Here in France, like so many other places in the world, as of noon on Tuesday, the 17th, we are on lockdown/quarantine/shelter-in-place for at least 15 days, needing an Attestation De Déplacement Dérogatoire (a form) stating who we are, where we live, and our purpose for being out. Luckily for me, my friend Luke decided to come here last week from Switzerland rather than going back to his home in Italy,, which was already experiencing a mass quarantine, and…
No question about it! Fall has arrived in Nérac. Sunday’s forecast indicated no sunny days. None, ever again. With the day’s storm came winds blowing branches to the ground, covering walkways and providing a trecherous obstacle course as I walked Elsie to and from her favourite elimination spots. I changed from a light jacket to the big, down coat, and, as I walk the dog, I’ve watched the water in the Baïse began its gradual climb up the sides of…
This year was my first holiday season in France, as it was for my friends Taffy and Bill, who moved here earlier this year, also, from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. We approached this with a commitment to experience the season as fully as we could, and for us,this meant making the rounds at the wineries to stock up for season, visiting several different small towns for the Christmas markets, which we found were like a PTA bake sale mixed with a…
Keeping in mind that the first picture of each post becomes a thumbnail on a facebook post, and a few people have let me know that the three dead ducks in my kitchen sink were a bit much, I thought I would start with these lovely beans, tarbais from southwestern France, ordered from D’Artagnan, which are the heart of the cassoulet. For this uber challenge there was little question of what I would make. I had only eaten a cassoulet once,…
It occurred to me, as I looked over the last month of Charcutepalooza challenges, that I had the opportunity for some extra credit, to sort of prove the point of the whole experience you might say. I knew I had to prepare for the grand finale, the December challenge, which for me was going to be to prepare that mixed bag of meats and beans, a cassoulet. But I also had, hanging out there, the challenge from the very beginning of the year,…
My husband, Frank, and I are big fans of the pizza at Pizzaria Mozza, Mario Batali’s joint venture pizza place (seems a little too subtle to describe it as such- it’s actually a bustling and buzzing West Hollywood happening place) with Nancy Silverton and Joe Batstianich. So, when in New York a couple of years ago, we decided to try Otto, his New York pizza place (also a little to common a describer…). I tell you all this because it was here that…
Well, most of you know how I feel about chicken. So when I read about this months challenge, I thought seriously of rillettes- something I knew I would love to eat. However, I realized I had only boned a chicken once, and I don’t think that was a very nice experience. Obviously, this was something I had to master, to overcome- like my fear of heights…. And I considered this to be a good excuse to by a new boning knife- the glorious boning…
While in college, our oldest son, Josh, was a musical theater major, and the favorite character he ever played was Sweeney Todd. And, as you might expect, since we started grinding meats for Charcutepalooza there have been many references in our house to the play, and the music, and even Johnny Depp has come up a couple of times… but I digress. Now, to have the opportunity to make a meat pie! I could almost feel the whoosh of the bodies sliding…
We have already discussed my 11th hour habits, that cram for exam attitude which has reared it’s ugly head often through this Charcutepalooza challenge and made life difficult, though occasionally thrilling, for me. Though, this time, I almost wonder if it wasn’t a purposeful stall that allowed me to miss out on slow cooking a pig head on my stove top, only to be replaced by the still life seen below- starring a luscious foie gras terrine with a supporting cast…
What better place to serve a hot dog than a Fourth of July Barbeque? The menu almost writes itself- and the hot dog is the star of the show! As always, as commited as I am to the Charcutepalooza project, I felt pressed for time as I shopped for the dogs, so I was overjoyed to find that Whole Foods had Korean style short ribs ready for purchase. Cutting out that small bone was a cinch, and I now have…