The Christmas Chronicles: Nigel Slater’s Paean to Midwinter, a Blissful Reading Experience

November 27, 2022

Best known for his memoir, Toast – both book and film – English author Nigel Slater is one of those food writers who really writes about a heck of a lot more than what’s on the table and in the mouth. Take his stunning work in The Christmas Chronicles: Notes, Stories & 100 Essential Recipes … More The Christmas Chronicles: Nigel Slater’s Paean to Midwinter, a Blissful Reading Experience

“Take a Goose or a Duck” Wins Gourmand Awards Best in USA for Cookbook History & Writing

November 25, 2022

Wow! And to be in such company as Henry Notaker and Tom Jaine. Doing somersaults!   So happy to report that “Take a Goose or a Duck” has won the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards for cookbook history and writing for the USA! Competing for Best in the the World, but with Henry Notaker and Tom … More “Take a Goose or a Duck” Wins Gourmand Awards Best in USA for Cookbook History & Writing

Snobbery isn’t Just for the Upper Classes: An Incident with a Couple of British Twits

November 13, 2022

  A book that furnishes no quotations is no book – it is a plaything. ~ Thomas Love Peacock   Snobbery tends to be a universal human tendency, so despite my comments below, I know that it’s not exclusive to the British. Apologies to my decent British friends right up front. However …. A particular … More Snobbery isn’t Just for the Upper Classes: An Incident with a Couple of British Twits

Escaping to Morocco, via the Magic Carpet of Memory: COVID-19 Isolation, Day 62 (I Think)

November 10, 2022

I wrote this back when none of us had a clue about the long haul we were in for with COVID. From May 2020 originally. Last night I watched the film, “The Forgiven,” with Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain. So Morocco has been n my mind this morning.   Once upon a time, I lived … More Escaping to Morocco, via the Magic Carpet of Memory: COVID-19 Isolation, Day 62 (I Think)

Chronicle of a Death Not Foretold*: The Shocking, Early Passing of Food Writer Julie Powell

November 3, 2022

Food writer Julie Powell’s death came as a monumental shock to me. Her Wikipedia page is right up to date: “Powell died of cardiac arrest at her home in Olivebridge, New York, on October 26, 2022, at age 49.” People who blow out only thirty – or fewer – candles on their birthday cakes think of forty-nine as … More Chronicle of a Death Not Foretold*: The Shocking, Early Passing of Food Writer Julie Powell

Announcing “Mangoes & Roosters: Stories and Tales from Haiti” – and Other News

September 29, 2022

  Ever since colonial days, when France claimed it as her own, Haiti carried within it an aura of the unknown and the mysterious. Once called the “Pearl of the Antilles,” Haiti became for a time the largest sugar producing region in the world, thanks to plantations populated by thousands of enslaved Africans, who rose … More Announcing “Mangoes & Roosters: Stories and Tales from Haiti” – and Other News

Speaking of France …

September 18, 2022

You’re not supposed to begin a piece of writing with a question. Why not? No idea, except that the “experts” seem to think that it’s an easy way out. “You can do better,” they say. So what was my question? Oh yes. Why is traditional French food so terribly unpopular at the moment? Many authors … More Speaking of France …