all that I cooked

The whole animal kingdom and more. lamb, lobster, beef shank,duck legs, halibut, pork shoulder, scallops, tuna, salmon, chicken etc etc...
a colorful whirlwind of chefs' recipes with many reductions, strained sauces, and a million ingredients.( have you heard of ras el hanout spice mix, or aligot potatoes ? even though the dish comes from the center of France, I had never made it or seen it on a menu: It is mashed potatoes mixed with cheese, garlic and wine........)
we put the digital shots on a wall to get a flow of images.

merci.paris

a fabulous new store opened in Paris back in March when I was there.I wanted to go check it out but time ran out.My friend F sent me a letter with a list of places to check.She had just come back from " Merci" and said" I think you will love it, it is your style, quite a place, expensive..., they have these tiny little medals pinned to clothes that say Merci, they were everywhere, I picked one up,and realized that at the counter they were selling them for 3 euros ! can you believe it ?"
Tucked in an unremarkable area of town( but getting trendier of course), is a 3 level industrial space converted into a temple to trendinesss.They have the vintage furniture, the flower shop, the cafe and restaurant, the bookshop, the designers clothes, the art, the kids clothes, textiles, new table ware, trendy new mix of old and new, with part of the profit going to charity ( thus the merci part). It is all very beautiful, with an eye to color, details,and achingly hip.
I loved a grey pearl cashmere hoodie (passed), and some cute red toothpicks ( bought).
I will make it my new place to stop by when in Paris and have a brioche and tea, reading from the 10 feet high bookshelves of used books. May be with F this time....


( you can always click on the images to see them bigger )

late afternoons

Between tea time and dinner, my mother would watch her shows, with her headphones on.It was quiet and I had some time to try my hands at watercolors.

In her bedroom. on top of piles of books, are some family snapshots,casually placed. My portrait must have fallen at some point, cut in half by some strange mishandling or haste.Here I am, at eighteen, captured by an young photographer, a forgotten admirer.

vignettes from my mother's

When I am in Paris these days, I spend a lot of time in my mother's apartment.It is the place I grew up in, and I see it now as a museum of emotions, a glance at lives safely lived inside those walls, an imprint of my parents, and a memory of my adolescence rekindled by my old school books,piled up as I left them, a poster I picked up at a opening while in high school.

at a sunny terrace

At the bottom of the "old town" of Geneva, we spotted this bistrot with tables outside.the sun was still warm at 8:30PM as we sat down to a surprising good meal. this was one appetizer: asparagus with a basil cream in a golden puff stick.a dusting of a cinnamon line was a provocative taste mix.

state of mind

Nose bleed

nostrils down to cartilage
I try to breath in the stinky air
armpits aching from friction
my eyes open and shut at odd intervals under
the weight
of distance
it is not pretty
the hillside is steep and my crooked toes curl
on the rocky slate
the altitude is dizzying and my nose
is dripping
red.

more flowers

I feel that I have talked and shown flowers a lot lately.no accident, you might add since I love them.they soothe, they dazzle, they uplift, they smell divine,they heal, they help make honey, they color a room,or calm it down,and now in the spring, they are everywhere.
these are camomille flowers that I am ready to dry.

red

Dot brought me this notebook for my upcoming voyage to Paris.And since I am visiting my mother, that sums it up pretty much.
The red geranium is blooming and its single blossom would put any swiss citizen to shame.The terraces of the old wooden chalets are filled, come summer, with bursts of hundreds of red blobs,stating their patriotic pride .That was the ritual of each summer of my childhood upon arriving to the mountain.My grandmother, then mother would go to the market and buy a few pots of red geraniums that would adorn and brighten the front of the house till September.
My favorite colors are black and white, so red is there sometimes, for shock or memory, in small doses.

greek gods

Helios drove his chariot across the sky over the week end,which was particularly appropriate since it was the annual Greek festival, here in Oakland. Cheap vacation: a balmy terrace overlooking the city, greek bands bringing everybody to their feet, food stands with homemade fare,kids digging into their carton of loukoumades,Greek gods working things out, older men drinking retsina wine, cooling the parched throats.Imagine the sunset with Greek singing in the background and the smell of honey poured over the loukoumades...until next year...

Loved the aesthetics of the jewelry studio/store called Modern relics in san francisco, where a book release party took place. I also love the book featured called" San Francisco kitchens" published in japan, with a very different eye to details and artfulness.It feels snapshoty, and intimate, going for the uniqueness and funk rather than the upscale monotonty of brand designs.

black and white

I love my new Rae tiles in my kitchen.
but then, he said:" Don't you have them backwards , cook first then eat ?"