January 2010
10 posts
2 tags
Project: You can Survive Without Buying Groceries...
I don’t buy in bulk. I do not stock up.
I like to think, in fact, that I shop in as European way as possible considering the American lifestyle: everything I buy is fresh (and perishable). Produce, dairy, crusty bakery bread, meat. The extent of my packaged food consumption stops at olive oil, good peanut butter, preserves, dijon mustard, mayonnaise, oats for making granola. A can of...
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The most amazing meal, ever, last night, with Aimee in the glowing bustle of Balthazar— it never fails to please, to delight, to transport.
I ran into an old friend from the bakery, running coat-check. We smiled delightedly at one another, squeezed arms, said, “How are you” and kept on with our lives, happier all the same for it.
Steak frites! Steak frites.
I really have to be...
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operation smooth-sailin' dinner checklist, checked
Flaky, buttery tart shell.
(That Tartine dough is such a joy to work with).
With a custard-like, rich filling that was dense with soft, sweet caramelized onions, savory with the alchemy of dairy, herb, and spice. Immensely comforting, in the way that reminds you of home, only if your mother happened to be a very French dame, rolling pastry on weekends and cutting the finished product right on...
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market list, checked
sweetly miniature, tight heads of red cabbage
noble, deep purple carrots; lumpy finger-sized orange ones
coiled hot italian sausage— local, humane
Ronnybrook creme fraiche, yogurt
3 brown pears, at least 10 apples
eggs!
shiitake, a complement on my earrings as I gathered them into a brown paper sack
a few leaves of washed kale, see, eggs (sauteed mushrooms and kale with creme fraiche...
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current obsessions
Discovered at the market: Ronnybrook drinkable yogurt.
Ronnybrook is a local dairy whose quality gives me great joy. So, the yogurt: tangy, sweet, and pure, with a pleasant, perfect viscousness to sub in as milk for someone who likes cereal with their yogurt. Add a little honey and it just may sum up to the idyllic flavor you imagined the first time you heard “buttermilk” as a...
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2010
The apartment is rearranged to accommodate an excellent old, wooden dining table found on the landing. Curtains are hung in my room after acrobatic manipulations with a screwdriver. It feels like home.
The family has flown the coop, leaving room for reflection on what’s really important, such as lovingly accepting the mediocrity of Katz’s, mustering energy to play Apples to Apples...