Nostalgia is an unhealthy trap that's very seductive. The problem is, life is a very cruel, tragic and unsatisfying experience and you always think that another time in the past would have been ideal for you. For example, if I think back to bell-epoque Paris, it's like Gigi, with beautiful costumes and great wine. The…
The lowest of the low are the womens' page recipes in newspapers and magazines, which appeal only to the showoff--'Startle your guests' or the seducer--'Surprise your husband', which give neither value or pleasure and whose premise, coyly stated, is that cooking is easy and is such fun. -Nicolas Freeling (The Kitchen Book) Much to Mr.…
Food for pleasure, and not just nourishment, is best cooked in one's own kitchen and eaten with the feet under one's own table.-Nicolas Freeling (The Kitchen Book)While the meal I'm about to share was not prepared in my own kitchen, I think it's safe to say that Mr. Freeling would nevertheless have approved of how…
The resultant internal conflict is nowhere more clearly seen than in Crime and Punishment. The characters seem drawn from an imagined hell and yet...'We have never met them, but they are mysteriously familiar to us. We understand and love them, and finally we recognize ourselves in them. This is because they are no more abnormal…
You'd like. You've dozed off, and in the world of dreams people communicate with a few basic words: unfortunately, if only, because, I'd like. That's how the party starts, the traffic jam in the streets. The dust. The rain. The firefly hunt. -Amanda Michalopoulou (I'd Like)If I remember correctly, on some form of online communication…
And it seemed that, just a little more--and the solution would be found, and then a new, beautiful life would begin; and it was clear to both of them that the end was still far, far off, and that the most complicated part was just beginning. -Anton Chekhov ("The Lady with the Little Dog")Some days…
One sentence ends and another always begins, though not always in the place the last one left off, not always continuous with the old conditions. -Nicole Krauss (Great House)While I've never been the biggest Valentine's Day fan around, I do like celebrating holidays--and especially ones that lead to massive cuts in chocolate prices at drugstores…
Living is an inherently emotional business.-David Brooks ("Social Animal")I'm home sick with the flu and, even though I realize that whenever you and your body are in pain, you can't help but feel like this is the worst you've ever felt in your life, I really do feel like this is the worst I've ever…
Dining with Dostoevsky 