Recettes

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Weddings

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

I’ve been thinking about weddings recently, and not just because of all the recent celebrations in New York, which I’ve loved reading about in the paper. You see, eight years ago today, on a sunny, summer afternoon in Southern California, my husband and I joined together in civil matrimony. Yep, we got ourselves hitched. It was [...]

Peking duck de “Mah” façon

Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

I’m going to tell you a secret, mes amis. When we make Peking duck in the Mah family, we don’t grab an axe and head out to the duck farm to slaughter, pluck, gut, scald, dry, pump with air, glaze, and roast our very own bird. No, our recipe for duck involves a trip to… [...]

Canicule

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

  Paris is burning. I know, I say that every summer. But we really are suffering this week, with temperatures in the 90s (ugh) and no climatisation (double ugh). As I type this, I’m hiding in my apartment with all the shutters closed, crunching melting ice cubes. Weather like that calls for food like this: [...]

Savory cake

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

The first time I had a savory cake in France, I was at a cocktail party talking about Beijing, my home of four years. “It was an interesting experience, but difficult,” I said. “La ville est très salée.” Everyone laughed uproariously — including me (though with decidedly less gusto). I also blushed because I knew [...]

Clafoutis aux cerises

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

  Last week I bought a bag of cherries at the market in Lyon, but after they spent the whole day in my handbag, they were a little worse for wear. What could I do with a handful of bruised fruit? The words “clafoutis aux cerises” kept calling to me. A clafoutis is a dessert, kind [...]

Breton bed, breakfast and bounty

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

I once read an article about hotel cleanliness, one of those exposés on all the bacteria (and worse) lurking in the pristine-seeming corners of guest rooms. Needless to say, I haven’t had a good night’s rest away from home ever since. But on a recent trip to Brittany, I was surprised to find myself close [...]

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