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Carnet de cuisine
By Ann | January 13, 2012
A few months ago I had dinner with a French friend and he showed me something really cool — his mother’s dinner party notebooks. For years — decades, even — ever since she was a young bride, his maman has kept a record of every dinner party she’s ever thrown: guest list, menu, recipes. As a result, she knows exactly what she’s served to whom — which means she never serves her friends the same thing twice. It’s madly meticulous. It’s wildly painstaking. It’s marvelous.
Of course, once I saw it I had to start one, too. In my kitchen notebook, I keep track of guest lists, menus, and seating charts; sometimes I even draw little pictures of the food. Is this hopelessly geeky? I fear you’ll never think of me in the same way again.
Topics: Cooking the Books, Home, Sur ma table, Uncategorized | 13 Comments »
13 Responses to “Carnet de cuisine”
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January 13th, 2012 at 11:23 am
I love it! And it’s incredibly practical if you host often. I would have no need for it as my hosting duties are limited to a few times a year (surprising, no?) but it’s a wonderful idea. A kitchen diary, of sorts! Fun to look back on years and years later.
January 13th, 2012 at 11:44 am
I think this is awesome for someone who entertains frequently. However I would find it more useful if there were sections for what truly worked well, what pairings of people, food, wines, music, etc. & of course the opposite. One develops a feel for these things through the years, but there are always surprises.
January 13th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
Hi Ann: I will show you mine on the first occasion. Looking back to the mid-70′s I feel full of nostalgia: it keeps track of my whole life, from the shy and unexperienced young bride I was to the happy retiree I am now. So much happened inbetween. How many people -so significant at a time – have disappeared from the horizon line, from one reason or another: that is a true lesson of life. What simply remains are good memories and laughings around more or less sophisticated meals and wines: la vraie vie, quoi!
January 13th, 2012 at 7:57 pm
@ Marie-Claude: vraiment!!!!
While you might think it geeky, I find it the mark of an artist. I have a design notebook and all kinds of “geeky” things go in there; it’s my inspirational stew pot. I’ve discovered that I actually need to keep better notes. Go figure.
January 13th, 2012 at 8:16 pm
Ann, I have friends in the UK who have kept the same sorts of logs but of all the books they’ve read in their lives. They go into volumes. I think it’s a wonderful remembrance.
I fully expect that with the life you lead and the WONDERFUL dinners you prepare, you’ll have a veritable Julia Child’s worth of content in no time. Just as delicious, too!
January 14th, 2012 at 12:52 am
I actually did keep a Dining Diary for about 15 years, keeping track of all the aforementioned details. Although I no longer entertain as much, I enjoy the memories this diary brings looking back at the various dinners, what I wore, the flowers, the guest, the menus and the wines served—à la Proust!
January 14th, 2012 at 10:45 am
The notebook is essential. A good Clairefontaine with graph paper can’t be beat. And don’t forget a creamy but not runny pen!
January 14th, 2012 at 5:51 pm
Omigod, I LOVE this idea! Mine would admittedly be very thin as I host about one dinner a year. But all the lovely meals, diligently documented… hmmmm…
January 15th, 2012 at 12:20 am
I think it is a really cool idea – my parents entertained a lot in the military, would have been cool if my Mom had done this!
January 16th, 2012 at 1:57 am
Like my mom, I keep my records on 3 x 5 cards in the back of my recipe box. They have saved me on one more than one occasion from repeating myself!
January 16th, 2012 at 2:15 am
I would certainly enjoy sitting down to look back over a life time of dinners with friends in our home but I probably find it a little too anal for me to undertake.
January 20th, 2012 at 4:32 pm
Woaw ! I am really too lazy to even think about doing this. But it would be extremely handy ! It is geeky but useful …
January 29th, 2012 at 10:54 am
Love love love this. Funny but I think of the paper, not the pen, as (needing to be) creamy. But it does work for the pen, too.
In any event, what a wonderful undertaking. You’ll have a marvelous collection!