There’s nothing I love more than a factory tour, especially when it has something to do with food, or cooking. So I jumped at the chance to visit the All-Clad factory while on book tour. Pittsburgh is a city known for its metal industry – most notably, steel, and while much of the metalworking factories have wound down, or closed, All-Clad is still going strong….
I’ll never pass up a chance to go to a factory, whether it be to see how American stand mixers are made, or French enameled cookware. I’d never seen copper cookware being made, though, and jumped at the opportunity to hop on an early morning train to Villedieu-les poêles to visit the Mauviel copper cookware factory. (The only thing I didn’t jump at was the bleary 7:30am departure…
I’m a random collector of Le Creuset. When rifling through a random box at a flea market in France, a hint of one of their trademark colors may catch my eye. I’ll pull out the pot, inspect it (never with too much excitement because if I plan to bargain for it, I need to keep my cards close to my chest), then either make an offer…
A while back, a friend made the Apple-Red Wine Tart (in Ready for Dessert), which calls for the fruit to be cooked in red wine in a nonreactive pan. I didn’t realize it at the time, but many people don’t know what nonreactive cookware is and he called to tell me the dessert was great, but his pan was stained. (And this was someone who…
Paris is a mecca for cooks, and folks come here from around the world to stock up on French and specialty cookware. Many of the shops are clustered around the Les Halles area, where for many years restaurateurs shopped at the giant market there for produce and other comestibles, as well as professional kitchenware. Although the market is gone, many of those stores exist and…
I can deal with a lousy oven. I can use crummy cookware. And I’ll admit that I can bake a cake in a flimsy pan. But I refuse to use a dull knife. It’s not only that they’re hard to use, but a bad knife is downright unsafe. Some people are terrified of sharp knives when in fact, when used properly, they’re actually safer: Most…
The odd-looking thing arrived in my mailbox recently, and I had no idea what it was. So I spent some time spinning the wheel around and around, and around and around. And around and around.
One of my favorite online shopping sites, Rue La La, frequently offers great deals on everything from All Clad pots & pans, Cuisinart and KitchenAid appliances, German and Japanese cutlery, Staub, Le Creuset, and Mauviel copper cookware – all at amazing prices! (They also have fine linens, designer clothing, tableware, and wine accessories.) You never know what you might find and the specials happen daily…
There’s much debate about what time it’s okay to telephone someone at home. How late is too late in the evening? How early is too early? Are they friends, or family? When I moved to Paris, a French friend told me, “Never call anyone before noon on Sunday.” I made that mistake when I was still new to the city and the groggy response on…
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