Archive for August, 2008


Flashback to Provence: V Comme Vin wine shop

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

Don’t worry, Cooking the Books is still blogging live from Paris. But I forgot to mention earlier a wonderful wine shop in Apt, one of the larger towns in the Luberon region of Provence. It’s called V Comme Vin (photo above) and aside from their huge selection of French wine, they offer an especially large assortment of wine [...]

Live Live Paris Paris!

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

Cooking the Books is here! Blogging live from Paris!  So, this morning I woke up and puttered about our still-empty apartment (our furniture is scheduled to arrive on Thursday), ate breakfast, wrote some e-mail and didn’t look out the window. Imagine my surprise when I got an e-mail from Chris, saying something about the farmer’s [...]

From Provence: Soupe au pistou

Monday, August 25th, 2008

I love many things about Provence, but my favorite is (surprise, surprise) the food. Many writers have made their fortunes describing the sun-drenched region and its bounty, so I’ll skip the lavish praise. (For the record, however, my current favorite Provencal cookbook is Patricia Wells: At Home in Provence.) But during a recent few days there, [...]

Dining Out and About (Vermont): Shelburne Farms

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

If you’re a regular Cooking the Books reader, perhaps you remember this blog’s first review, a delicious, buttery, maple-syrup-laced visit to Vermont, via Cooking with Shelburne Farms. The book’s recipes feature quintessentially Vermont products–butter and maple syrup, of course, but also cheddar cheese, lamb and apples, to name a few. I found the recipes reliable and delicious, but [...]

Cafeteria “cuisine”

Thursday, August 14th, 2008

  Bonjour mes amis and profuse apologies for the loooonnng absence! As it turns out, learning French, full-time, in immersion, is much more time-consuming (not to mention energy-sucking) then I ever imagined. Don’t get me wrong — I loved my program at Middlebury College and, now that it’s over, even kind of miss the three hours of [...]