Part One: Boned, Minced, Reduced by Half 1

1. Retreat Doing? 3
2. Religious Roots 14
3. Nina, the Evil Kitchen Elf 19
4. Meditating Not 24
5. Insight 33
6. Shhhh 40
7. Living Dharma 49
8. They Used to Call Me God, but They'll Never Call Me Buddha 57
9. Soup 64
10. Kitchen Talk 72
11. Jizo Ceremony 78
12. Impermanence 83

Part Two: Don't Expect Applause 99

13. Restaurant Voices 101
14. My Short but Violent Career As a Chef 104
15. Transcending Dualism While Whipping Egg
Whites into High, Stiff Peaks 140
16. Relaxing the Mind 148
17. Bread 153
18. Naming 156
19. A Cup of Tea 159
20. Dzogchenpa among the Presbyterians 168
21. On Having a Teacher 176