Lifestyle | Live Happy

Breaking Bread

Food made and shared with love turns anymeal with family or friends into the best oftimes. As a willing participant, we’re first seduced by wonderful aromas, then by the visual delight of new or familiar dishes, and finally, by flavors embodying happiness.Somewhere between the first sips and thelast spoonful, we’ve smiled and laughed;swapped stories, jokes and opinions;reminisced about old memories and madenew ones. Making connections through food is adaily activity for chefs. They know one wayto melt our hearts is to tantalize our tastebuds. While we all need to eat in order tosurvive, when we share good food, we areliving life. Four chefs who know this wellare Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi in London and Andrew Ticer and MichaelHudman in Memphis, Tenn. All four men grew up in families wherelarge, shared meals played a central role ineveryday life. While the families of Yotam and Sami hail from the Middle East andAndy’s and Michael’s are from Tennessee,they held the same tradition in high regard. The foods of both sides of Jerusalem Yotam and Sami spent their childhoodssurrounded by food and family. Bothwere born in Jerusalem and they grewup just a few miles from each other—Sami in the walled, largely Palestinian Old Cityof Jerusalem and Yotam in JewishWest Jerusalem. Both experienced the joy of foodand cooking at a young age, but foundtheir calling in different ways. Wantingto break free of the more conservativeattitudes of their hometown, theyoung men found their way to morecosmopolitan Tel Aviv in their early 20s, where Yotam was an assistantteacher and budding journalist, andSami pursued a cooking career. It was on the doorstep of a westLondon restaurant, Baker and Spice,where the two finally met in 1999.Sami, who had by then attended LeCordon Bleu cooking school, wasthe head chef, and Yotam worked inpastry. After a 30-minute conversation,they realized the serendipity of theirpasts. A friendship formed, leadingto the opening of the first Ottolenghi restaurant three years later. The various combinations of Yotam’s German and Italian heritage, Sami’s Arabic upbringing, the vibrant street foods of Jerusalem, and cooking with their respective grandmothers and auntshave influenced what diners experiencetoday at the four Ottolenghi locationsand their fine-dining restaurant,NOPI, all in London. Mid-Eastern,Mediterranean, Muslim and Jewishtraditions mingle, along with a nod to California and a grab for the occasionalJapanese ingredient. For both chefs, happiness comesback to the sharing of food. “Food isnot a panacea and a bowl of hummus is not going to bring about world peace,”Yotam says. “Sitting around a tableand eating together is a good place tostart, though.” “How can you be miserable whenbeing offered a platter full of roastedaubergine [eggplant] or butternut squash topped with green herbs andpurple, jewel-like pomegranate seeds?”Sami adds. “It’s sunshine on a plate.” Southern hospitality Connection to the past also runsdeep with Andy and Michael. Friendssince the sixth grade and raised withthe family-oriented, hospitality driventraditions of the South, theyhad another influential presence intheir lives. Both grew up in largeItalian families with wise, adoringgrandmothers who dispensed love andadvice along with tastes of whateverrobust dish they had in the oven orbubbling on the stovetop. Andy and Michael each credit their "Maw Maw’s cooking" as their inspirationfor what they do today. Theirphotographs have prominent placesin their restaurant, Andrew MichaelItalian Kitchen.Their cooking is the best of bothItaly and the American South: Tortellini is stuffed with black-eyed pea purée,pecorino romano lives comfortablywith crispy fried chicken skins andCalabrian sausage flavors a simmering pot of collard greens. Ingredients aresourced locally; what farmers bringaround drives menu choices. Whensomething new comes into the kitchen, it spurs creativity. “When you cook, when you spend allthis time being into the food; you wantto share it,” Michael says. “Our guestsare coming into our house to eat ourfood and break bread with us. We wantyou to put everything aside and justenjoy yourself.” Cauliflower and Cumin Fritters with Lime Yogurt Serves 4 These addictive fritters are Sami’s mother’s recipe. She used to make them once a weekand give them to the kids in a pita to take toschool for lunch. They are not dissimilar toIndian pakoras. Best eaten hot or warm ortaken on a picnic—in a pita, of course, withsome hummus and tomato. FOR THE LIME SAUCE 1¹/³ cups Greek yogurt 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro Grated zest of 1 lime 2 tablespoons lime juice 2 tablespoons olive oil Salt and freshly ground pepper FOR THE FRITTERS 1 small cauliflower Scant 1 cup all-purpose our 3 tablespoons chopped at-leaf parsley plus a few extra leaves for garnish 1 clove garlic, crushed 2 shallots, finely chopped 4 free-range eggs 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground turmeric 1 ½ teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 2 cups sunflower oil for frying To make the lime sauce, put all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and whisk well. Taste—looking for a vibrant, tart, citrusy flavor—andadjust the seasoning. Chill or leave out forup to an hour. To prepare the cauliflower, trim off anyleaves and use a small knife to divide thecaulifower into little orets. Add them to alarge pan of boiling salted water and simmerfor 15 minutes, until very soft. Drain intoa colander. While the cauliflower is cooking, put the flour, chopped parsley, garlic, shallots, eggs,spices, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisktogether well to make a batter. When themixture is smooth and homogenous, addthe warm cauliflower. Mix to break down thecauliflower into the batter.Pour the sunflower oil into a wide pan toa depth of 2⁄3 of an inch and place over highheat. When it is very hot, carefully spoonin generous portions of the cauliflower mixture, 3 tablespoons per fritter. Takecare with the hot oil! Space the frittersapart, making sure theyare not overcrowded. Fry in small batches, controlling the oil temperature so the fritterscook but do not burn. They should takeabout 2 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and drain well on a few layers of paper towels. Serve with thesauce on the side. (Recipe are from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, Ten Speed Press, 2013.) Pickled Beet Crostini withTarragon and Gorgonzola Serves 8 “One day in mid-fall, we had a partyscheduled for the restaurant, and we needed to come up with a passed appetizer for the event. For some reason, nothing really excited us, and then the Woodson Ridge Farm delivery truck pulled into our driveway. Leslie had some incredible lookingbeets that day that sparked an idea. We wrapped the beets in aluminum foil andlaid them right on the embers of the pizzaoven to roast. When they were tender, wecut them into pieces and poured some ofour house pickling liquid over them. Wewanted something nice and bright to gowith them, so we combined some yogurt,ricotta, chopped fresh herbs and citrus juiceinto a thick spread.” —Michael Hudman FOR THE PICKLED BEETS ¾ pound beets, any color (2 or 3 medium beets) 1 cup champagne vinegar ¾ cup sugar 2 tablespoons coriander seeds 1 tablespoon peppercorns 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds ¼ yellow onion, minced 2 bay leaves 1 bunch each fresh tarragon and thyme FOR THE TARRAGON YOGURT Scant 1 cup fresh tarragon leaves ½ cup fresh mint leaves Juice of 1 lime and 1 orange 3 or 4 ice cubes 1 cup plain Greek yogurt ½ cup good-quality fresh ricotta cheese Kosher salt One baguette, thinly sliced Extra-virgin olive oil Crumbled Gorgonzola cheese or trout roe for garnish Preheat the oven to 400 F. Place the beets in a roasting pan and cover with aluminum foil. Roast until tenderwhen tested with a knife tip, about 45 minutes. Set the beets aside until coolenough to handle, then remove the skinsand quarter. Put the beet quarters in amason jar or nonreactive bowl. In a saucepan, combine the vinegar,½ cup water, the sugar, coriander seeds,peppercorns, mustard seeds, onion, bayleaves, tarragon and thyme, and bring toa boil over high heat. Reduce the heat tomedium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.Taste the liquid for flavor balance, but becareful not to take a deep breath or it willmake you cough. Strain the pickling liquidand allow to cool to room temperature.Pour the liquid over the beets, cover andrefrigerate overnight. To make the tarragon yogurt, blanch thetarragon and mint in a saucepan of boilingsalted water to brighten their color, about10 seconds. Plunge them into ice waterto lock in the color. Drain the herbs andsqueeze out any excess water. Roughly chopthe herbs and put them in a blender withthe lime juice, orange juice and ice cubes.Blend on high speed until liquefied, about 3minutes. Do not let the mixture get hot, orit will turn dark green.Pour the purée intoa bowl and stir in the yogurt and ricotta.Season to taste with salt. To make the crostini, preheat the ovento 350 F. Arrange the baguette slices on abaking sheet and brush them generously with the olive oil. Bake until golden brownand crisp, about 10 minutes. To serve, remove the beets from thepickling liquid and cut them into smallerpieces, if you like. Arrange the crostini ona platter and spread each one with thetarragon-yogurt mixture. Top with the beets and garnish with the Gorgonzola. (Recipe from Collards & Carbonara: Southern Cooking, Italian Roots, Olive Press, 2013.)

Lifestyle

The Joy of Kneading

I was a frustrated bread kneader. I wanted to fill my house with the intoxicating aroma of fresh-baked bread, if not daily, then at least on a weekly basis. Aside from desiring the crusty finished product, I couldn’t resist the romance of the process—imagining myself wearing a floury apron, falling into a meditative rhythm as I turned the dough over and over, coaxing flour and water and yeast into a pillowy, elastic ball. But for one problem—my pathetically weak upper arms. The need to knead “Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes,” the recipe would read. Ten minutes later, my dough was still shaggy—nowhere near the glossy, springy ball that I had anticipated. And my arms and hands were fatigued. Another five minutes passed, and my dough still wasn’t right, the kneading becoming more treacherous as the dough did indeed gain elasticity, giving me the sensation of wrestling in my kitchen with an angry octopus. Then one by one, I received signs from the universe to give up the fight. First, there was the wedding gift of a stand mixer, whose very presence and powerful motor and dough hook rendered my efforts laughable. Next came my in-laws' cast-off bread machine, which cut me out of the process altogether. Finally, there was the sudden popularity of Jim Lahey’s famed no-knead bread, whose knockout crust and chewy interior made kneading seem as antiquated and pointless as scrubbing laundry on a washboard. Amazing homemade bread was suddenly available without the requisite effort of energetic dough shiatsu. Hands-on connection If I was looking for some sort of sensual connection to my dough, I was going to have to find it elsewhere. Bread didn’t need me anymore. Lest you think me some kind of weirdo for craving a connection and wanting to work the dough with my own hands, there's science to back up the pleasure—and its benefits. "When we use our hands, we're activating large parts of the brain," says Dr. Marie Pasinski, a neurologist at Harvard Medical School and the author of Beautiful Brain, Beautiful You. "There are more sensory receptors in our fingers than in other parts of our bodies. For that reason, when using your hands, you are really stimulating sensory areas of your brain." Think of that scene in the French film Amélie when the protagonist steals a moment to surreptitiously sink her hand into a bag of dried beans, simply to enjoy the sensation. "We take our sense of touch for granted, but it's one of our most malleable skills. It's pretty neat that you can reach into your pocket and tell a quarter from a dime," says Marie. Once you stop to think about it, indulging in feel-good activities for your hands might be the equivalent of treating your ears to an opera or your eyes to an art exhibit. And the more you use your hands for these kinds of sensory tasks, the more you fine-tune their sensitivity, continues Marie. "People who play the piano, for example, have much more developed sensory and motor areas in their fingertips than someone who doesn't play an instrument." There is plenty of evidence that this kind of hands-on work benefits every aspect of wellbeing. A 1999 study from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro found that a group of nursing home residents who regularly performed sensorimotor activities—from flower arranging to sewing—over 30 weeks improved their overall condition. This included having better physical mobility and lower levels of anxiety and depression than a control group. Once the sensorimotor activities decreased, so did their improvements. 'I made that' Marie—who not incidentally learned a love of cooking and baking while waiting tables at a Hungarian restaurant known for pastries—also likes to emphasize the satisfaction that can come from looking at a finished product which didn't even exist before your hands got involved. "The proud 'I made that' feeling is very powerful, and then you have this thing you can enjoy while eating it," she says. And so, I focus my fingertips elsewhere in the kitchen: dough, specifically pie dough, although any cookie dough that has to be formed and rolled out is a good candidate, too. Yes, fabulous pie dough can be produced in about two seconds in a food processor, but since the day I learned how, I have only made pie dough by hand. I always cited the reason as a practical one: I love to be the one who, during the “rental apartment at the beach” weekend, with little more equipment than a countertop and a wine bottle, makes and rolls out the crust for an improvised berry galette. The sensual pleasure of making pie And it's true that by making dough by hand, I keep my skills sharp. But there is another reason: It is simply pleasurable to do so. To plunge my hands into the bowl of cool, whisper-weight flour, to rake my fingers through the grit that sugar and salt add. To rub in a cold stick of butter, first squeezing the stick until it breaks, then smearing its clammy chunks into the flour, alternating rubbing and breaking down the butter with several quick tosses to redistribute the crumbs in the bowl. Finally, in goes the water. With a fork I scrape the mixture against the side of the bowl, and it satisfyingly clumps together. A few fold-overs, and it has turned into a mass. A few minutes ago, it was nothing. But now it has transformed and will later transform again into a delicious shell for some equally delicious filling. And that is so very gratifying.

People

I Am Happy!

It’s 6:30 on a typical weekday morning in the Pacific Palisades home that Chris O’Donnell shares with Caroline, his wife of 17 years, their five children and Kimmy, their adored 13-year-old black lab. The custom-built house sits in a celebrity-dense Los Angelesneighborhood, where residents include A-listers like Matt Damon, BenAffleck, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn, on a bluff overlooking the ocean.The views are stunning, but Chris and Caroline barely have time for a glance as they corral their brood.Fourteen-year-old Lily, the oldest, is out the door and heading to high school across town. Charlie, 10, “my focused little guy,” as Chris calls him, has already gotten dressed, eaten breakfast and iswatching the Golf Channel. Chip, 13, ispresent but not fully accounted for; hiseyes may be open but he’s half asleep.Finn, 8, is nowhere in sight. “You’ve called him 12 times but he’s still in bedand won’t come down,” Chris says. And 6-year-old Maeve, snuggled ona lap, is having her ponytails done.Some mornings, between volleyingquestions—Did you brush your teeth?Make your bed? Pack your backpack?—Chris steals a moment, pulls out hiscamera and videotapes the (mostly)controlled bedlam. “You think of thegreat trips you’ve taken, but this everydaymorning routine is the real fun and the kind of stuff you’ll want to remember,”he says. “This is your real life.”The rush hour of lifeAt 43, Chris is in the throes of whathe calls—borrowing a phrase fromsociologists—“the rush hour of life.” It’sthat period when both the demands ofcareer and family peak. “Right now I’m in the vortex of everything,” he says.“It’s crazy for me.” Days on the set ofhis hit CBS series NCIS: Los Angelescan run 14 hours, and weekends are,if anything, even more jammed. “It’sliterally divide and conquer,” he says; he and Caroline split duties of shuttling thekids to riding lessons, soccer, basketball,football and baseball games, with most Sunday mornings devoted to church.As hectic as rush hour may be, Chris is more than contentriding in the carpool lane.He has created the life he alwayswanted for himself: a large, happy family and the means to providefor them. That desire for blissfuldomesticity seems woven into hisvery DNA.A couple of years after hisbeloved father, William, passed away,Chris looked into his roots on the TLCshow Who Do You Think You Are? (Thisis a sharp contrast to his TV character,G. Callen, a military special agentwho grew up in 20 foster homes anddoesn’t even know what the “G” inhis first name stands for.) What Chrisdiscovered left his blue eyes wateringseveral times during the episode:Generation after generation, the men of his family had answered acall to service—fighting in the War of1812 and later in the Spanish-AmericanWar, helping bury bodies during the cholera epidemic that hit St. Louis inthe 1840s—but always returned hometo their families when they were needed.“Family was the most important thing in life to them,” Chris says.“And maybe that’s part of why itfeels so natural to me, so right, thatit’s also my instinct to put familyahead of everything else. There arepast generations that instill that inyou without your even knowing.”A nice guy who's finishing firstChris has a reputation in Hollywoodfor being a nice guy. Asked about this,he says, “Obviously, you’re talking tothe right people. I’m sure there arepeople who don’t have that opinion ofme.” Finding those people would likelybe a fruitless quest. In person, Chris isunfailingly gracious. At a photo shoot inthe Hollywood Hills on a rare morningoff, he is asked to wade into a pool withhis clothes on, a request that wouldleave many a more finicky actor aghast.But he’s all for it. “Just tell me what youwant me to do,” Chris says. Steppinginto the pool, he playfully brandishes animaginary Robin cape,reprising his days as Batman’s trustysidekick. Then, when a particularlyexuberant kick leaves a photographer’sassistant soaked, he’s full of apologies.He’s just as affable outsideHollywood. An avid and gifted golfer,he has played for the past 18 yearsin the AT&T Pebble Beach NationalPro-Am, a tournament that raisesmoney for the nonprofit MontereyPeninsula Foundation. It’s DougThompson’s sometimes-delicate jobto get the tournament’s celebritygolfers to talk to the press. Manybalk at the request; not Chris.“I have worked with dozens and dozens of celebrities over the past 13 years,” Doug says, “and Chris is themost open and friendly of any of them. He’s willing to do whatever I ask him.” This year Chris was on the driving range practicing with a swing coachwhen Doug approached him aboutdoing a television interview. He saidyes, even though he had a coveted teetime at Cypress Point [Club], widelyconsidered one ofthe most beautifulgolf courses in theworld.“You don’tever want to miss atee time at CypressPoint,” Doug says.“But Chris gaveus 45 minutes.He even showedthe host howto swing a golf club.That typifies him.” Doug runs outof adjectives as he describes Chris’generosity. “He’s just a great guy,” Dougsays, “really incredible,awesome.”A boisterous boyhoodEarly in his acting career, Chrissometimes felt like a fraud becausehe couldn’t call upon a harrowing childhood. “God forbid you came froma stable family,” Chris says. “That feltlike such a cop-out. Sure, a lot of artists did, of course, come from torturedbackgrounds, but I didn’t. When Iwas a young guy and I did interviews,I thought I had to produce some kindof edgy image. I don’t care about thatanymore. I feel so blessed to have had agreat upbringing with a lot of love frommy parents, my brothers and my sisters.”Chris grew up in Winnetka, anaffluent suburb of Chicago, the youngestof seven children. His brothers andsisters complained that as the baby of the family, Chris was spoiled; it didn’t helpthat his mother’s nickname for him was“Precious Love.” In some ways, Chrissays, he’s a composite of every oneof his siblings. “I had this amazingexperience being the youngest ofseven,” he says, “because I was soinfluenced by each of my brothersand my sisters. I see this with my ownkids, too. As the youngest, I wanted tobe like everyone, so I play golf becausemy brother John played golf. I’ll neverbe as good as John—who’s one of thetop amateur golfers in the country—butI’m pretty good. My brother Bill gardensand cooks, and he can build a house. I can do a lot of that, though I can’t doit as well as him. But Bill doesn’t golfand John can’t do any of the stuff thatBill does. I’m somewhere in-between.”The way, way backHis dad set an example of relishing simple pleasures. “He would get as excited about a good homemade burger and a cold beer, sitting in his house with his feet up and watching the Bears game as if he was in the fanciest restaurant in Paris,” he says. The family ate dinner together every night, with Chris and his sister Angela sitting at the breakfast bar because there wasn’t room for all nine O’Donnells at the kitchen table.There were occasional meals out to Hackney’s, a casual family restaurant. “That was a really big deal,” Chris says. “We’d all pile into our two cars—a Buick and a Caprice classic station wagon—and, inevitably, one car would be 30 minutes late because halfway there someone got in trouble, wasn’t allowed to go to dinner and had to be taken home.” There were rules, like each kid was allowed one soda for the night. “You could chug it if you wanted or you could take little sips and wait for everyone else to finish theirs,” Chris says. He’d chug his, then climb under the table and pour packets of sugar into a glass of water. “My parents would say, ‘Just leave him alone, he’s quiet,’ ” Chris says. “It was chaos, and they’d always say, ‘We’re never doing this again.’ But, of course, we did.”Best of all were the weeks spent at a summer cottage on Lake Michigan that had been in his mother’s family for generations. There was a small public golf course behind the house. “My favorite day as a kid was getting up early, going to play golf and then coming home, having lunch and being on those sandy beaches with my family,” Chris says. “We’d build bon fires and generations—my grandparents, parents and lots of cousins—would come together. It was just a simple, fun tradition.”Getting to workWhen he was in the eighth grade,inspired by a classmate who wasappearing in local ads, Chris reached out to a local talent agent. Soon, he wasappearing in local TV commercials andthen national campaigns, like one forMcDonald’s where he rang up an orderfor basketball player Michael Jordan. At17, he landed his first movie role, oppositeJessica Lange, in Men Don’t Leave. It washis introduction to the perks of success,and it left him wide-eyed. “They flew me out to New York to audition,” Chrissays. “I took my dad, and they put us upat The Regency Hotel. There were threeTVs in our room; there was even onein the bathroom. I was blown away.”When Chris started Boston Collegeafter deferring a year to do the movie, hedidn’t tell anyone about his acting career.“I didn’t want to be known as the kidwho was in the movies,” he says. But thenads started running for Men Don’t Leaveand, he says, “the cat was out of the bag.”His anonymity completely evaporatedover the next few years, as he starredopposite some of Hollywood’s biggeststars (Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman andGene Hackman and Faye Dunaway inThe Chamber) and newcomers who wouldgo on to become the next generation ofsuperstars (Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Brendan Fraser in School Ties andDrew Barrymore in Mad Love).The allure of stardomWhen he was 23, Chris went on location to Vienna to star opposite Charlie Sheen and Kiefer Sutherland in The ThreeMusketeers. It was, he says, “the biggest eye-opening experience of all time.” Ifhe liked to have a good time, he was a choirboy in comparison to Kiefer and,especially, Charlie. “I always say it was like taking your craziest buddy fromcollege, giving him $20 million and justseeing what he does,” Chris says. “It wastotally out-of-control. I loved it, butI had my limits. I’d knock back somecocktails with them, but at a certainpoint, I’d check out while they’d run all night. This was a big opportunityfor me, and I was taking it seriously.”While Chris enjoyed his stint as a Hollywood heartthrob, he recognized “there were different paths you could take.” He goes on. “I knew I could continue to date and never get married and enjoy Hollywood and all the benefits of it, but that really wasn’t who I was,” he says. “It’s tough to have it both ways. If you know you want to have a great family and a bunch of kids, it’s hard to run around in Hollywood.”Finding his soulmateHe started dating Caroline Fentress,the sister of a college roommate (“Assoon as I kissed her, I knew she wasthe one,” he likes to say), and, threeyears later, in April 1997, they married.“Being in this business can be anemotional roller coaster, and Carolineis an incredibly stable person and agreat sounding board for me,” he says.She provided a ballast early on, inthe heady aftermath of making BatmanForever and Batman & Robin.“TheBatman movies changed everything,” he says. “It took me to a differentlevel.” Chris was bombarded with filmoffers, and though he declined rolesthat turned out to be hits for otheractors, including Men in Black, he hasno regrets. “I love doing films,” Chrissays, “but traveling all the time andbeing on location isn’t conducive tofamily life. When I started having kids,I realized TV was going to make moresense for me.”Joining the NCIS familyAfter co-starring stintson Two and a Half Men, The Practice andGrey’s Anatomy and a starring role inthe Cold War miniseries The Company,he moved on to NCIS: Los Angeles. Itproved a hit out of the gate and stilldrew top ratings in its fifth season.This year, to keep things interesting,Chris directed an episode for the first time and hopes to do more directingnext season. Still, he is far fromrestless. “I’m comfortable with thecharacter I play, and I’m crazy aboutthe people I work with,” he says. Chrisshares a special chemistry and a kind of“bromance” with his co-star, rapper-turned-actor LL Cool J. “I love him,”Chris says. “He’s one-of-a-kind, anincredibly confident guy who’s reallycomfortable in his own body. He’s alsosomebody that I absolutely trust. I can tell that guy anything and he’s like a vault.”For now, Chris is looking eastwardto the coast of Maine, where he has asummer home. Hoping to re-createthe kind of experiences that he enjoyedgrowing up, the family spends summers at their 100-year-old waterfront home.“I’ve got Maine fever,” he says. “It’s myfavorite place to be and I can’t get therefast enough. I get eight weeks off fromthe show, and everyone always asks me ifI’m going to do a lm on my hiatus. I say,‘Are you crazy? This is the most precioustime of the year with my kids.’ We justkind of shut things down and hang out.It’s when I really get to live my life.”The days are sun-drenched andleisurely: They pack a picnic and exploredifferent islands—there are over 4,600 islands off the coast of Maine—sail, swimand golf. And, unlike when they’re in LA,even his older kids don’t balk at spendingfamily time together. “I’m still a big shotto my little guys,” he says, “but Chip andLily are gone every weekend. I’ll say,‘I thought we were going to do somethingtogether,’ and they’re like, ‘I don’t knowI’ve got so-and-so coming over.’ I’m like,‘All right, but what am I, chopped liver?’ ”Finding the good life at homeDon’t feel too sorry for Chris. Alongwith taking romantic trips to places like Paris and the French Caribbean Islandof St. Bart’s, he and Caroline have very active social lives themselves. “I’m notrunning around in Hollywood going to every event,” he says. “But we’re always going to dinners with friends and havingparties.” Recently, Caroline organized agame of team charades, with 60 adultsbroken into eight teams. “People wereracing through every room of thehouse,” he says. “It was the best night ofthe year.” And just recently they hosteda more elegant event—a catered wine pairingdinner for a dozen friends. Chrisis a serious wine collector, and when hehad his home built from the ground up,he included a wine cellar (as well as anoutdoor pizza oven).When theO’Donnells return home from Maine,Chris will begin making plans for theOktoberfest he hosts every year, completewith fare like beef roulade, schnitzeland beer passed around in a giant stein. “It’s a family tradition,” Chris says.“I get really sentimental about things,and I’m really a creature of habit.”Right now, it’s time for Chris tomove on to his next appointment.Before he heads out to his car—anAudi sedan that, he says, is the fanciestcar he has ever bought and that leaveshim feeling slightly abashed—he iscertain to thank every crew memberwith a hearty, “Appreciate it, man.Have a good day.” And just as thedoor closes behind him, there’s asound that follows Chris O’Donnellwherever he goes. People turn to eachother, smile and exclaim, “What anice guy!”

Lifestyle

5 Tips for an Energy-Boosting Vacation

Happiness experts Shawn Achor and Michelle Gielanconducted an extensive survey to research vacations and stress. The results are in. Here's what we learned from themore-than-400 participants who reportedon their vacation experiences.1. Know before you go74% said themost stressful part of traveling is figuringout the details, like transportation.2. Get a jump on planning90%who reported good experiences hadthe details of their trip planned morethan a month before their vacation.3. Travel away from home94% saidtraveling during a vacation is more meaningfulthan a “staycation,” or staying at home.4.Befriend a local or hire a travel host through a company like Monograms77% either met a local hostor had a knowledgeable friend in the area.5.Savor your trip, take photos and share memories93% documentedtheir best trips with photos, which theyshared with friends and reminisced about afterward.

Lifestyle

Tripped Up?

When people are stressed, youoften hear them say, “I needa vacation.” But could a less stressful trip result in higher happiness and energy at work? Is there a vacationfrom work that is scientifically proven to lead to greater levels of productivity,higher energy and lower stress?In December 2013, we set outto find the answer. More than 400people took our 34-question survey,and the results proved travel does notlower happiness when you return towork—travel stress does. Poorly plannedand stressful vacations eliminatedthe positive benefit of time away.In other words, most of the happinessgleaned from a vacation is dependentupon the stress level of the vacation. The less stress you have on yourtrip, the more likely you will be toexperience a positive benefit from thetime off.How to leave the stress at homeA well-managed vacation canmake you happier and less stressedand send you back to work with moreenergy and meaning in your life.Our findings aren’t radical. A 2010study published in the journal of AppliedResearch in Quality of Life by Dutchresearchers had similar results. Likeus, they found that of the 1,543 adultsthey questioned, most reported no change in their happiness before andafter a vacation if there were moderate tohigh levels of travel-related stress. Thisincludes stress involved with managingtransportation, dealing with detailswhile on the trip, unfamiliarity withthe location and not feeling safe.All contributed to travelers feelingless happy, more stressed and lessenergized when they returned to work.So why spend all the time,money and energy if there’s achance your vacations won’t makeyou happier? Because positive, low-stress vacations do have significant effects on our energy and stress.In our study, 94 percent had asmuch or more energy after comingback after a good trip. In fact, onlow-stress trips, 55 percent returnedto work with even higher levels ofenergy than before the trip.More vacation time, better vacation timeAnd top companies, includingMattress Firm, are starting to realizethat positive vacations can decreasestress and create what we call the“happiness advantage,” which includesraising sales by 37 percent, improvingproductivity by 31 percent, triplingcreativity and increasing the likelihood of a promotion by nearly 40 percent.The Houston-based company justannounced a new initiative this springthrough which employees who havemore than eight years’ seniority withMattress Firm will receive eight extravacation days. The goal is to createthe happiness advantage at work.“Ultimately, we understand the needfor our associates to love what theydo, who they do it with, and mostimportantly, why they do it,” says CoryLudens, vice president of learningand development. “Our purpose isto improve lives one night at a time,and that goes for our associates justas much as it does our guests.”In short, when you’re happy andwell-vacationed, your work, your company and you benefit. So, makeyour next vacation one that makes youfeel like you actually took a vacation.A positive, low-stress experience cansend you home recharged, refreshedand ready to get back to the real world,but a ho-hum or just average one canleave you feeling as if you never left.Bon voyage!ShawnAchoris theNew York Times best-selling author of The Happiness AdvantageandBefore Happiness.Shawn recently sat down with Oprah Winfrey to discuss his steps for achieving happiness on OWN’sSuper Soul Sunday.MichelleGielanis an expert on the science of positive communication and how to use it to fuel success.She formerly served as a national news anchor for CBS News, and is the founder of the Institute for Applied Positive Research, which works with companies and schools toraise employee engagement, productivity and happiness at work.

People

The Voice of Hope

Since learning of Maya Angelou’s death on Wednesday, the world has come alive with tributes to this author, poet, civil rights activist, teacher and playwright. The woman who, as a child, went five years without speaking, grew up to become a universal voice of hope, and her passing at age 86 has prompted a flood of tributes and heartfelt appreciation. Although we all knew she was an amazing, adored and admired woman, her death has reminded us just how many people’s lives Maya transformed—whether or not they ever met her. I was fortunate to have had two encounters with Maya. The first was while attending the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait last November, which she narrated live from the stage. Before the performance, she gave a pre-concert talk, and nearly every seat was filled. It was, according to the CSO, the most-attended pre-concert talk in their history.Sitting in her wheelchair and telling stories from the stage, Maya looked frail and tired. But when she opened her mouth, and that melodious voice began weaving stories as only she could do, it was as strong as it had ever been. Time may have dimmed her eyesight and weakened her gait, but it couldn’t touch that beautiful, unmistakable voice.She had already silenced that voice once, when she was 8 years old and revealed that her mother’s boyfriend had raped her. When her uncles murdered the man, young Maya believed her words had killed him. She refused to speak for nearly five years, and it was only when her grandmother said she believed Maya was destined for great things that the young girl began speaking again. What if her grandmother was right, she wondered. What if she truly was something special? So Maya began using her voice again—and what a voice it was.As we all learned, Maya was, indeed, something special. When I interviewed her for Live Happy a few days after her performance in Cincinnati, she expressed surprise that people—especially young people—were still interested in her.“I have Facebook fans,” she said with amazement, explaining that someone on her team had created a page for her. “They told me if you have a million likes, it’s a big deal.”As millions of Americans stop to reflect on her memory, Maya's beautiful words and singular voice still seem like a very big deal.

People

Jim Carrey on a Roll

Inspired by his own childhood fears, Jim Carrey aims to ease the worry thatchildren have about loss with his new book, How Roland Rolls. Telling the tale of a wave namedRoland who is afraid his life willend once he hits the beach, the first-time author uses the ocean asa metaphor for life. Jim hopes thisbook will teach children that wenever end—we just change. Throughout his career, JimCarrey hastold countless stories and playedmany characters, but none may bemore fulfillingto him than his latest character, Roland. With the help ofRoland, Jim wanted to take this heavyburden of a topic and present it in away that givespeople relief. “That’s what I am about, that’smy job,” he says. “It’s been my job my whole life. My ministry is to freepeople from concern.” Illustrated by award-winningartist and animator R.C. Nason, How Roland Rollspresents Jim’s philosophy ina succinct, innocent way that is easy forchildren to understand, and maybe theparents can take something from it, too. In the end, Roland realizes that heis part of something bigger. From asmall raindrop to a vast ocean, he isstill connected to everything, and heis still here. And just like with every bedtime storywe tell our children, in the end, we are safe, we aresecure and good triumphs once again. Check out this video on the the creative process and thinking behind the book. Also, take a look atJim’s wacky faces were the inspirationfor R.C.’s illustrations of Roland, and send in your own funny faces.

People

Happy Exception

Williams was just 15 whenshe and three friends formed theband Paramore in Franklin, Tennessee.Although she had signed a production deal at 14 and was writing pop tunes withsongwriters in Nashville, she still had no way of predicting the whirlwind ride thatshe was about to embark on.The release of Paramore’s debutalbum in 2005 not only launched a musiccareer but also turned a tremendous amount of attention on Hayley, theband’s vivacious lead singer andsongwriter. Today, Paramore hasreleased four studio and two live albums, as well as live EPs, and the three-timeGrammy-nominated Hayley is living herdream—but also managing to keep herfeet firmly planted on the ground.Keeping the hope alive“At the end of the day, no matter howhard it is to do, everyone wants to beable to hope,” she explains. “That truthis the heartbeat of who we are as a band.We inject that [hope] into every song,and if people sense it and connect to it,then it’s a bonus.”Her songs are an anomaly in today’smusical environment. Absent ofquestionable language or references to sex and drugs, her songs dwell on moreuplifting themes. Songs like “The OnlyException” and “Still Into You” showher optimism toward love without feeling gooey, and even when she’swriting about human hurts andshortcomings, she always seems to find a thread of hope. In “Now,” the first single from the band’s latest album, sheadmits that life isn’t always perfect, butit’s always worthwhile:Wish I could find a crystal ballFor the days I feel completely worthlessYou know I’d use it all for goodI would not take it for grantedInstead I have some memories for thedays I don’t feel anythingAt the least they will remind me not tomake the same mistakes again"That kind of heartfelt honesty is adirect reflection of how Hayley lives herlife. In an era where pop stars are morelikely to get press for their misdeeds thantheir good deeds, Hayley goes against the grain. While many of her peers arerecognized for being sarcastic or cooland unreachable, Hayley is oftensingled out for being what she refers toas “the dorky, happy girl at the party.”“I think it’s kind of cool to be knownfor that,” she says. “But I’m not alwayshappy. There’s no secret to living yourlife and never feeling sad or anxious or worrying.”Attitude of GratitudeFor Hayley, happiness is not about theabsence of stress or pressure, but ratherabout focusing on the presence oflife’s gifts.“When I leave the house today andrun my errands and eat lunch with myfriends, I am going to be thankful thatI was given another day to live,” she says.“Society tries telling us that the more weget or gain, the happier we will be. Butwhat I’ve learned is that sometimeshappiness comes from letting go ofthings, of some people, of some habits—and just being humble about it.”While some may say it’s easier to behappy when you’ve found suchwidespread success and have become anadored pop star, Hayley says she believessuccess actually came as a result of herown personal happiness—not as aprecursor to it.“Success, to me, has nothing to dowith my career anymore,” she says.“It has to do with balance....I think[happiness] is about the balance betweentrying to do things you can be proud ofin your life and then knowing that you’renot always going to be perfect.”Each day, she makes a conscious choice to make good decisions, which,she says, ultimately determines ourhappiness. “I’ve made a lot of baddecisions in my life, and I’ve learned mylessons well,” she says. “It’s moreimportant to me as I get older that I tryhard and do something daily that I canbe proud of.”

Lifestyle

Are We Having Fun Yet?

Last weekend I took my children to Disney World, the self-described “Happiest Place on Earth.” If that is true, then I may be in trouble. Don’t get me wrong. My kids loved the experience. But even my 6-year-old son began to bridle after a while at all that contrived “fun.” Waiting in long lines and battling crowds in the heat prompted his mocking refrain, “Have a magical day.” It is the phrase that all Disney employees are apparently required to utter whenever they interact with the clientele. They are professionals, and they sell it well. But both as a promise and as a measure of our expectations, magical fun tells us something about just where we are in history. Let the fun begin Those who could afford the luxury have been paying for entertainment since ancient times. Yet the rise of places like Disney—amusement parks whose sole purpose is to amuse, providing ordinary people with “fun”—is a much more recent development. We can trace the origins by tracing the word. “Fun” came into English usage in the late 17th century, likely as a derivation of the medieval fonne or fool, a nod to the court jesters whose job it was to entertain the king. But “fun” was also likely related to the Renaissance verb fon, meaning to hoax or cheat, and it retained that connotation for some time. Francis Grose’s Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue in 1785 included the example, “Do you think to fun [cheat] me out of it?” And of course we still use the phrase “to make fun of” in a way that suggests this older usage. Yet by that point, in the Age of Enlightenment, in Western Europe and its colonies in the New World, to have “fun” was increasingly thought of as innocent amusement. Whereas men and women in previous ages had often looked at pleasure as a slippery slope to sin, those in the expanding “middling” classes in the 18th century set about proclaiming pleasure’s virtues, treating gaiety as an end in itself. To dance, sing, enjoy our food, revel in our bodies and the company of others—in short, to delight in a world of our own making—was not to defy God’s will but to live as nature intended. And to be happy, as the English poet Alexander Pope put it in a celebrated line, was “our being’s end and aim!” Early pleasure gardens Given this new sensibility, it’s not at all surprising that the 18th century gave rise to the world’s first amusement parks or “pleasure gardens,” as they were known, places where men and women went simply to enjoy themselves and to be amused. In Paris at the Palais Royal, in Vienna at the Prater, at Vauxhall or the Ranelagh Gardens near London, or at the former's namesake, the VauxhallGardens in the Bowery in New York, ordinary men and women gathered for no other reason than to have fun. Flush with the disposable income of expanding commercial economies, they would while away an afternoon or evening promenading, drinking coffee and tea, wine and beer, or eating ice cream and sweets. There were music, costumes, fancy dress, and entertainers of all sorts—jugglers, actors, puppeteers and mimes. These pleasure gardens attracted crowds with unusual and sometimes exotic attractions, such as a Chinese Pavilion at the Ranelagh Gardens in London. Many other pleasures were at hand. The Palais Royal—which still stands, a stone’s throw from the Louvre—boasted countless shops, cafés, and restaurants—themselves new-fangled innovations where one could “restore oneself (restaurer) in order to go have more fun. (Not all pleasures were innocent in Paris, however. Prostitution and gambling were also rife at the Palais Royal.) The road to Disney These founding pleasure gardens were the ancestors of the great circuses and amusements parks of the 19th century: Tivoli Gardens, Blackpool, Coney Island, Barnum & Baileyand other mass attractions that offered a bounty of pleasure, amusement and entertainment. These places were not meant just for the upper or middling classes, but for workers and day laborers, who flocked to the penny arcades to have their bit of fun. And these attractions in turn laid the foundations of the sprawling entertainment industry of the present day. Today, one need not go to a specific “place” to have fun. We have our smartphones, tablets, and “entertainment centers” right in our homes that allow us to enjoy music, film, video games and other sedentary amusements. But people are wired to gather and enjoy things in a communal setting. Instead of Vauxhall Gardens, we promenade in the mall or on a popular shopping street. Locales specifically dedicated to fun have proliferated and morphed into fun parks, such as Busch Gardens, Dollywood, Six Flags and of course Disneyland and Disney World. They may not always be the happiest places on earth—especially when they leave you sunburned and standing in line, placating a tired toddler. But in their aspiration to deliver total entertainment—and in the expectation they foster that we are entitled to such entertainment—they are legacies of a long-standing vision of happiness and having fun.

People

History Teacher

She has been defined by manyremarkable titles—best-sellingauthor, poet, actress, playwright,historian, civil rights activist, film producer and director. But the role thatMaya Angelou, who died on May 28, treasures most is that of teacher.Back in April, she told us, “I used to think I was a writer whocould teach, but I have come to realizethat I am a teacher who is able to write,”she says. “The truth is, all of us areteachers, whether we realize it or not.”Today, she gains more satisfactionfrom teaching others face-to-facethan from sharing herself through thewritten word.“If you are a writer who choosesto teach, your first responsibility is towrite." “But if you startwith the premise that you are a teacher,you are going to think of the studentfirst.” Learning, she says, should neverend—and is the key to a better life forthe teacher in all of us.Lesson PlansMaya, who was born in St. Louisin 1928, grew up primarily inStamps, Ark., where she witnessed the lynchingof a black man. Yet, in that sameenvironment, she found unconditional love in her family and rooted herself in the faith and values of theAfrican-American community.“I learned that, as a race, we are atonce brilliant, kind and cruel,” she says.“It is so important for us to rememberthat and to know that in the twinklingof an eye, we are able to sap the life fromthe living.” But the very same personwho can cruelly or carelessly strike oneperson down can also easily turn aroundand offer help and hope to someoneelse. And that, she said, is somethingshe finds amazing.Overcoming childhood traumaChronicling the contrast betweenlife’s beauty and its often-savage struggles has been an overriding theme throughout her work that has struck auniversal chord with readers. The firstof her autobiographical books, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, was publishedin 1969 and made her one of the firstAfrican-American women to openlydiscuss her private life. It included the revelation of being sexually abused andraped by her mother’s boyfriend at theage of 8. After she told her brother of the abuse, the boyfriend was jailed for just one day and then released. He wasfound murdered four days later—mostlikely by Maya’s uncles.That event became a defining moment that ultimately led to theyoung girl becoming unable to speak for nearly five years. She has famously recounted that she felt her voicehad killed the man because she had spoken his name. As she wrote in herfirst book, “I thought I would neverspeak again, because my voice wouldkill anyone.”Today, she still believes in thepower of both the written and spokenword, and says the entire world couldbenefit simply from every person learning to use words to educate,empower and encourage thosearound them.

The Joy of Kneading

I Am Happy!

5 Tips for an Energy-Boosting Vacation

Tripped Up?

The Voice of Hope

Jim Carrey on a Roll

Happy Exception

Are We Having Fun Yet?

History Teacher

Store

Articles

Quick Links