The Chinese American National Museum and Learning Center had its grand opening this past weekend. Located in the San Francisco Chinatown’s YWCA building designed by architect Julia Morgan, the museum will exhibit selections from its 50,000 item collection of art, photos, artifacts, and historical documents related to the history of Chinese in America. The center will provide educational events, particularly for K-12 students.

Julia Child’s Cambridge, MA house (103 Irving Street) was donated to Smith College, her alma mater, and most of her kitchen went to the Smithsonian, but her copper pots & pans, along with their pegboard, went to the restaurant at Copia. Called “The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts”, Copia opens this weekend. Julia has moved to a retirement community in Montecito, CA. She’s only taking a few cherished items from her Cambridge kitchen (sterling sugar bowl, wooden peppermill, marble egg cup for storing coarse salt), but she has her California kitchen already furnished with her basic necessities like good knives. She claims that she never grew to be a New Englander like her husband was, and is happy to be returning to her home state. I think I know how she feels, but my locales would be reversed. (facts for this entry were gathered from various newspaper articles cached on Google)

While IKEA continues to make little headway in East Palo Alto, other Bay Area cities have expressed interest in rolling out the red carpet (blue and yellow carpet?). If East Palo Alto does not come to a decision before the end of the year, IKEA can begin courting other locations. Newark, Milpitas, San Jose, and even Rocklin (a Sacramento suburb) have already contacted IKEA’s real estate consultant. IKEA says they are committed to sticking with East Palo Alto and the city council is considering putting the matter on a March ballot. But March is a few months into 2002 and other cities could easily cut through any red tape to get IKEA’s tax revenues.

Alton Brown, creator and star of Good Eats, has launched his own website. It is practically dripping with his charming personality. (thanks TV Picks!)

Sony Music has entered the U.S. cell phone ring tone business. You can order with a 900 number or use a credit card with a toll-free voice recognition system. There’s 80’s music, classical tunes, and even a Thanksgiving category.

Much to my dismay, Caltrain will be ceasing weekend service for two years (two years!) in April. During that time they will be adding high speed rail lines. Two years is long enough for people to get out of the habit of using Caltrain to get into San Francisco for weekend. And it is a real loss for baseball fans who had a convenient way to get up to Giants games. Will the new express trains be worth the two year annoyance? For me, it depends on where they are going to actually stop.

RIP two people with true style and class: Percy Ross, who gave away much of his millions, and Carrie Donovan, fashion editor and, more recently, hawker of Old Navy goods.

NY Times food writer, Marian Burros, asked First Lady Laura Bush to divulge what will be on the Bush’s Thanksgiving table this year. It is a traditional meal with Texas touches, corn bread dressing and maple-butter glaze on the turkey. Roland Mesnier, White House Pastry Chef for over 20 years, is providing pumpkin ginger pie. (One more week ’til the Presidential Turkey Pardon!)

Even more obscure serving utensils can be found within the pages of these historical catalogues. It seems that for every food item, there was a utensil designed to facilitate it being transported from one place to another. Sardine tongs & forks, trout forks & knives, butter picks (for those little pats), tea caddy spoons (oh my), sandwich tongs, tomato server, pickle fork, chocolate muddler (?!), chips server, relish fork, lemon fork. All this reminds me, no one got us the Chinese Takeout Holder. Good. Let’s keep it that way.

Leonid meteor shower estimator. Peek at the peak this weekend.