Dec 02
We visited Portland for the first time since the pandemic last week. We had three missions: A visit to Powell’s Books, one of the P’s of Portland that I blogged about previously. Sadly, Pok Pok and Paley’s Place are no more, victims of the Covid-19 plague. A visit to a couple Julian knew from Ithaca …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2023/12/02/a-trip-to-post-pandemic-portland/
Aug 20
Based on our experience doing a garage sale last weekend, Julian and I have this advice: DON’T DO IT. We’d have made out better by donating much of the stuff to St. Vincent de Paul or Goodwill and taking the tax deduction. I did two garage sales with my mother and sister when I was …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2022/08/20/advice-on-doing-a-garage-sale/
Aug 07
Diana Kennedy, the British-born author of several books on Mexican cuisines, died last month. Her New York Times obituary is here. Her death caused me to think about cultural appropriation in the food world: how newcomers or foreigners become authorities (authentic, such as Kennedy, or self-appointed) on a particular cuisine. One of Diana Kennedy’s books …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2022/08/07/maybe-its-all-cultural-appropriation/
Apr 11
We landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport around noon on Sunday. We took a cab to our rental apartment on Ile St. Louis. The apartment is small, but serviceable for the two of us. The biggest drawback of the building – no elevator, and we’re on the third floor. The stairway is in a semi-spiral …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2022/04/11/paris-days-one-and-two/
Mar 07
When one has nearly 600 cookbooks, you can go for a while without cracking the spine of a few. Others are used regularly. Then there are the ones that I refer to by the author’s first name. Some of them depend on the context. Here are a few cookbooks to which I refer that way: …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2020/03/07/first-name-basis/
Aug 25
Every large city needs a decent cookbook store. New York has Kitchen Arts and Letters and Bonnie Slotnick Books (both extolled in this post). Portland has Powell’s Books for Home and Garden on Hawthorne Street. Vancouver had Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks, now of blessed memory (see last paragraph of this post). Seattle has the Book …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2019/08/25/a-night-at-book-larder/
Jul 24
It goes without saying that no trip to Portland is complete unless we stop at Powell’s Books. Because there was a blues festival downtown when we were there, we went to the home and garden branch on Hawthorne Street. I showed admirable restraint and walked out with four books, one of which Julian bought for …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2019/07/24/recent-acquisitions/
Mar 10
Despite the popularity of online recipe sites, publishers are still churning out cookbooks. Looking at cookbooks in a well-stocked bookstore or even on websites can be a daunting experience. I’ve developed a list of criteria to guide me in acquiring a new volume (or three): Am I likely to use it? Is this a cookbook …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2019/03/10/curating-the-collection/
Feb 24
Over the years I’ve gone on jags of cooking in particular cuisines, usually accompanied by cookbook purchases. Many of these jags have related to access to ingredients and restaurants in the area. Others have been fostered by acquaintances or travels. Three examples: Asian. Chinese was the first foreign cuisine I wanted to explore. One of …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2019/02/24/cuisine-hopping/
Dec 25
I think Julian wants me to fill up the new bookshelves. In addition to the five we brought home from France last week, I received these: For my part, I got him some implements with which to cook the recipes from these books. A local cookware store is closing because the owner is retiring.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2018/12/25/christmas-cookbooks/
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