, touchy, feely Max said, though we'd be better off if we learned how to do that. That huggy, touchy, feely thing Max told us, is exactly what the world needs right about now. Enough of Bush's "bring 'em on attitude."

For those who wanted a cocktail, Schuyler was at the drinks bar mixing Margaritas, using Sauza's Tres Generaciones Silver tequila and Cointreau, with Shirley Temples for those who wanted to sip something but not anything with alcohol.

We joined Max and Fareed by the fireplace, happy to see that Fareed was leading the conversation with Max, so of course our curiosity was piqued. Fareed, an engineer from Iraq who moved here with his family not long ago, together with their friends, Iraqi Jews, added a new dimension to our ranching and farming community. That friendship between such seemingly disparate Iraqis already tells you volumes about their qualities as human beings, and we feel honored to have them as our friends and neighbors.

Fareed told us of a monumental and seminal book that had just come out that he felt if more people read, would go a long way towards explaining why the Palestinians feel the way they do, and he emphasized, until the world understands the Palestinians' feelings alongside the feelings of the Israelis, nothing is going to be solved.

The book is Salman H. Abu-Sitta's "Atlas of Palestine 1948." It was recently published by the London-based Palestine Land Society (www.plands.org) and is available worldwide in the offices of Saqi Books or the Institute of Palestine Studies.

Fareed, who is Iraqi, not Palestinian, told the now hushed group that the world needed to listen to the Palestinian people. The world needs, he said, to read this book and learn of the horrendous dispossession and exile that occurred in 18 months during 1947-1948. this atlas will show every Palestinian where his or her home or farm used to be. Those 900,000 people were then dispossessed and became refugees in exile; 675 Arab population centers and villages were depopulated.

Diplomacy and Empathy
Fareed decried the recent aspersions cast at the Muslim world. He told a rapt audience that what the world needed right now was not George Bush and Murderous Co. Inc, and not John Bolton. He suggested that the world ought to study this book that documents such loss and human suffering. Also, Fareed told us, he read an interview during which the author of this book affirmed that he was not writing as a way to offend the Israelis, but as a means to find a good solution to a one or two state situation.

In fact, Fareed told us, Mr. Abu-Sitta was quoted as saying: "My aim is both to look back and forward. I want to document what happened in those fateful 18 months around 1948, but also to show the facts on the ground that might provide the basis for future scenarios of how Israelis and Palestinians might live together, whether in one state, two states, or some other arrangement. If Israelis or others are interested to know why the conflict persists today, they can review the information here, and wake up from their collective amnesia about what really happened in 1948."

And we, we will read this book, and in so doing, become better citizens because we will be better informed and won't tolerate some insensitive government's propaganda about what we should or shouldn't believe.
Right before going in to dinner, we wish you could have witnessed the hugs between our Muslim and our Jewish friends; it would give you hope.

Sweet Dinner Gong
Charlotte and Marie Christine had prepared some minute but exquisite little Chicken Liver Pâté Club Sandwiches on Brioche. They served the tiny club sandwiches with some Domecq "La Ina" Fino Sherry, heralding a truly delicious dinner. You might wonder though, why we used chicken liver pâté and not foie gras. Well, you probably have noticed by now that some things never appear on our table, and those are animal products where the animals have been inhumanely treated, such as geese, or animals which have been overfished or raised under inhumane conditions, hence no veal. If we don't butcher our own animals, we get our meat only from certified humane sources, and our chickens are free range and, like our other animals, know no fear, especially at the time of their slaughter. What we wouldn't do to ourselves, we don't do to our animals.

Sagidah prepared us the hot, winter version of Vichyssoise, called Parmentier. Along one wall, we have a bank of cooktops, wall ovens, and sinks. Sagidah told us she was delighted with the wall mounted enormous goose neck swinging faucet we had just had installed, as it made getting the last of the grit that always seems to adhere to leeks a breeze. We got ours from A & S Brass, and almost bought the Krowne Model 17-108W until Shelley told us her family were shipping her the Krowne, which you can find at your local restaurant supply store. Naturally, the rest of the gang involved with preparing tonight's vegetables also enjoyed the new spray head on the swinging faucet.

Max and His Grilling Baskets
Max has a whole collection of little baskets that he uses to grill vegetables so he can control them and fine tune their grilling, and an amazing array of fish-grilling baskets of all sizes. With all the grills going on the porch, Max got busy and quickly grilled our vegetables and our fish. His system works perfectly because he is so well organized and is such an expert at grilling that he always gets the grills' temperatures just right. Tonight, in the seafood grilling baskets, he prepared shrimp, scallops and lobster, all to be had with drawn butter. In the vegetable grilling baskets he grilled a medley of eggplant, squash, fennel, scallions and asparagus.

When he opened the door to the great room, the teenagers were instantly rewarded with the exquisite aromas of Max's grilling. Helped by a couple of the teenagers, it only took a few minutes for everybody to be served. The dishes we used tonight can be subjected to great heat without cracking, which is good because the kids think it's a special treat to have their vegetable grilling baskets placed directly on their plates.

Charlotte had brought some bottles of Hogue Cellars Chenin Blanc, which was the perfect wine to accompany the seafood served with drawn butter. Tonight, Max and Charlotte had decided to have larger than usual quantities of grilled seafood, so they asked us beforehand if it would be o.k. to skip the meat course, which of course it was. We each were more than satisfied with the dinner as it was planned, but of course, we did have some wiggle room and voted yes when asked if we wanted dessert.

We knew that Beatrix had made a whole array of Panna Cotta Tartlets with Strawberries, and we thought we'd have them tonight instead of waiting until tomorrow. Heck, why put off pleasure tonight if we don't have to? The tartlets and snifters of Courvoisier, and we were mesmerized by our dinner. Lord, now you know why the gruffer patrons at the feed store look at us as if were geeks of some kind. Well, we tell them, we're not geeks we're "gastronomes," instantly sending them to the spittoon. (Sorry, just had to tell you what life in the country can be like sometimes, if you vary from the meat and potatoes menu.)

Winding Down
Liz told us something Sir Walter Scott had written:

"Breathes there the man, with soul
so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne'er within him
Burn'd
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd
From wandering on a foreign strand!"

Liz finished by saying that perhaps with regime change in the U.S. we can become more engaged in the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians. This administration is just too war-loving she said. Hypocritically, they tout democracy but just not democratically won elections in Palestine, Bolivia or Venezuela.

And so, all sweatered-up, everybody headed home, just not to the feed store; can't stomach that spittoon right now.

Summary
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict needs to be seen through the eyes of a visionary, not a warmongering Crusader. It is in our blood, to long for home. Perhaps, with hope and hard work, a new Democratic administration, with a healthy boost from Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton can make 2009 the year Israel and Palestine begin to co-exist and live in prosperity and peace. Until then, Jew, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, all, pray for peace.