28 Feb 2012 16 Comments
in Observations, Starlets, Yoga Students & Quinoa (stories) Tags: Ernie Demontreux, Fanny Bay oysters, mussels, New Jersey, Oscars, Ringling Brothers, Topanga Lumber, Weehawken
We live in a colorful neighborhood. The day before a dinner at our friend Ernie’s house, I was out talking a walk and met Ant Patty (who is not a true aunt so she drops the “u”). “Ernie’s been working on his dinner for days,” she said. “but he’s not doing it for us, he’s doing it for you.”
Ernie at his stove
I don’t think he’s doing it for me. I think he’s doing it because he loves to do it. And he loves to share it with people — fortunately including me. More
12 Jul 2011 7 Comments
in Recipes, Video Tags: baguette, Bastille Day, brasserie, charcuterie, France, french cooking, fries, frites, fruits de mer, moules, mussels, Paris, paté, recipes, seafood, video
We Americans like to appropriate other peoples’ holidays. I’m as guilty as anyone — on Cinco de Mayo we have friends over for fish tacos and margaritas; never does a St. Patty’s Day pass by without corned beef, cabbage and Guinness. And Chinese New Year always represents an opportunity for lacquered duck. But we the people haven’t seemed as taken, for some reason, with Bastille Day. 
I was in Paris once for Bastille Day. I remember tanks on the Champs Elysees, jets flying low overhead, drunk Parisians everywhere, reveling. I’ve always been enamored of France, and Paris in particular. More
skinny girls & mayonnaise 