I recently read The Pedant in the Kitchen, which Michael Ruhlman also wrote up, and while I found it an enjoyable rant, one vexing thought that stuck in the author’s craw was recipe instructions that call for “a handful” of something. He didn’t know what that meant and wondered why recipes couldn’t be more precise. Writing a recipe that’s acceptable to absolutely everyone can be…
Many of you have asked about my Food Photography Gear, so here’s the run-down on how I take and process some of the photos on the blog, as well as the equipment that I use. The first thing I might say is that taking a good picture is partly the camera, but it is also the person behind it. I don’t consider myself a professional…
Who doesn’t like bacon and eggs? Ok, maybe vegans. And folks who are kosher. And people who don’t eat eggs. Or those who don’t like bacon. But I’m not sure that’s possible. (I have a great bacon joke, but it’s not ‘pc’, so I’d better keep it to myself.) I’m a big fan of both bacon and the beautiful, bright-orange yolked eggs we get in…
Today I had what I call a “Welcome To France” day. That expression came about a couple of years ago, when a friend who lives in Switzerland came to run in the Paris marathon. Except when he went to register, they told him he wasn’t registered even though he had a letter from them saying that he had indeed registered. And he wasn’t alone; there…
For the holidays this year, I decided to take up a friend’s offer to visit their family in Méribel, a village way high up in the French alps. As you can see, it’s a spectacular place. And I’m not just talking ‘gorgeous sunsets’ or ‘charmingly quaint’ spectacular. I mean, Méribel was mind-blowingly, insanely hallucinante. Seriously, I wasn’t prepared for the awesome beauty of it all….
Something around here stinks. And it’s not just my neighbor. When I moved to Paris, I remember my first load of laundry that I proudly pulled out of my little machine tucked in the corner. After I figured out the seven different dials and nine different buttons on the machine (actually, I’ve still only managed to figure out what about a third of them do),…
Who says New Yorkers are pushy? Although I couldn’t convince him to cut in line, watch me teach Adam Roberts how to Shop Like A Parisian in New York City. (And yes, the camera does add 10 pounds…either that, or I seem to be sporting a Pinkberry-Belly.)
A French friend asked me recently, “David, do I look gay?” Without a second of hesitation, I replied, “Yes, absolutely.” “Why?” he said. “Well, for one thing,” I told him, “You’re French—which makes you suspect. Another is that you’re wearing a pink polo shirt. You also answer your emails quickly and you spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about your hair.” “And you have…
What are the absolute last words you want to hear when invited to someone’s home for a meal? One such phrase was:“We had some fish that was about to go bad, so we’re having it for dinner.” Welcome to my world, which you thought was all baguettes and chocolate, but also (sometimes) includes dubious dinners, too.
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