Flowers in my hair
By Ann | February 16, 2010
Hello and greetings from San Francisco! Though I’m officially in town to promote my novel, Kitchen Chinese – I hope you’ll join me for my reading TONIGHT at 6pm at Books, Inc. (601 Van Ness) — I’ve managed to sneak in a little fun as well. What have I been up to?
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Topics: Book, Kitchen Chinese: a novel | 8 Comments »
The best laid plans of mice and first-time authors
By Ann | February 11, 2010
Oh, mes amis, where do I even start? Well, the good news is that we had a wonderful party on Tuesday at the beautiful Museum of Chinese in America, sponsored by the delicious Luckyrice Asian food festival. I loved seeing old and new friends from the New York book and magazine world and was incredibly touched that so many people braved the impending snowstorm to celebrate Kitchen Chinese.
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Topics: Book, Kitchen Chinese: a novel | 7 Comments »
New Yawk, New Yawwwwk!
By Ann | February 9, 2010
Hello and greetings from the the Big Apple!
Since I arrived on Friday, I’ve indulged in a cheap pedicure, feasted on lots of great food (spicy tuna rolls and tri-color rolls at Yama, housemade fresh tofu at En Brasserie – yum!), enjoyed an icy saketini, and spent a whole day eating nothing but toasted sandwiches (yesterday was panini Monday). I have also been so excited to be in the big city, I’ve forgotten to take photographs at every turn!
Kitchen Chinese is officially on sale today! I was thrilled to see it mentioned in the New York Post’s required reading column on Sunday. I was also honored and touched to have the book mentioned by blogger friends Camille of the delicious Croque Camille and Kathy of the adorable Kathy’s Red Door Welcome – merci mille fois, chères amies!
Tonight is the book’s big party at the Museum of Chinese in America — I’m making a noodle salad and have been up to my eyeballs in spicy peanut sauce! Check back soon for a post on the big event…
Finally, if you’re in Washington, DC and looking for ideas to ring in the Year of the Tiger, check out my post on the Washingtonian magazine’s website. I’ll be speaking at the Border’s on L Street tomorrow at 6.30pm and hope you’ll brave the snow to come talk about Chinese food!
Topics: Book, Kitchen Chinese: a novel | 7 Comments »
Balletomane
By Ann | February 4, 2010
Bonjour, mes amis! I saw the prettiest window display while running errands this afternoon — the birth of a ballet shoe.
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Topics: Kitchen Chinese: a novel, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Time for tisane
By Ann | January 28, 2010
The French love their coffee, it is true, drunk in the morning with lots of milk, or in tiny cups after meals. But doesn’t the caffeine bother them? Don’t they ever have trouble sleeping? In a word, yes.
In fact, I’ve discovered that if there’s any drink the French are as passionate about as coffee, it’s the tisane (pronounced tee-zahn). What’s a tisane? It’s just another word for herbal tea. But, like so many other things culinary, in France it seems to have a spawned a whole industry of its own.
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Topics: Sur ma table | 9 Comments »
French Frozen
By Ann | January 23, 2010
It’s taken me over a year, but I think I’ve finally cottoned onto the French secret to eating well at home. Is it shopping at the farmer’s market every day? Making the daily rounds of butcher, baker, and green grocer? Lovingly slaving over a hot stove, preparing delicious and nutritious meals every night? Ha — who has time for that? No, the secret, mes amis, is Picard.
What is Picard? Simply put, it’s a chain of stores selling frozen food. But not just any frozen food. Alongside the usually icy suspects, like pizzas and readymade meals, are an array of frozen products designed to ease the busy gourmand’s lifestyle.
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Topics: Sur ma table | 15 Comments »
Bruyère by any other name
By Ann | January 19, 2010
Today’s post is dedicated to my friend, Heather — perhaps you recognize her name from the comments section. It’s a pretty name, Heather, isn’t it? In the United States, it was the eighth most popular name for baby girls of the 1970s, and tenth most popular of the 1980s. Too bad Heather’s parents didn’t know that she would grow up to become a French professor.
You see, the word “heather” is virtually unpronounceable by Francophones. There’s something about the aspirated “h” followed by the “th” combination that ties French tongues into knots. As a result, Heather has spent years in France hearing her name butchered. She’s learned to answer to “Ez-air,” “Ez-rrrrr” and many other variations.
As you probably know, the name refers to an evergreen, flowering plant indigenous to Scotland’s peaty landscape. In France, they call the plant bruyère (photo above), a word that Heather herself taught me. At first, I was incredibly impressed she knew such an arcane term. “You’ll see why,” she told me.
Out to dinner that evening, I introduced Heather to a French pal. “Je m’appelle Heather,” she told him.
“Ez-air? EZ-rrr?” he repeated unhappily.
“It’s a flower, the same thing as bruyère in French,” she told him.
Guess what he called her for the rest of the night?
“I just can’t remember what your English name is,” he told her.
Later, Heather assured me this was far from the first time that had ever happened.
“What’s in a name? That which we call heather by any other name — eg bruyère — would smell as sweet.” I’m pretty sure that’s an exact quote from the Bard’s mouth.
Topics: A year in a French market: Winter | 7 Comments »
It’s a book!
By Ann | January 15, 2010
So, yesterday I was in the bathroom trying to discern if certain strands of hair were white or simply just reflecting under the light (when you have black hair, it can be hard to tell), when I heard the doorbell ring. And, lo and behold, there was a DHL delivery man, with a very special package — an advance copy of Kitchen Chinese!
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Topics: Book, Kitchen Chinese: a novel | 24 Comments »
Dreaming of a French life
By Ann | January 13, 2010
Once upon a time, about five years ago, I used to stare out my office window, through the layer of grime that covered the pane, and gaze at a smog-filled sky, the filled parking lot below, and a series of Communist cereal box buildings, each blockier than the last. I was living in Beijing at the time and, though I appreciated the vibrant, futuristic hum of China, I dreamed of living in France.
One day, surfing the web at lunch, I found a blog, French Word-a-Day, which offered delightful French vocabulary lessons in the form of vignettes. The writer, Kristin Espinasse, shared her stories of life as an American in the south of France so charmingly that each post felt like a cyber-vacation. I shared Kristin’s blog with an editor friend at Simon and Schuster and I was thrilled to bits when her blog became a book, Words in a French Life!
Of course, at the time, I never dreamed I would move to Paris, or have the opportunity to become fluent in French. But five years later, my French dream has become a reality. Like many fantasies, the reality hasn’t turned out quite the way I expected, but one of the biggest highlights of living here has been meeting Kristin and her husband, Jean-Marc, and tasting the silky wine they produce at their vineyard, the Domaine Rouge-Bleu. Recently, Kristin plugged Kitchen Chinese on her blog and her lovely post, along with the comments from her loyal readers, moved me to tears.
I sometimes think how lucky I was to live in China, to be inspired by a cuisine and culture that is ethnically my own, and to have the opportunity to write Kitchen Chinese. But living in Beijing gave me some unexpected gifts — it taught me how to be a better visitor in a foreign place, and introduced me to my first internet friend. And for that, and so much more, I will always be grateful.
P.S. Kitchen Chinese is now shamelessly promoting itself on Facebook. Become a fan!
Topics: Book, Kitchen Chinese: a novel | 7 Comments »
Snow and Scotland
By Ann | January 7, 2010
The Scots call New Year’s Eve “hogmanay” and this year I was chuffed to ring in this very Scottish holiday with my Scottish mates, in Perthshire. As you can see from these photos, it was extremely cold — and also very beautiful.
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Topics: Uncategorized | 8 Comments »