David    Pecans are the great American nut and at no time of the year are they more in demand than around the holidays There are a lot of different nuts grown in the United States walnuts almonds pistachios and hazelnuts but a pie made with toasted pecans is a holiday tradition and every year I have

David    Lest you think this is turning into a blog about obscure leafy ingredients you might be right But when I sniffed the very fragrant leaves of lemon verbena or verveine growing at a friend s house near Nice where we were staying a few years ago she told me to take as much as I wanted home

David    It s that time of the year again When bakers cooks and even bartenders are baking roasting and shaking things up for the holidays Here s a round up of recipes from my blog my personal favorites that are great for Thanksgiving and winter holiday fêtes There are cakes cocktails spreads

David    Like most Americans even French people aren t so familiar with persimmons They may see them at the market look at their curiously but don t stop to buy any Or if they do they take them home bite into an unripe one make a face and toss them out One of my friends living north of San

David    Over the years I ve gotten a lot of questions from people wanting to live their dream and buy an apartment in Paris When buying mine I learned quite a bit more than I thought but the most important thing was learning the value of having someone on your side who knows the ins and outs and

David    It s the season for apple tarts Fall when the biggest bounty of apples shows up at the market I ve had to learn about all sorts of other varieties of apples since the ones available in France differ from the ones in the United States that I was used to But it s been a wonderful journey of

David    German baking I don t think gets its due It s partially because the names of the pastries and baked goods don t exactly roll right off most of our tongues Kartoffel Käse Dinnede Zitronenbiskuitrolle Aachener Poschweck Schwäbischer Prasselkuchen and well I ll quit now because it s taking

David    This week I saw the first promise of tomato season A few brightly colored cherry specimens were brought home from the local market as well as the more standard varieties I was down in Gascony visiting my friend Kate Hill and her photographer friend Tim Clinch was there preparing to lead a

David    Summer in France means a lot of things in France En masse vacations a blissfully empty Paris price increases which happen during August when everyone is out of town of course and vide greniers and brocantes known elsewhere as flea markets where people sell all kinds of things If you re

David    One of the first books that made me fall in love with France and French cuisine was Roger Vergé s Entertaining in the French Style Vergé was the chef and owner of Moulin de Mougins his world famous restaurant on the Côte d Azur near Cannes I never went but used to page through the book