Resident's Corner

It was during the winter semester of 1942 - in the early days of World War II, when we had the pleasure of a new arrival, Tom, at grammar school in Chicago. Having a new 4th grader was a real treat for me.

After graduation, we attended different high schools and universities. A mutual friend occasionally reported news of various former classmates. Years passed. Then suddenly my longtime friend informed me of the news of the death of Tom’s wife of all those years. I sent a simple note of condolence. Much later that year, I received my first Christmas card from Tom, which included a personal message. We met for lunch the next month “for old time’s sake,” and had a pleasant couple of hours. In October 2000 Tom called to ask me to lunch on the sixth - this time on a date! Now, there are dates - and there are GREAT dates. Let there be no mistake this was a GREAT date! We began seeing each other and communicating daily, even though we lived over 100 miles apart.

At the end of January 2001, Tom made the most romantic proposal of marriage, and I accepted unconditionally. When a date was to be chosen, HE suggested October 6: a year to the day after that previously mentioned great date! Older and wiser now, I realized the importance and rarity of the qualities of this very special man who had already exhibited countless other superior attributes.

And so we were married in a beautiful ceremony consisting of personalized vows in a delightful setting on a bluff overlooking the beautiful, blue Pacific in the presence of loyal friends and family. It was one of the happiest days of our lives; until now, that is, as we find that each day and night bring us closer together than the ones before.

That is how my love and I met—the first time and the second!

Our new Executive Chef, Judd Canepari came to us with a love of food and a natural talent handed down to him from his Italian grandmother who made everything from "scratch." Every member of his family was welcome in her kitchen as she delighted in having them at her side. It was the epicenter of their family and welcomed every member to take an active part all the while teaching them the Art of Cooking.

After Judd graduated from high school he attended the Johnson & Wales Culinary School in Providence, Rhode Island and then went on to become an executive Chef along with many other chefs to work for the first Belgian Ambassador to the U.S. He was getting the first job jitters when the head chef told him, "You will stay," and stay he did, to become the Executive Cook Chef for the next five years.

For the next few years Judd traveled throughout the U.S. and finally after 14 years came to California. Because he wanted to learn the art of Asian cooking he bought an encyclopedia and read all he could about its many fine dishes. There was an Asian restaurant opening in La Jolla and they hired him as the chef. After working at several other restaurants, he then opened a cooking school in La Jolla and from there went to the La Valencia Hotel and on to the Rancho Bernardo Inn. The rest is history as it was there that he saw La Costa Glen's name on Craig's List. He wants to teach and hopes to train other chefs, and become a mentor to those on their way up the culinary ladder. We will look forward to our culinary future with Judd at the wheel.

Have you ever met anyone who has never tasted a Hershey Bar? Not likely. February 9 is the 118th anniversary of the founding of the Hershey Chocolate Company.

Milton Hershey's father frequently traveled away from his Mennonite family in Pennsylvania, taking Milton with him. Milton tired of that life. At age 26, he left his father in Chicago to return to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Having obtained a recipe for baking caramels on a prior trip, he established the rapidly successful Lancaster Caramel Company.

In 1893 Milton visited the World's Columbian Exposition. The J.M. Lehman Company of Dresden, Germany, displayed a machine that made German Chocolate. Completely fascinated, Hershey bought the machine on the spot.

Milton sold the Lancaster Carmel Company and with the proceeds he acquired 1200 acres of farmland northwest of his original production site. This land would provide the supply of fresh milk used in the production and perfection of the luxury chocolate! By trial and error he developed the technique.

Hershey envisioned a community around his factory that consisted of employees in homes with a variety of exteriors, manicured lawns, trees and recreation facilities - not a faceless town. The vision rapidly expanded over several years and Hershey became the eponym. In addition to the factory and home, Milton built a prestigious trade school and community hospitals.

During WWII, Hershey Chocolate supplied the U.S. with Ration-D Bars - specially adapted bars that were "heat resistant" although not as flavorful.

Traveling through Hershey, Pennsylvania, is a fascinating experience, from the buildings, schools hospitals, to the streetlights shaped like Hershey kisses. The chocolate factory is now a model demonstration for the facilities that are now scattered all around the world.