Pink of Perfection

Long before French Women Don’t Get Fat hit the shelves, I was just a girl who wanted to eat cheese for dinner and rationalize it. I blabbed to anyone who would listen that I was going to start “eating like a French woman.” When asked what this would entail, I mentioned the cheese, as well as creamy things, baguettes, and, you know, French stuff. It should be noted, however, that this being before my introductions to Julia Child and MFK Fisher, I did not, in fact, have much knowledge of what a French woman would actually eat. My only reference point was the week of oysters, champagne, and fois gras my sister and I had in France the year before. This would not be unlike someone coming to our United States and deducing that Americans solely eat burritos the size of their heads, Dunkin Donuts breakfast sandwiches and fountain cokes served in 64 ounces buckets. Nevertheless, this was my plan.

As I recall, this new way of eating lasted approximately one twenty-four hour period, its apex being a dinner on the porch of my apartment with a dark-haired beauty. We ate an astonishing amount of brie and bread, followed by a steak au poivre chased with a bottle or two of red wine. There may have been a couple of lettuce leaves thrown in for good measure. Then we walked to a dive bar, drank 10,000 gin and tonics and flirted with aging cowboys and taciturn hipsters. I hadn’t quite worked out the finer points of this French thing. I think I just wanted to wear stripes, and as I mentioned, eat cheese.

Since this experiment I have learned that the French know a thing or two about portion size, quality over quantity, and flirting (namely, apparently, that they don’t do it; who knew?). But if this red blooded American girl knows anything it’s a good steak when she sees one. Thus, there is one lasting relic from this dining experience. The steak au poivre stays in the picture.

I know it seems like overkill to serve steak with a cream sauce, and this argument — in the ways of saturated fat and cholesterol levels — may have some merit. But you’re talking to a woman who likes to put blue cheese on chops. The point here is that the peppercorn crust imparts such a level of heat that the cream and brandy sauce tempers it quite nicely. I’m not saying this is what you want to eat when you get home from bikram, but over low light and glasses of rough red wine with someone you’re hoping to kiss at the end of the night, it might be just the thing.

Continue reading “French Friday: Steak au Poivre” »

photo by Rebecca Brogan

Shannalee T’Koy’s writing on her blog, Food Loves Writing, is like a ripe peach at full blush — lush and irresistible. Part of Shannalee’s appeal is how intimate her voice is. Whether you are reading her blog for the first time or the fiftieth, the feeling is that she is confiding just to you a discovery or a family treasure. And this would explain, in part, why when she decided to throw a blog birthday party, her readers showed up eager and hungry and left happy. Oh, and her photographs? Let’s just say they leave me hungry and happy, too.

Tell us about Food Loves Writing. What made you decide to do the blog?

I wanted a place to honor my grandma, the woman who taught me how to bake and who’d passed away nine years earlier. After she died, I used to say that I’d name my first daughter Caroline, after her, but by the summer of 2008, I realized there is more than one way to honor someone you’ve loved. Food Loves Writing has become just that, a place where I’ve continued growing and learning as a cook and as a person, with her a part of it all along.

What are the biggest challenges, and what inspires your posts?

It’s definitely been challenging to teach myself the technical side of blogging, but I guess that’s like cooking: no one is born a great webmaster any more than she’s born a great chef, right? It’s all about trying and learning and taking things one step at a time, so I do.

As far as what inspires my posts: I subscribe to so many well-written, beautifully photographed, creative, interesting blogs, and I can’t say enough about the inspiration they provide; I read magazines like Bon Appetit; I subscribe to newsletters like The Splendid Table; and I get the nicest e-mails from people, pointing me towards new things to try.

I share your feeling that food is a good entry point to talk about life. What do you think it is that makes food such a good reference point for, well, everything else?

Maybe because food is something we all have in common. No matter our age or race or culture, we all have to put something into our mouths in order to keep living, in order to keep doing everything else. Food sustains us and pleases us and, even more than that, connects us, through cooking, eating, standing around a table for the community of shared experience. When you think about it, food is such a gift.

Has your life changed at all in face of the recession? Has your cooking changed?

It’s true we’re all a little more aware of our spending these days, whether directly affected by job loss or pay cuts or not, but eating well doesn’t have to be. I am continually looking to lower my grocery and dining costs, whether by coupons or more eating from the pantry or just overall creativity (while not compromising quality), but I’d like to think that would always be true of me, recession or not.

Continue reading “POP Profile: Food Loves Writing” »

Alright, now we’re cooking with gas. For the first time since my lesson on cutting up a chicken, my Grand Diplôme program has served up something of use: how to make a white sauce. This may be what stands between me and never having to make a casserole with cream of mushroom soup again (not that there’s anything wrong with that). With my yellow apron hanging officially from my neck, stirring at the stove yesterday, I felt for the first time in a long time that I was actually learning something new in the kitchen. I’ve tried to wing a roux before, but following instructions for this sauce made something thrilling happen with the most basic kitchen ingredients and in a matter of moments. It was almost as transfixing as those grade school rockets made from vinegar and baking soda.

I grew up in a house without sauces (unless chile con queso and ranch dressing count). In fact, I don’t think it was until I worked at a restaurant that I really began to understand all a sauce can do. As my course book says, “An inventive sauce can transform a simple dish into something superlative.” (I wish I knew more short-cuts like this in life — how, for instance, to take a simple outfit to something superlative. Know what I mean?) But really, when it comes to sauces, it seems that the sauce need not even really be “inventive”: plain pasta can be transformed into mac and cheese with a mornay or cheese sauce. Instant supper update.

Continue reading “How to Cook: White Sauces” »

image via etsy

There are certain core teachings that can forever shift the way you see the world. “Joy is within you” is one of them. Even if you hear it in purely psychophysical terms, if you really hear it, it’s going to help you recognize one of the most empowering truths there is: It is actually possible to feel happy regardless of how the world is treating you, or how horrible your childhood was, or the fact that all of your friends are more successful than you are. You can even, this teaching implies, be happy when you’re failing at something or when you’re sick.

The process of cultivating joy could look something like this. It begins with the simple understanding that joy is real, and then continues with the decision to tune your mind and heart so they are open enough to feel it. — Sally Kempton, Yoga Journal

do you guys know about poladroid? i’m kind of obsessed

One of my favorite places to go in New York City isn’t a dimly-lit speakeasy cocktail lounge or a gargantuan structure that houses works of art from every corner of the globe; it’s my friend Alison’s apartment. When I walk into her home, I am always embraced first by my friend and then by a deeply comforting, relaxing fragrance. Alison understands the allure of fragrance. The scents are never overpowering or noxiously artificial — they are subtle, soothing, and mysteriously unplaceable. Is that orange or verbena or cassis? Who knows, it is just, simply, marvelous.

Scent is one of our more overlooked senses, I think, and one of the most powerful. And because fragrance is so evocative and personal, it can really tap into a whole ‘nother sense of ourselves. I always feel, for example, that if one is wearing a forgettable black dress coupled with a heady fragrance, one can feel herself transformed into the alluring, purring ne plus ultra of sex appeal. Can’t one?

The power of scent can be as transformative in a home. But ever since a boss pointed out to me that buying scented candles is literally burning your money, I haven’t been able to enjoy the spendy scented pillars quite as much. What I’ve substituted instead are lots of cheap tealights all around the living room with a quietly simmering saucepan of aromatics in the kitchen. Everything you need for a little home fragrancing can be found in the grocery store. And if you’ve ever purchased essential oils for DIY beauty recipes, dilute several drops of essential oil in a simmering water and you’ve got instant aromatherapy.

Continue reading “DIY Home Fragrance on the Cheap” »

Since we began the week with cookies, it seems only fitting that we should continue on to ice cream. No, I am not single-handedly trying to wreck any resolutions you have for healthy eating. I think of myself more as the Ambassador of Pleasure, reminding you that every day should have its moments of unadulterated delight, whether that should come in the form of a quiet snowy walk, a tea date with a friend, or, you know, ice cream.

And what’s better than a bowl of ice cream following supper? Since you ask, I can say with the utmost certainty the answer is ice cream drowned in espresso and topped with whipped cream. My better half and I ate this on New Year’s Eve when we knew our energy reserves would be running dangerously low for the ball-drop. (Little did I know then that J. Lo’s sheery spangly catsuit would jolt me right awake.)  Coffee fiend that I am, I expected something delicious. But I did not suspect that I would be struck dumb, awash in the saporous delight of my absolute new favorite dessert. The espresso tempers the sweetness of the ice cream and the whipped cream is just to be ridiculous. It play its part well.

Continue reading “Chocolate Hazelnut Affogato” »

To put it quite simply, I am in love with this book. For anyone who has wanted to sit at the knees of women older and wiser and cull time-tested knowledge of how to live with savoir faire, How to Sew a Button is your charming, funny, can-do guide. Erin Bried traveled the country interviewing grandmothers so that we could all be armed with Girl Scout-ish know-how whether we are suddenly asked to waltz at a ball (would that this particular situation cropped up more often) or are charged with building a roaring fire on our next camp out. This book offers up the curriculum we might have gleaned had home ec not been ushered out of the school systems, but in the infinitely more appealing form of a whimsically diagrammed text written by a woman you wish were your best friend. Random House is giving away a copy to one lucky Pink of Perfection winner. To enter to win, leave a comment about your most valued how-to skill by Friday, January 15, midnight EST. Sorry, but only US mailing addresses may enter.

Update 1/19: Congrats to KBG in DC! And thank you to everyone who left a comment to enter — what a skilled bunch you all are!

Originally, I meant to score one of the very cheap calendars at Muji and add a bit of rick rack trim to give it more personality. But when I finally made it to the store of Japanese minimalism and thrift on the 11th of the new year, there were no more planners to be had. “We sold out very fast this year.” Yes, I see that. But you see, my life needs planning, and I’m nothing if not a jotter: I scribble down each dollar I spend, appointments I have, assignments to complete, exhibits on the horizon, movies to add to my Netflix queue, ideas that strike when I’m falling asleep. Without a planner to scrawl all this in, I’m like a cowboy without a horse — utterly lost and not all that effective.

Rather than going to another store and plunking down more cash than I had initially intended to spend, I bought a plain notebook of graph paper for $1. How hard can it be to make a planner out of blank paper? Turns out it’s not hard at all, though it does take patience and a straight-edge. The reason, in fact, that today’s post is appearing so late in the day is that I have been steadily drawing lines and stamping out dates, creating order and delineation out of blank pages. This also gave me the perfect opportunity to catch up on this week’s The Bachelor. Nothing quite like crafting to cheesy entertainment!

Sometimes life buzzes along with so much excitement and celebration that the idea of sitting down to the sort of slow, methodical work that requires little more than counting and a steady hand is a welcome respite. Today, this was just what I needed. And now finally, twelve days into this new year, I feel equipped to take on the days.