When I was writing and churning up recipes for my ice cream book, I heard through the transatlantic wind that another ice cream book was coming out. It’s hard not to be influenced by others when writing and creating recipes, and even though I was sent a copy, I didn’t want to look through it, so I gave it a cursory glance, then shelved it…
When I lived in San Francisco, I used to stop at Whole Foods occasionally and frequent the salad bar. Because I’m a big fan of cookies, I’d often grab a cookie for dessert. One day I noticed big, cushy-looking gingersnaps amongst all the other cookies, and picked one out. After finishing my salad, I took the cookie out of the slender brown bag and took a…
Les Cocottes often gets described as a local version of an American-style diner. I don’t know if that’s true. For one thing, everyone speaks French. And for another, there were no snappy apron-clad waitresses pouring bottomless cups of coffee, no trucks parked outside, and no plumber-cracks hanging over the backside of the stools. After all, this is Paris, ya’ know. In fact, Les Cocottes sits…
Links Page There’s a splashy new look to my Links page. Voted off the island is the long list of blogs with annotations, and now you’ll find an ever-changing feed of blogs and websites I read and find interesting. It will change as the various sites update, all by its lonesome, so you can check in there as frequently as you can (well, when the…
[Update: Bazin bakery has closed. In its place is Boulangerie Bo, which features different items, but is also very much worth visiting.] This probably isn’t the kind of bread that visitors come to Paris to experience, and while I like baguettes, I really, really crave breads loaded with grains. So when I was recently in Bazin to pick up my usual Bazinette aux Graines (seeded…
Tomorrow is the official start at les Soldes, the twice-annual period when the French government allows stores to discount merchandise. It usually last four weeks, although for the past couple of months, a few scofflaws have been marking things down discreetly anyways, flaunting the law in these cash-strapped times. The area I live in is the Bastille, and it was once known as a hub…
I don’t know when it took hold, but le Brunch has become popular in Paris. Unlike the Bloody Mary and Mimosa-fueled repasts we had when I lived in San Francisco, in Paris, the concept is a little different. For one thing, Sundays are blissfully “sacred” and no one seems to want to wake up and go anywhere until — well, Monday. And the places that do…
I thought I’d better get this one out of the way right off the bat, at the start of the year. This recipe was languishing on my kitchen counter, resisting publication until I could resist no more. (And if you saw my kitchen counter, you’d know a piece of paper takes up about 25% of it, so I’m especially eager to get it out of…
I recently went to a fête for my birthday at a friend’s home in the Marais, whose family is renowned for making exceptional French wines. I don’t know a lot about wine, but I know that when combined with certain things, the effect is transcendental. Gougères, or cheese puffs, are one of those things. But really, who are we kidding. They’re an appetizer that goes with everything! They’re…
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