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…
A dining companion said to me— “Let’s eat inside. It’s too smoky out there.”
This is the salad I made myself for lunch today: And I decided that I would use it to finish one of the previously unfinished posts. Note that there’s no canned corn. No rice. And yes, real potatoes, garlic, and fresh green beans. Except for steaming the green beans, it took me all of about 2 minutes to put together. The potatoes were leftovers and…
My desktop is a mess, cluttered with posts that I started, but never got around to finishing. Like the one about Jamie Oliver, who personally doesn’t make me sick, but the camera work on his show definitely makes me quesy. A lot of times a thought will hit me when I’m out and about, then I’ll race home and start writing, only never to go…
1. A few weeks ago I went back to Exceptions Gourmands with a friend from New York. The two women working there were quite nice and helpful, and my friend ended up picking out a few things to buy. The amount was something like 7.53€. So my friend opened her wallet and handed over a 10€ bill. “Oooohhh,” the saleswoman said, eyeing the lone bill…
When you fly in to Charles de Gaulle airport, there’s a mad rush to get off the plane. Then you’re herded to a holding pen-like area, where you wait to go through passport control. It’s complete chaos: everyone surging forward, en masse, trying to get around everyone else, regardless of who got there first. That is, except for the Americans, who wait patiently for their…
And how do I know it’s spring? Could it be the trees that are blooming, or the sun desperately trying to poke through the gray, cloudy skies? Might it be the luscious, ripe strawberries with verdant green stems at my market? Or could it be that it’s no longer just the hearty non-smokers occupying the outdoor tables in the cafés, but everyone, hoping to catch…
…it’s a challenge to get through to the person you really need to speak to on the phone. …the amount of documentation you need seems excessive. …when there’s a screw up, there’s no one to complain to. …all the workers act like they can’t be fired—because they can’t. …you’re sure the folks up ahead of you are getting better treatment. …there aren’t nearly enough bathrooms.
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