August 2007 Archive

August 29, 2007

Langues de Chat au Thé Vert

[Green Tea Cat's Tongues] Langues de chat are classic French cookies that fall into the category of petits fours secs ("dry" petits fours, as opposed to miniature versions of pastries with buttercream, pastry cream, etc). They used to be a frequent accompaniment to ice-cream in restaurants, in rotation with cigarettes russes, but I haven't seen ...

"Langues de Chat au Thé Vert" continues »

August 21, 2007

Sorbet Chocolat Noir

[Dark Chocolate Sorbet] So. Batch #1 in my brand new ice cream machine was dedicated to Maxence, in gratitude for such an exciting, perfectly tailored, and all-around thoughtful gift. But when the time came to make batch #2 -- that is, the next day, as soon as the bowl had had time to refreeze -- I decided I had paid my dues, and I could now ma...

"Sorbet Chocolat Noir" continues »

August 16, 2007

Le Jardin d'Alain Passard

[Alain Passard's Garden] The photo set that illustrates this post may be viewed as a slideshow. I have never dined at Alain Passard's restaurant. The closest I ever got to it was my lunch at La Végétable, but that doesn't really count -- the proximity of the escalators and the neon lighting cancel out the stars. It's not that I don't want to g...

"Le Jardin d'Alain Passard" continues »

August 8, 2007

Sorbet Mangue

[Mango Sorbet] La sorbetière (ice cream maker) is up there with la yaourtière (yogurt maker) in the list of appliances that were hot Mother's Day gifts in the seventies but ended up in said mother's attic pronto. And yet, when Maxence came home with my birthday present and it was a bulky box hiding a spaceship of a sorbetière, I could not have ...

"Sorbet Mangue" continues »

August 1, 2007

Birthday Chicken

I normally host a big birthday bash every year, or at least that's what I've done the past four summers, inviting friends, old and new, to celebrate the fact that it is late July and the weather is nice and Paris is empty and I'm a year wiser. But this time, no. I was a little bummed to break from this young tradition, for I really do enjoy the...

"Birthday Chicken" continues »