Brown Butter Pasta

This is a quick fly-by to tell you that Saveur's Brown Butter Pasta is INSANE.  In the Best Way Possible.

And for those of following all my FRENCH WOMEN DON'T GET FAT posts (here, here, and here, among others), I have this lovely quote from Debra Ollivier's awesome Franco-inspiration book, ENTRE NOUS: A WOMAN'S GUIDE TO FINDING HER INNER FRENCH GIRL:

There is a phrase, bien dans sa peau, which means "to feel good in one's skin."  It is a state of mind to which the French aspire, a state of ease and contentment that they hope is reflected in their faces.  No worry wrinkles, no cheeks flushed with stress.  Being bien dans sa peau is a state of simple physical and emotional grace.  You live well.  You do not have a guilty conscience for personal pleasures.  You feel good about yourself on a very essential level, and so others feel good around you. The French girl who is bien dans sa peau is balanced.  Relaxed.  Natural.  At ease in body and soul.  A perfect description of the French girl at her best.

And in conjunction, I paraphrase from Mireille Guiliano when I say that we must be the masters of our pleasure as well as our restraint.

I tell you what...I took ENORMOUS pleasure in that Brown Butter Pasta you see up there...and it took ENORMOUS restraint to not eat until I popped.  One of the best pasta meals I've had in awhile...maybe ever?

And, for the record, Côtes du Rhône pairs gorgeously with this dish...

Eat, drink, and live well.



NOTE: Okay, this is where I feel I must editorialize.  Being bien dans votre peau (feeling good in your skin) is not about weight.  Or weight politics.  Or unrealistic body expectations.  We're on a whole different level, one where we talk about personal well-being and your inner core.  Don't feel bien dans votre peau?  Then CHANGE IT.  Seek out that contentment, that joie de vivre.  I support you and I have to say thanks again to those family members, friends, and readers who have been so supportive of me - you are all amazing, fabulous, and kick-ass.

NOTE ON KID-FRIENDLINESS: I omitted the egg for Bug; otherwise, she gobbled this up.

Linguine with Brussels Sprouts and Speck

"Pasta?  AGAIN?!"

That was the plaintiff cry from Bug a couple days ago.  But you know what horrible kind of mother I am?  I didn't care about her pasta prejudices.  It's finally cool enough outside that I can keep the pasta pot boiling for an hour and it won't make my kitchen unbearably hot.  I adore pasta in the fall.  Pasta, to me, means endless possibilities and a blank canvas.

So it's no surprise that I tend to go overboard.  Last winter, I made a deal with Bug that I'd limit my pasta dishes to only once a week.  Which didn't keep me from stretching it...I made linguine one night and then, two nights later, I claimed that risotto wasn't pasta - "it's rice."  Similarly, I tried to convince Bug that orecchiette was actually "ears," which - of course - she didn't buy for a second.  *shoulder shrug*

I maintain that I make the menu, do the shopping, and do all the cooking.  And most of the clean-up.  So they'll eat it and, by god, they'll LOVE it.

First up is this awesome recipe inspired by one I found in Saveur (which was created by Missy Robbins of A Voce): Linguine with Brussels Sprouts and Speck.

The joke in the family is that I say every recipe I make is "so easy."  Adam or Bug will say, "This is great!  So good!"  To which my standard reply is, "And it was so easy!"  And, like all things that are said too often, it has become an inside-joke in our family.  But this really is easy.  Not to mention that it's super kid-friendly - it was really easy to add just the speck and ricotta to Bug's pasta and then the Brussels sprouts separately to ours.

Lastly, I'll add that this is a different way to present Brussels sprouts.  By the end of the autumn, I'm so sick of roasted, flash-fried, and sautéed bee-sprouts.  This is a fresh alternative when you need a break from the same ol' same ol'.

Eat, drink, and talk them into pasta.


LINGUINE WITH BRUSSELS SPROUTS AND SPECK
Inspired by Missy Robbins' recipe in Saveur

1 pound fresh or dried linguine
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3 cups Brussels sprouts, quartered
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 ounces speck, sliced into ribbons (can substitute with pancetta or prosciutto)
1 sprig rosemary
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated (can substitute with Parmesan)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

1. Put a pasta pot filled with water on high heat and bring to a boil.  Put about 2 tablespoons of salt in the water.
2. Rinse the Brussels sprouts, trim the bottoms, and discard any brown or discolored leaves.  Cut into quarters.
3. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat and add olive oil.  Add the speck and cook for two minutes, stirring until fat is rendered.  Add the garlic and cook for 15 seconds.  Add the Brussels sprouts and saute until browned, about 5 minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add the chicken stock and rosemary.  Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.  Set aside.
4. Cook pasta according to package instructions.  Drain, reserving a half-cup of pasta liquid.
5. Add the pasta to the sauté pan and reheat over medium-low heat.  Add the butter.  If the pasta is too dry, add just enough reserved pasta liquid to moisten.  Stir in the cheese.
6.  Add pasta to individual bowls and garnish with a dollop of ricotta, a drizzle of good-quality olive oil, and freshly ground pepper.


NOTE ON KID-FRIENDLINESS: I make it kid-friendly in step 5.  Before adding the pasta to the sauce pan, I put a little aside in a bowl for Bug.  I spoon sauce on hers, sans Brussels sprouts, and add speck and cheese for garnish.  Done.


* A thank you for Classic Pasta for the recipe.  I tore the recipe out of my copy of Saveur but proceeded to lose it - I was relieved to find it online!

Artichoke Crostini and the Picky Eaters who Don't Love Artichokes

We're still in post-moving mode around these parts so my dinners have remained simple affairs and I have a real easy one to share with you...

...but before I do, I want to address something that I don't think I've talked much about in the last three years of writing this blog: Picky Eaters.  Specifically, picky kids.  Bug is a Picky Eater...which my mom thinks serves me right since I was THE Pickiest Eater as a kid.  Which goes to show you that kids can grow out of it, as now I'll eat (or at least try) nearly everything.

So how do I handle my Picky Eater?  Well, first, Adam and I have 1-2 nights a week that we call Adult Dinner. I give Bug her dinner around 6:00, usually Annie's Homegrown Macaroni and Cheese with a sliced apple on the side.  Then while Adam puts her to bed and reads to her, I make our dinner.  Which is always something Bug would hate.  Our Adult Dinners keep me sane: I can be adventurous with my meals a couple times a week and I can also connect with Adam without having to worry about what Bug is (or is not) eating.

Most nights, though, we're having Family Dinners.  But I'm not living on mac n' cheese and apples!  And I am firmly against making a separate meal for kids on a nightly basis.  So what I often do is set aside a deconstructed version of our dinner for Bug.  As an example, when I made Jamie Oliver's Fifteen Christmas Salad, I took a picture of me and Adam's dish.  Bug's dish, though, was set up different.  I separated the ingredients from one another: her plate had a small pile of prosciutto slices, a small pile of orange slices, a few pieces of cheese, a couple slices of bread.  So she didn't have a different meal - it was all the same ingredients we had.  I like to think that I just plated it differently.

That was the case with these artichoke crostini.  I first read about this in Saveur's "6 Quick Preps" for artichokes.  I brushed bread slices with olive oil and then grilled them on my stovetop castiron grill.  Once grilled, I set them aside and sprinkled with flake salt and freshly ground pepper.  Then I spread each piece of bread with marscapone cheese (I leave the amount of cheese up to your own tastes).  On top of the toasts, add generously chopped jarred marinated artichoke hearts.  I finished it with a sprinkling of finely chopped Italian parsley and cut garlic chives (from my window "garden"!), flake salt, and pepper.  On the side, I tossed baby arugula with olive oil, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper.

For the Picky Eater, I omitted the artichokes from the crostini so she basically got grilled bread and marscapone cheese.  Then I added a bite of artichoke on the side because the rule is that she has to at least try one bite of everything.  And she got apple slices instead of salad.

So that's how we do it in our family because a foodie parent does not a foodie kid make (even Mario Batali has publicly talked about how picky his kids are).  This meal was incredibly simple but high in flavor - exactly what I'm looking for in a weekday meal for two parents who work outside the home.  And it was "deconstructable", which is a crucial element in pleasing the entire family.

Eat, drink, and hope that my Picky Eater becomes a Foodie Adult.

Beer for Breakfast

As mentioned, we're in the middle of a move...which means that, basically, I'm semi-permanently in Grump Mode.  Love the excitement, love the adventure, love the promise of a move.  But hate the grunt work, the physical labor, and disorganization of it all.  I realize how silly it is for me to be so grumpy so I try to keep my head above water by playing lots of fun music, drinking an extra glass of wine or two, and trying unexpected recipes (where permitted since, you know, I've packed half my kitchen).

In the midst of weeding through my magazine recipes and articles, I found this one from Saveur, "Breakfast Times Two*."  It's a short blurby article about Munich, specifically, and their traditional zweites Frühstück, or second breakfast.  After a light breakfast, there is the late morning second breakfast, which usually consists of sausage, a soft pretzel, sweet mustard, and a beer.  A beer!  At 11:00 a.m.!  I knew this would be a brilliant way to alleviate my bad attitude.  I mean, how fun and out of the ordinary!

Adam and I started with some yogurt, granola, and coffee around 9:00.  And here was our 11:00 a.m. zweites Frühstück :

Now, I didn't have the traditional pretzel - I am so embarrassed to admit that I used those generic Super Pretzels - but, nevertheless, it was awesome.  The knackwurst we had with it was sweet, the pretzels were salty, the mustard was a tad spicy...and the beer washed it all down to perfection.

Like the photo in Saveur, we drank Schneider Weisse - first, we split a bottle of  the original Schneider Weisse, which was so light as to be almost "American lager"-esque.  Our second beer was the Weihenstephaner, which was a wheat beer with a little more heft and spice.  I liked it a bit more than the Schneider Weisse, but it was purely a personal taste issue - they were very different beers.  If you can't find either of these, you can just stick with anything German and/or wheat - you'll most likely get the spice you'll need for this.

Talking about spice and sausage aside, this is just what the doctor ordered.  We got out of our routine, Adam and I gushed about how delicious and fun it all was, and Bug got to be all shocked about us having beer at 11:00 a.m.  Lots of of laughter all around.  And you can bet that I matched the music: there's a German band that came on my radar a couple years ago, Wir sind Helden**.  They played in the background.  Overall, the whole meal was a triumph and started off my weekend just right.

Eat, drink, and Deutsch werden.


* Apologies for lack of a link to the article - it's not available on Saveur's website.  For the record, the short article was in issue #114, "The Breakfast Issue."
** Never heard of Wir sind Helden?  You don't need to understand German, I assure you, to get addicted to their sound.  Check out the concert footage here and here.  Try to resist the pop sound and the adorable lead singer!

Speaking of food writing...

...Remember yesterday I talked about exceptional food writing?

Today, I have an example of...to put it kindly...not good food writing:

When stewed in a cauldron, the big, tough-looking leaf becomes wonderful and delicious, tender and emotional. [referring to collard greens]

This appeared in my latest issue of Saveur in the article "Green Goddess."

I don't want to be mean.  I don't.  But this sort of writing brings out the mean in me.  I love Saveur and I certainly won't cancel my subscription over this (because the photography alone is worth the price of admission, for me).  But this writing is so affected and overwrought.  "Emotional" collard greens?!  No.  Just...no.  "Wonderful and delicious"?!  No.  It's one thing for an inexperienced blogger such as myself, but you're Saveur.  For goodness sake.

On the upside, "emotional" has become a catch-phrase in our house.  Adam and I enjoyed a late-night snack of burrata on toast this weekend and we absolutely declared it to be tender and emotional.  It really was so good - with some lemon zest, flake salt, and fresh pepper - that I wanted to cry.

Eat, drink, and emote.



Note: Another upside is that the Collard Greens, Cornmeal, and Sausage Soup looks really amazing. 

My world has been rocked...

...because of Gourmet closing. Not because I was a huge fan of Gourmet - I wasn't. But it made me realize how easily my favorite foodie mag, Saveur, could go under in this economy.

I urge any and all of you to get a subscription, not so much because I'm worried about you. Oh, no, it's all about me. Buy a subscription so that I can continue to be a happy, well-balanced person. Thank you.

In the meantime, take their fun and fluffy quiz about what kind of a foodie you are. Here are my results:

Your Profile: Classic & Comforting

You learned to cook alongside your grandma, and still think her teachings are gospel. You believe the correct answer to the question of olive oil or butter is both. You're happiest around a chattering table, doling out heaping plates to crowds of friends. You just had your tattered, original copy of Joy of Cooking rebound. You're certain there's nothing that melted cheese can't make better.

Describes my style perfectly, except for the grandma bit. Except for her pie crust recipe - it's foolproof. Even I can make it.

Eat, drink, and come sit at my classic & comforting dinner table!

But where's the joy?

In my last blog post, I mentioned this week's New York Times Magazine, which is the "Food Issue." Last year's issue starred Michael Pollan, and this year it was Jamie Oliver. Oliver is taking on the town that has been unflatteringly deemed the Unhealthiest In America. It was an interesting article because Oliver really is doing some wonderful work on behalf of promoting healthy eating and cooking - certainly more than most celebrity chefs - and yet there is still some smoke and mirrors about how he goes about it. He's going into a town that doesn't necessarily want him there, a proud group of people that won't take too kindly to some good-looking Brit coming in and telling them that they're bad parents and irresponsible people. There's the idea that obese people don't necessarily want to change their ways.

There is also a more scientific and, honestly, more snooze-worthy article about calorie restriction in aging humans, rats, and primates. Seriously, it was rather boring. I skimmed it. Not my cup of tea.

I really like Mark Bittman's short article about online food shopping. As a weekly devotee to Fresh Direct, I agreed with everything he had to say about how the experience in no way caters to the consumer; instead, online food shopping is all about pushing products to the consumer, whether he wants them or not. It seems ludicrous that the process isn't more user-friendly, especially when you consider sites like iTunes and Amazon. Both of those sites allow the user/client/customer to really tailor the selections to what he is interested in. Why not online food shopping?

"No Polenta, No Cry" offered a voyeuristic look at all the little rules and restrictions we give ourselves as eaters. I felt like the author was unhinged at first...but then I realized that I think everyone eats like this a little bit. Whether it makes good sense or not.

But here's the thing: where was the joy? The "Food Issue", eh? I get that we need to talk about calories and locavorism and the ethics of meat. Important topics, all. But where was the article about the wonder and beauty and happiness in food and meals and cooking?

I remember how much I loved watching Julie and Julia because it captured how magical food can be in forging relationships and making connections. Today, on this sunny and cool autumn Sunday, I feel exhausted and maxed out on all the politics and science and showmanship of the "Food Issue." I eschew it with a firm hand and, instead, I'm looking forward to dinner tonight with my family: we've been looking forward to duck fat fries all week. I'll pour wine, and I'll play music while I'm cooking. Adam will pop in and out of the kitchen, kissing my cheek as he walks by. Bug will occasionally come in to dance to a song. We'll gather together at the table and, instead of saying a prayer, we'll raise our glasses to toast. Most likely we'll be toasting "a wonderful family weekend." That is what food is about.

For articles that really capture this feeling, I refer you to Saveur's "Dinner in the Piazza" by Beth Elon, Food and Wine's "Farm-Fresh French" by Rebecca Rose, and - one of my all-time favorite food articles EVER - Saveur's "Soulful Crepes of Brittany" by Nancy Coons* (unfortunately, this article is not available through Saveur's website so you miss the take-your-breath-away photography by Jorg Brockmann). THIS is good food writing. These are examples of how food affects our lives, affects real people, inspires cooks of every skill level. Read these before you go reading the "Food Issue."

Eat, drink, and find the joy in both.

*I loved this article so much when I read it from my library's copy that I called Saveur and tried to buy the back issue. It wasn't available. So I "lost" my library's copy. Lest you think that is ethically wrong, hopefully you'll think better of me when you find out that it cost me $20 to buy it from the library.

What I've Been Watching and Reading

I've been reading and watching some really interesting, cool stuff lately. Here's a sampling:

• The Children's Lit Project is fantastic. I particularly liked Sarah Small's bit where she states that she doesn't necessarily write for children, which probably attributes to her books being universally enjoyed by both children and grown-ups. Thanks to Read Roger for directing me to the website.
• You all should really be checking out the blog Sweet Reads: Books and Baking for Kids. Aside from having an awesome name, Rawley blogs book reviews with matching recipes. In particular, I liked her recent review of The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, paired with "Callie's Old-Fashioned Apple Pie." Loads of fun.
• In light of the recent release of Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan (which I am LONGING to read but have yet to obtain), I give you steampunk cakes. Excellent. And here's the trailer one last time:

• In an odd twist, I discovered this week that Patrick Carman, author of The Land of Elyon series and one of The 39 Clues' authors, graduated from the same university I did. Which is a little random, seeing as not many people know Willamette University. Even crazier is that he was also a work-study student for my mother-in-law, who works in the Career Center at Willamette. Small, small world.
• I loved this recent article in The New York Times Magazine where the ubiquitous Michael Pollan posts rules for eating. My favorite? "If you are not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you are not hungry." ~ Emma Fogt
• I adored this recent article in Saveur, "Dinner in the Piazza" by Beth Elon. The photography was stunning* and it made me so happy to have recently received my new passport in the mail. Read the article and you'll be ready to hop on a plane too.
• I'm a die-hard Georgia Nicolson fan, the star of Louise Rennison's series. The last book in the series just released last week, Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?, and it was everything I could want in a series concluder. This series soooo makes me wish I were British just so I can make phrases like "daft tart" sound really gorgey and fab. I have yet to see the movie they made of the first book - my understanding is that it never released in Hamburger-a-gogo land, n'est-ce pas? Any of you seen the movie? Well, adieu, Georgia. I have loved following your adventures with the ace gang and, Louise Rennison, I can't wait to read your upcoming new series!
• Last but not least, I'm going OT here. I want to thank Alvina at Bloomabilities for introducing me to this YouTube video. I dare you to watch it and not smile. Warning, though: prepare to have the song stuck in your head for days afterward!

Eat, drink, and go out and smash it. Like, oh my god.

* Note: none of the stunningly beautiful photos from the print version of the article are in the online version. All the more reason to get a subscription. Please, oh please, don't let Saveur suffer the same fate as Gourmet!

I often read a book while stirring risotto...

-- This might be some of the strangest news I have heard in children’s literature: David O. Russell, director of I Heart Huckabees and Three Kings, is partnering (if you will…) with Simon & Schuster to write a middle-grade book series called Alienated. Russell has said that the series is about two kids who work for an “old tabloid that covers the world of freaks and aliens.” He will simultaneously write the screenplay for a film by the same name. Huh.

Thanks to Shelf Awareness (who got it from the NY Times) for this piece of news that still has me scratching my head…

-- I have recently discovered Café Tasse. And I think I’m in luuuuurve.

-- I anticipate my monthly issue of Saveur with bated breath – it is hands-down my favorite foodie mag. The latest issue proved why: there is this fabuloso article about how Saveur changed offices and now they’re in the East 30's here in NYC. Naturally, that means they had to design a brand-spankin’-new test kitchen. The article mentions the words “food editor”… and “kitchen assistant”… They talk about walnut chopping blocks and kitchen islands on wheels (multiple islands...I just want one). They talk about making the space warm and welcoming, yet functional. They mention that, when they’re working late at night, people will just sit on the countertops, chat, and generally hang out. Naturally, the article is chock-a-block of beautiful photos of said test kitchen. So here’s my question: what in the hell do I have to do to work there? I’m considering selling my soul… Which I suppose I couldn’t do because part of the reason I love food so much is because I’m an incredibly soulful person. But…whatev. I’m just trying to convey to you how badly I want a job like that…

-- Liz B. brought to my attention the issue of posting book jackets on blogs (or library websites, Amazon, etc.). Copyright law gives me such a headache; I find it endlessly confusing. I probably have quite a few things posted on my blog that I shouldn’t…but they add to my content, I’m not claiming the images as my own, and I’m receiving no money for them. And I’m not publishing the work in its entirety (i.e. the book). Doesn’t this count as fair use? My final thought is that I’m sure that if I was using something illegally, it would certainly piss people off and I’m sure they’d let me know.

I’ll probably be off for a couple days – my Soul Twin (BFF, if you must) is visiting from North Carolina. We’re basically going to spend the next three days eating and walking ourselves into a stupor. Which is my favorite thing to do with the Soul Twin. And my favorite thing to do in NYC…which is why I moved here.

Eat, drink, and do both as often as possible with your chosen family.

Top 10 Cooking Books

I’ve run across a few Top 10 Cookbook Lists lately, namely over at The Amateur Gourmet and this article in The Star. I had heard of most of them and own quite a few; luckily, there were none that I took real issue with. Adam (The Amateur Gourmet, not my husband) mentions The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook “not to cook from, just to have.” I see what he’s saying – there are definitely books I keep around because they’re beautiful but I don’t really use them. However, I certainly wouldn’t put those books in my Top10.

So you see what’s coming, right? Yep, I have to do a Top 10 of my own. These are the 10 Books I Could Not Live Without in my Crappy NYC Kitchen:

1. Barefoot Contessa (all of them) – Ina Garten. I have all but Parties! and I use them multiple times a week. Most recipes are manageable for the novice cook. Note: her recipes aren’t terribly friendly for the one- to two-person family; her serving size is usually for 6-8 people, which always makes for a ton of leftovers for our 3-person family.

2. Field Guide to Produce: How to Identify, Select, and Prepare Virtually Every Fruit and Vegetable at the Market by Aliza Green. Truly, I couldn’t live without this. It tells you the origin of every fruit and vegetable, including when it is in season, how to store it, what to look for when buying, and complementary flavors. Amazon has the Look Inside feature on this one so you can browse through it.

3. Patricia Wells’ Trattoria by Patricia Wells. Tough call because I love her Vegetable Heaven as well, but Trattoria is still my go-to book for simple, fresh, easy recipes. No beautiful pictures in this one…just beautiful food.

4. The French Market: More Recipes from a French Kitchen by Joanne Harris and Fran Warde. Classic French food without being pedantic or clichéd. Beautiful color photos of France.

5. The New Food Lover’s Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst. Another resource I can’t live without. Especially when my daughter asks me, every meal, which foods contain vitamin C – I’ve looked up apples, mushrooms, and many more… Also gives brief histories and discusses different varieties and preparations.

6. Timing is Everything: The Complete Timing Guide to Cooking by Jack Piccolo. I don’t live and die by the times listed in this book; however, when I have dealt with an unfamiliar cut of meat or a new vegetable, this book has been invaluable at giving me a cooking guideline.

7. What to Drink with What You Eat by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. As I mentioned before, the definitive guide.

8. Cooking with Jamie and Jamie’s Italy by Jamie Oliver. I’m hooked. Some recipes are super-simple (Fifteen Christmas Salad) and some appear to be so difficult that I can’t attempt them until I have a proper kitchen. A little something for everyone…

9. Everyday Italian by Giada de Laurentiis. I know, total cliché, right? Nevertheless, her recipes are a godsend for a full-time working parent. They’re easy to make with easy-to-find ingredients, not to mention that it actually includes recipes my Kiddo will eat (yay, pasta!). For better or worse, this continues to be one of my go-to cookbooks.

10. I know not technically cookbooks, but I could not live without Saveur, Gourmet, Food and Wine, Cooking Light, and Bon Appétit. I tear out the recipes and keep them in a notebook, which I wrote about here. If you can’t afford subscriptions to all these, your local library should have most, if not all, of them (and they all have lots of content on their websites). But for heavens’ sake, PHOTOCOPY the recipes! Do NOT rip out the pages of the library’s copy. Sheesh, people.

Note: I just checked out Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes from the library and, from my first glimpse through it, I think this could be a new favorite. Cream Puffs in Venice reviewed it.

Eat, drink, and cultivate your food library.

Back to the Blogosphere: the Food Version

I have felt like a ship without a rudder lately, for silly reasons, most of them inconsequential. Nevertheless, it is that sort of feeling that makes me want to cook…and do nothing else. I want to plant myself in my crappy kitchen and cook all day, trying out recipes, experimenting with no recipes, being creative, finding treasures hiding in the back of my freezer. Thus grounding me and making me feel more connected to my own life. I have eaten dinner out for the past two nights, and I can’t articulately express how excited I am to go home this evening and return to my kitchen. Eating out for extended periods does not suit me well at all.

My faithful readers will know how I aspire to write like Lucy Vanel over at Lucy’s Kitchen Notebook. She has another post up about a market in Lyon: Marché Fermier at Place Carnot. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such crooked, rotund, lovely asparagus and I’m longing to try the cream cheese tart. But what struck me was her next post, Diving for Pearls. I was touched by Lucy’s respect for history and her keen sense of nostalgia (without being cloying at all). I just find this sort of perspective lacking here in the U.S. – do you agree? My cookie sheet is rusting – I’ll buy a new one. Wet crumbling cardboard box at a flea market – I don’t want to know why the heck it’s wet. Dilapidated house too much work – raze it and build something new and shiny in its place. I distinctly feel that this is the country I live in, that this is the norm, and I often find myself swept into this way of thinking. But I'm pausing now to re-evaluate. As I type this, I look down at my shiny new cocktail ring – it’s fabulous and fun but I have no connection to it. But the earrings in my ears? They’re these tiny gold medallions that my mom wore for years, and I believe my grandmother wore them before her. On a recent trip, my mom bestowed them to me. And I understand exactly what Lucy is talking about.















And armed with this sense of history and nostalgia and feeling protected by the past, let me tell you about Cooked Books’ really cool post about A Soldier's Simple Cooking Recipes for Cooking in the Trenches and Billets (with vocabulary of French words). Learn how to make a Trench Cake! In library school, during the first hour of my one and only archives class, I discovered archival studies weren’t for me at all. But Rebecca makes me wish that it had been.

I don’t know if I should share this info but, what the hell, it’s Friday and I’m feeling bold. Remember I whined a couple days ago about Alice Feiring’s book not coming out until May 19th? I know, I was totally whining. But seriously, I’ve had that book on my Amazon wishlist for two months already! Anyway, my darling school & library contact at Harcourt read my mini-tantrum and is sending the book to me before the 19th!!! Really! It is probably uncool to admit this but that’s the first time that sort of thing has happened to me – I say I want something on my blog and someone says, “Okay! I’ll send it to you!” I’m starting to feel like Betsy! Thank you, Ellen, for totally making my week!

Lastly, I read a nice little article in my Saveur email, giving easy instructions on how to cook ramps. I’ve never tried ramps – shocking, I know. But I’ll begin seeking them out now since it’s driving me bonkers that there’s something out there that I haven’t tried but is so easy to prepare.

Bon appètit!

Morsels of children's news with a pinch of foodie talk

It’s a dreary, rainy day in NYC and, naturally, we still don’t have any snow. I have friends and family in places like San Luis Obispo and Raleigh…they have snow. I’m surprised my friends in Arizona haven’t reported getting snow. Everywhere but NYC. I was unaware that we were protected by some sort of forcefield, apparently.

So I’ve had no other choice but to avoid work and browse blogs and news.

** Educating Alice is raging today, and it’s awesome. Alison started it by blogging about peeking versus non-peeking: people who read ahead and people who would never. Alison is very judicious about the issue, soliciting opinions from readers. But the responses to Alison's post are passionate and confessional - there are a lot of peekers out there! What has Monica annoyed are the non-peekers that feel they've taken a nobler, higher moral ground by not peeking. One commenter on Alison's post said that peeking "would simply be wrong!", and a publisher even got in on the act, asking readers to stop peeking and compromising the integrity of the author's work, or something like that. I'm just annoyed that, more and more, the way we go about our lives and the daily small choices we make are being being dictated to us. Do it this way! No, do it this way! Sheesh. Reading and, to a certain extent, libraries are two of America's greatest examples of democracy. To each their own or, as Monica succinctly put it, "the democracy of reading rules!"

** Booklist has put up their interview with Christopher Paul Curtis and it's fantabulous, as Curtis is one of the most articulate and brilliant authors out there. I particularly enjoyed Curtis' observation that humor is "the twin sister of tragedy. They are inextricably wound together." The interview also turns incredibly potent when Curtis likens a black person's use of the n-word to a "suicide bomb."

** Sweet Valley High is being reissued!!!!! It's like I've been transported back in time and my 11-year-old heart is leaping with unbridled joy! Apparently some things have changed: the Wakefield twins no longer drive a Fiat Spider (Damn, I loved the Fiat - I was convinced that I would drive one too when I turned 16. Instead I got a 1967 Buick. Shazam!) and Elizabeth has an anonymous blog whereas, in the original books, she had an anonymous column in the school paper. The cover has been redesigned too, of course. The new one is okay, but you can't really tell the twins apart, which I liked about the original covers. Thanks to A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy for the link. Carlie mentions in the "SVH 2.0" post that, before Stephenie Meyer's "Team Jacob" and "Team Edward" t-shirts, there could have been "Team Todd" and "Team Jeffrey" shirts. I would've worn "Team Todd": Todd Wilkins, now and forever, baby. I take it a step further: you know how Sex and the City came out with "I'm a Carrie" or "I'm a Charlotte" shirts? You could totally do that for Sweet Valley High: "I'm a Jessica" or "I'm an Elizabeth". Or "I'm a Lila." Which one are you? I'm totally an Elizabeth.

** Fuse has some great posts up right now. First, I love her description of how NYPL goes about sharing their "100 Favorites" list - I'm already brainstorming about how I can get something like that going here at Queens. Granted, we don't have a fancy list like NYPL, but we can still do a dramatic sharing of titles we like. I've been finding it a bit of a challenge, in a large system like this, to find out what the librarians are reading and what they're enjoying. It would be a hoot if everyone would really get involved with an event like this. Even better, it would be fantastic to hold it after-hours and provide wine and hors d'oeuvres. Fuse also has a Save Central Children's campaign going, echoed by A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy. I'm jumping on too. That space is magical, and I can hardly imagine that treasure trove of resources and literature scattering to 80-some branches. Unthinkable. Do the right thing, NYPL.

** The Telegraph came out wiht their list of "100 Books Every Child Should Read." As with every list of this nature, there's always room for debate. I would have liked to see some more newer titles, for one thing. Thanks to Bookshelves of Doom for the link.

** And in foodie-related news, right on the heels of my fondue rant last night, I got an email from Saveur, my favorite foodie magazine, and guess what food they were featuring for Super Bowl Sunday: Fond-friggin-uuuuue. Stop the madness.

And now that I finished writing this post, it's sunny outside. The clouds and rain are gone. Yep, I still don't see any snow.