April 29, 2009
Tips for a Green Kitchen, Part II
As promised yesterday, when I announced the winners of the green kitchen tip contest, I have compiled a digest of the other submissions.
I want to thank you all for taking the time to share your tips. It was an exciting feeling to have all 288 of them pour into my inbox throughout the day, proving yet again how much you care about these issues, and how hard you try to minimize your impact on the environment.
I learned a lot, too, and I will wor...
"Tips for a Green Kitchen, Part II" continues »
April 28, 2009
Tips for a Green Kitchen, Part I
For my Earth Day post last week, I partnered with Eva from flip & tumble and asked you to help plant trees in Malawi, and to submit your best green tips for a chance to win a reusable shopping bag.
Some 500 tree-planting comments were submitted. Eva and I had planned to have two trees planted per comment, but then we got excited and decided to double the stakes, and in the end each of us funded the planting of two trees per comment. Congratulati...
"Tips for a Green Kitchen, Part I" continues »
April 24, 2009
[Edible Idiom] Mettre de l'huile sur le feu
This is part of a series on French idiomatic expressions that relate to food. Browse the list of idioms featured so far.
This week's idiom is, "Mettre de l'huile sur le feu."
Literally translated as, "putting oil on the fire," it means making a difficult situation even worse, exacerbating a conflict, often purposefully. It is equivalent to the English expression, "adding fuel to the flames."
Note that it can also appear as, "Jeter de l'huile...
"[Edible Idiom] Mettre de l'huile sur le feu" continues »
April 22, 2009
Help Plant Trees + Enter to Win A Reusable Shopping Bag
Today is the 39th edition of Earth Day, an international event created to celebrate that blue planet of ours, and raise awareness about environmental issues.
As I explained in this recent Q&A, I have grown more and more environmentally conscious over the past few years: without being completely obsessed with the topic, I do my best to educate myself, make informed choices, and limit the impact of my actions on the environment. I hope this reduce...
"Help Plant Trees + Enter to Win A Reusable Shopping Bag" continues »
April 17, 2009
[Edible Idiom] Tomber dans les pommes
This is part of a series on French idiomatic expressions that relate to food. Browse the list of idioms featured so far.
This week's idiom is, "Tomber dans les pommes."
Literally translated as, "falling in the apples," it is a colloquial expression that means passing out, fainting, losing consciousness.
Example: "Le métro était tellement bondé que la fille à côté de moi est tombée dans les pommes." "The metro was so crowded that the girl nex...
"[Edible Idiom] Tomber dans les pommes" continues »
April 14, 2009
Chocolate Chip Cookies
I've always enjoyed the food sections of American newspapers, these pull-out pages that appear in the regular edition on a given day of the week (usually Wednesday) to cover local food and drink news, with recipes. Not all of them have the same standards or budget, and I am told the good ones are an endangered species, but between the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, the O...
"Chocolate Chip Cookies" continues »
April 10, 2009
[Edible Idiom] En faire tout un flan
This is part of a series on French idiomatic expressions that relate to food. Browse the list of idioms featured so far.
This week's idiom is, "En faire (tout) un flan."
Literally translated as, "making a (whole) flan out of it," it is a colloquial expression that means making a big deal out of something insignificant, blowing something out of proportion.
It is comparable to the English expressions, "making a mountain out of a molehill," "ma...
"[Edible Idiom] En faire tout un flan" continues »
April 3, 2009
[Edible Idiom] Ne pas être dans son assiette
This is part of a series on French idiomatic expressions that relate to food. Browse the list of idioms featured so far.
This week's idiom is, "Ne pas être dans son assiette."
Literally translated as, "not being in one's plate," it is a colloquial expression that means feeling under the weather, being out of sorts, physically and/or morally.
Example: "Je ne sais pas ce que j'ai, je ne suis vraiment pas dans mon assiette." "I don't know what'...
"[Edible Idiom] Ne pas être dans son assiette" continues »
April 1, 2009
April 2009 Desktop Calendar
At the beginning of every month in 2009, I will be offering C&Z readers a new desktop calendar, i.e. a wallpaper to apply on the desktop of your computer, with a food-related picture and a calendar of the current month.
Our desktop calendar for April is a picture of a cheese plate served at Le Pré Catelan, a restaurant whose cheese is aged by cheese refiner Alléosse. (Incidentally, both are written up in my Paris book.) Clockwise from the top,...
"April 2009 Desktop Calendar" continues »