Bonjour mon ami!

And all should cry Beware! Beware! His flashing eyes, his floating hair! Weave a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread, For he on honeydew hath fed, And drunk the milk of Paradise.

                      Samuel T. Coleridge, "Kubla Kahn"

Je m'appelle Jessica. I was born in the summer of 1975, in Knoxville, Tennessee, just a short trip from the Great Smoky Mountains. In 1993 I left Knoxville to start college at Florida State University in Tallahassee. While living in Tallahassee, I was introduced to the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in Port St. Joe State Park. If you are ever in northwest Florida, be sure to find Cape San Blas, where the sand dunes create a landscape that resembles the moon's.

Anyway, now I am a senior English major at UNC, so I am constantly reading, learning about some of the greatest writers in the English language, like Chaucer and Shakespeare. I also work in the cafe at a bookstore, so when I'm not reading, I'm making cappucinos and mochas for other people who are. I like to cook, and I love to try out a new vegetarian recipe whenever I have a chance. Occasionally I actually manage to make something delicious.

A few of my favorite books are:

One-hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

A few of my favorite musicians are:

A few of my favorite places to eat around Chapel Hill are:

El Rodeo
Ben and Jerry's
Pop's Bistro

HERE IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE RECIPES:

Fusili with Roasted Red Peppers and Shallots

(from The Occasional Vegetarian) by Karen Lee 1/3 cup vegetable stock
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup chopped roasted shallots
1 roasted bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons oil-packed dried tomatoes, dried and cut into strips
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound fusilli or other short pasta
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup whole fresh basil leaves, for garnish

1. In a medium skillet, combine the stock and wine. Reduce for 1 minute. Add the shallots, bell pepper, and dried tomatoes. Simmer for a few seconds. Add salt and pepper to taste, then remove from the heat.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add about 2 teaspoons salt and the pasta. Cover until the water returns to a boil. Cook the fusilli until tender but firm, 7 to 9 minutes.

3. Drain the pasta and add it to the pot. Remove from the heat. Add the grated cheese and stir. Garnish with basil leaves. Serve immediately.

My resume page
My EIS Research Bibliography page
(Some Sources for Information about Contemporary Art in North Carolina)

This page was created as part of the course JOMC 50: Electronic Information Sources (EIS) in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Mail your comments to cjess@email.unc.edu