Cod with Pearls
I had a revelation last evening. It was entirely unexpected, which is the nature of revelations I guess. I was preparing dinner for a group of friends, testing recipes at the same time as I often do. On the menu was a dish I’d never made but that I was sure would be wonderful, “dos […]
Salon d’Agriculture
Today at the market, farmers told jokes about the cold, grey weather and their static crops, the kind of jokes that hide tears. And the elders here say they haven’t seen a time without light as long as this in years. Combine that with the world political situation, and the gloom hovering at the edges […]
Market Surf N’ Turf
For our market lunch last Saturday, always a special occasion because we eat whatever is best from the market that morning, I sautéed freshly shucked scallops with air-cured ham and shitakes, liberally seasoned with garlic. It is not a combination I might have thought of had the scallops, mushrooms, and ham not jumped at me […]
Hold Them Off With Carrots
While I’d hoped to be venerated for the waffle recipe in my last blog, what really caught people’s attention was the phrase “I held them off with carrots.” “How,” one of my readers asked “Do you hold off adolescents with carrots?” Another said “My adolescent wouldn’t stop for a carrot.” And yet another “Carrots? My […]
Birthday Pizza and Waffles
I had no idea when my daughter invited six friends for a birthday party that it would mean a marathon in the kitchen for me. I should have known. I’ve been hosting children’s birthday parties for 22 years. But for some reason this took me by surprise as, at midnight last night, I realized […]
Chocolat Chaud
Even if my daughter hadn’t just celebrated her 14th birthday, I’d know it was February. There is no other month that denies us light like this one. I’m not saying the sun never shines – it did, last week, for about 15 minutes. But for the past few days, the grey is almost overwhelming. What […]
Quick Brioche
Who doesn’t dream of brioche, that buttery, tender loaf that is so soft you want to make it your pillow at night. Every boulangerie and patisserie in France offers brioche; it is usually baked in a fluted mold and it has a topknot. To eat it, you pull off the topknot and eat that first, […]
Chocolate Tart from the Secret Drawer
I have a secret drawer in my kitchen. It’s not really secret, it’s just where all the fun things go. It started life as my chocolate drawer, and that is its major purpose. I always have a lot of chocolate on hand so that I can make my wonderful Chocolate Chocolate Tart, or whip up […]
Flax Pesto, Norman Style
Pesto is food of the god’s. That said, certain gods like certain types of pesto. Those in Normandy like theirs made with flax seed, grown in the incomparably green fields of flax that are currently decorating the landscape here. I did make that up about what the Norman gods like, though, having lived here in […]
Siberia and Soup
We are not experiencing a “froid de canard,” or duck cold here in France (“froid de canard” is used to describe extremely cold temperatures). We are experiencing, instead, the icy depths of Siberia. At least that is what the weather people are telling us, as they describe the trajectory of weather, which has swept its […]
