Indiegogo is a crowd-funding platform where people spread the word about their passion. They usually offer their “contributors” some kind of thank-you gift. People that make a donation to the campaign feel good that they are able to contribute towards something that they want to happen. In this situation, they’ll get to have a sense of ownership over a business that provides an essential service to our community. Yup, I said it, “an essential service.”

People that contribute towards opening Jane’s Beer Store will get their name engraved on the “Contributors Wall of Fame” in the store. Jane is offering all kinds of other beer related thank you gifts, depending on the level of the donation. Please check her page on Indiegogo for all the details. Mountain View loves beer and very soon we’ll have our own unique little beer store where we can make requests, meet other beer enthusiasts, and learn about beers from all over the world.

Jane Thipphavong lives and works in Mountain View. She’s actually an astronaut at NASA*. Her store will be downtown on Villa and she hopes to open mid June. She told me that she wants to re-introduce people to the world of beer. She knows that Mountain View has lots of “soon-to-be-beer-lovers” and she’s excited about meeting them and sharing her passion.

Jane’s Beer Store will stock artisan craft beer, local beer, hard cider, root beer and beer from many international breweries. She’s had a dream of opening a beer store for years. I really love the idea that residents have the chance to make a small donation towards something that they feel passionate about and that Jane chose Mountain View as the place where she would turn her hobby into a business. I know that many locals want downtown Mountain View to have more retail and Jane’s Beer Store is a perfect example the kind of unique businesses that we want. Welcome to Mountain View Jane.

* She’s not really an astronaut, but she does work at NASA.

The theatre only seats 45 lucky people. If you want to be one of them, you have to plan ahead. In June they will celebrate their 10 year anniversary. They are in an unexpected industrial building and if you aren’t really looking for a theatre, you might not even notice it at all. That only makes it feel more special.

Pear Slices is a special production that the theatre does every year. This year it was 9 little plays, each about 7 to 10 minutes. The plays were all written by members of the Pear Avenue Playwrights Guild. Pear Slices 2012 runs through June 3^rd. Visit their website for tickets as soon as possible because this particular play sells out very quickly.

My favorite actors in Pear Slices were Sam Tillis and Fred Pitts. Sam was in 4 of the 9 plays and Fred was in 5 of them. The subjects covered in the 9 plays were so varied and interesting that I almost wanted a few minutes in between each play to process what I had just seen. One of the plays, No Dogs Go to Heaven by Bridgette Portman, was about rationalizing the misguided belief that you are separate from the lives around you.

In my opinion, going to a play at Pear Avenue Theatre is so much more enjoyable than going to a movie and there is plenty of parking. You’ll be supporting local artists and live theatre which is so important. Lots of people in the audience were introducing themselves to their neighbors before the play started. It was really a very friendly and comfortable atmosphere. I think I should probably considering buying season tickets to Pear Avenue Theatre—I liked it that much! I love Mountain View.

That’s when Sandrine Cornet, a waitress/bartender at Zucca, decided to gather investors and become the new owner. She has worked at Zucca for the past 7 years. It’s still in escrow, so the ownership hasn’t officially been signed over yet, but it looks like Sandrine, “a small woman with a big heart” according to her staff, will be the new owner.

I think it would be so nice if the community showed support to this restaurant that has been part of our community for the past 10 years, and also to Sandrine for saving herself and 15 of her co-workers from unemployment.

Remzi, the manager that I spoke with, told me that they’ll still serve their famous ravioli, salmon wraps and burgers for lunch. And they’ll still have the lamb shank and striped bass at dinner. They’ll still have the same quality service that we’ve come to expect; the only difference will be the name change. It will transition to “B’ Zu Café” very soon. Right now the building has both names, but watch for changes as “Zucca” comes down. And the website is still in transition too. Let’s all raise a toast to Sandrine for having the courage to save everyone’s job and take on the responsibility of being a business owner in downtown Mountain View! I’ll see you at Happy Hour (4-7) at B’ Zu Cafe, 186 Castro Street. I love Mountain View.

Cinderella opens March 3 and runs through March 11, 2012. It’s a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical adaptation of the classic fairy-tale. Here’s a link to Cinderella tickets. And the special production that includes parents, PYT staff and alumni is called “To PYT with Love” and it’s only one night, Thursday, March 8^th.  This show is a collection of some of the most popular numbers that PYT has done over the years. It shows the audience what it’s like to be backstage during a performance and working in a theatre. They’re poking fun at themselves and some the people involved in theatre. Sounds like fun to see the tables turned, parents up on stage singing and dancing while the kids watch (and giggle) from the audience.

There are several narrators in the show and one of them is Brian Miller. Brian was in PYT as a teenager and now he is working as a choreographer for the company.  He grew-up in PYT and now he’s a seasoned professional and they’re quite proud of him.

Getting your child involved in PYT is a great way to build self-esteem. Kids involved in theatre learn about creativity, problem solving and collaboration skills. They get the chance to learn about public speaking at an early age. And they learn about commitment and dedication, much like they would if they were on a sports team. I recently met with a group of girl scouts and one of them in particular was very confident and out-spoken. It occurred to me that she might be in children theatre, so I asked her. Yes, she was in PYT and it was obvious. She had lots of creative ideas and she was good at, not just sharing her opinions with the group, but persuading the others to agree with her ideas.

PYT is a fabulous activity for a child. Check out their website to see the details on auditions and rehearsals and what it takes to get involved. And go see a show, either Cinderella or To PYT with Love would be a great choice. I love Mountain View.

The key ingredient is the “fromage blanc.” It’s handmade cheese. The Milk Pail owns 29 cows. They live in Orland, California. That’s about 3 hours north. The cows have 39 acres to graze on and they’re quite happy about their job. Paul Schmidt, the magical cheesemaker and dairy farmer, also lives in Orland on the farm. Paul makes the fromage blanc and Steve takes the fresh cheese to his ravioli maker. Steve sometimes, actually most of the time, tweaks the recipe by blending other ingredients with the fresh fromage blanc.  The selection of raviolis changes from time to time. Steve told me that he likes to mix it up for his “thrill-seeker customers.” I guess I’m included in that group.

Fromage blanc can be used in the place of ricotta or cottage cheese. It has much more of a tangy flavor than ricotta or cottage. The tartness comes form the natural lactic acid in the cheese. Other, lower quality cheeses that aren’t as flavorful, add lemon juice or vinegar to get that same flavor. You can use the fromage blanc in crepes, tiramisu or lasagna, just to name a few. I got a container of it and I plan on making lasagna this week.

Last night I made two different kinds of the Milk Pail’s ravioli. I made the one with both parmigiano reggiano and fromage blanc cheeses and also the one that is a blend of three cheeses, including fromage blanc. The shapes of the raviolis are different so you can make them together and you’ll still be able to tell them apart from each other. I boiled them until they were perfectly al dente and then added them to browned butter with fresh parsley and tiny grape tomatoes. It was heavenly. Honestly, you don’t need sauce on them because they have so much flavor on their own. I planned on taking a cute photo of them before we sat to eat, but I was overwhelmed with excitement and I forgot that part. That’s why the photo for this story is of the frozen raviolis in their package. I also forgot to crack open a bottle of red wine, but I’ll be sure I do that when I serve the lasagna.

I love that we have had the Milk Pail Market here for the last 38 years and that they continue to offer us high quality products. It’s businesses like the Milk Pail Market that make our city the unique place that it is. I love Mountain View.

East West Bookshop for spiritual books, yoga and meditation items, lots of jewelry and a fascinating selection of scarves. They have exquisite crystals and geodes on display and I always like to look at their tea selection.

Big Frog of Mountain View can print anything on a t-shirt. No exaggeration, anything. Bring them a picture that your child created, a photo of your pet or your favorite quote—they can put it on a shirt or a tote-bag within 24 hours. I love this place.

Book Buyers on Castro is the place to go for calendars. They have about a million of them in stock at this time of year. And wouldn’t a vintage book by their favorite author be a wonderful holiday gift? Used books always feel like they have soul.

Daiso in Mountain View is a Japanese dollar store with lots of cute bento boxes, teacups, chopsticks and mysterious things in packages that you can’t read unless you know Japanese.

Mountain View Lock & Safe Co. has stocking stuffers, like the ‘hiding place’ can of Aqua Net hairspray, bug spray or other household products. I also like the Hide-a-Key rocks. And I’ve always been a fan of cool little brass padlocks.

Villa Rouge has hip cowboy rain boots and their aromatherapy candles have a cult following.

Boutique 4 has sexy party attire and some outrageously fun jewelry. Any girl would love a gift certificate from this cute store on Castro.

Gift cards are always a hit. How about one from Morocco’s Restaurant,  Don Giovanni’s,  Cascal or Scratch? Or dance, yoga or Zumba classes from For The Love of Dance? Or take that special someone to a wine tasting at Artisan Wine Depot or Savvy Cellar.

And did you know that the Humane Society of Silicon Valley is having an adoption special for the holiday season? Yes, most adoptions are only$10 and they’re hoping to find homes for 1000 animals before the year ends. Maybe your family needs a new four-footed-friend.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year celebration. Please  remember to shop, eat and exercise locally. Thank you for being a fan of the city of Mountain View and reading this blog for the last 2 years. I look forward to a wonderful 2012 in our community. And it’s true, I really do love Mountain View.

I went last week with a few friends. It’s a hands-on class, as opposed to the demonstration kind. She demonstrates a technique and then asks someone to take over and finish the dicing, stirring, or flipping. We made Karai Murgi Torkari (Bengali Chicken Curry) and Aloo Poshto (Potatoes in a poppy seed gravy) and rice. There were 4 students in Fharzana’s kitchen and everyone participated in the tasks as she directed us and watched what we were doing. She complimented me on my slick knife skills.

Two of us brought wine for everyone to enjoy while we were cooking and we all chatted and laughed quite a bit while we were supposed to be paying attention, but we didn’t get in trouble. I’ve been to the kind of class where you aren’t allowed to drink wine and giggle and it wasn’t nearly as much fun as this one.

Fharzana is charming and really good at explaining the history or significance of a dish. She is from Bangladesh and her husband is from South Indian, so she knows how to cook food from both regions. If you have something specific in mind that you want to learn, she would probably be able to show you. We just let her pick the menu for us and all of us were happy with her selection.

She spent a great deal of time talking about the spices involved in the dishes we made. She passed around little spice bottles for each of us to examine up close. There was no talk of measuring anything. I liked that part. Just dump in some of this and even more of that one and it’ll turn out fine. I noticed that since I went to her class, I’ve been more brave at home and willing to try new combinations of spices. And I haven’t measured anything either. My measuring spoons must be getting lonely. And I like that she gave us copies of the recipes that we made. The copies that she gave us do have measurements written down, so don’t worry about whether or not you’ll be able to recreate the dish once you go home.

Fharzana can be reached through her blog, http://foodvestigation.posterous.com/ Her cooking classes seem like a wonderful way to get together with friends and do something new and different. I love Mountain View.

Unable to communicate with the person massaging your feet, you had to either accept the pain as they pushed their strong fingers into the tenderest places on the bottom of your feet, or embarrass yourself and squeal from the pain. Or even worse, cry.

Once I came home from that vacation, I started to go to the foot massage places around Mountain View. My favorite is Happy Feet on Villa Street downtown. I used to go to the Happy Feet in Palo Alto, but one opened in Mountain View about 2 years ago. It’s better than the one in Palo Alto. The one in Palo Alto is on the El Camino and it seemed to attract a rather questionable clientele occasionally.

It’s different from getting a pedicure and different from getting a massage. You sit in a quiet, dimly lit room with lots of other people as they massage your feet and work the kinks out of your shoulders and back. Wear comfortable clothes because you’ll be asked to lay face down in your recliner and someone will climb on top of you in order to properly inflict enough pain to make your muscles relax. And don’t plan on going anyplace important afterwards because they’ll do a really good job at messing up your hair. Sometimes they even smear oil in your hair. They don’t ask permission before they rub oil on your neck and in your hair; you figure it out afterwards when you look at yourself in the mirror.

It’s really a very pleasant way to spend an hour and considering the fact that the massage is so cheap (only $25.00) I always feel like I should leave a really good tip. I love Mountain View.

Remember a while back when Forbes magazine said that Mountain View was #4 on the list of the top 25 places to live in the country? We loved hearing that news. And yet approximately 44% of the students in the Mountain View Whisman School District are on the free or reduced lunch program. It’s really quite disheartening to find out that there are so many people in need in our community.

This is really a wonderful opportunity for our community. Local merchants who are willing to contribute are getting promoted, the non-profits around town are getting extra funds at the time of year that they need it most, and residents get to have that awesome feeling that you have after you give to someone in need.

Chamber of Commerce CEO, Oscar Garcia says, “Great cities create value for the community, support local businesses, and help neighbors help each other.” I like the idea of neighbors helping each other, especially at this time of the year. The Holiday Fund raised about $60k last year and the goal this year is $85k. If we all do a little something, we can make big things happen. I love Mountain View.