Monthly Archives: November 2009

I am fascinated by Eric Ripert, chef/owner of Le Bernardin with four Michelin stars. He is young, incredibly accomplished, and finally has his own show to demonstrate to cooks what, and more importantly why, he is passionate about cooking.

He urges people to “cook from life” which is a tradition I espouse. When Princess Diana died, people were urged to give of themselves and help others. I wrote an editorial back then, that everyone donated to the Prince’s Trust and neglected the homeless shelter down the street, the soup kitchen, or the local health care clinic. When chefs dictate a recipe, cooks try to match it even if they can’t find that kind of fish or herb.

I’ve never been to Le Bernardin and would probably have to get a reservation for a 10:00 p.m. seating three months in advance while I save money to pay for the meal, but what I want is inspiration. I’ve seen a portion of one of Chef Ripert’s shows and he didn’t teach me how to cook one thing, he inspired me to find ingredients and cook what is seasonal, fresh and tasty. After French training, I’ve gone the Italian route. Instead of complicated sauces I find the best ingredients and try not to ruin them.

Chef Ripert is definitely a perfectionist, hopefully not a micro-manager, but an interesting personality. I would urge him to continue to focus on Le Bernardin, a book and TV series is OK but please do not become an Emeril or even worse, a Rachel with your face at every grocery check-out counter. You’re better than that. Cheers from a yeoman cook who shops the farmers’ markets, sees what’s fresh and determines dinner. Dee

Years ago, Jim and I moved halfway across the country to a city we didn’t know at all. We ended up spending a month in a two-star hotel with breakfast on a corporate rate. In the end we found a place to live, even though we only brought one car and Jim worked 1/2 hour away from the hotel. So if I wanted to find a place to live I had at least a two-hour commute every day and otherwise I had no car and there was a really crummy grocery store next door as well as a drycleaner and fast food restaurant. Yuck.

No matter what time of day I decided to take a shower, the maid knocked on the door. We had an apartment-sized frig for sodas and fruit and vegetables, and brought our own herbal tea but the routine got old, fast. When I didn’t have the car I walked to errands like grocery and bank and cleaners for Jim’s shirts. Then I went nuts. So, I got myself a craft project. Christmas was coming up so I got three differently-sized polystyrene balls, a hot glue gun and glue sticks, and found non-dyed pistachios from the grocery.

Also, coming into play was an on-sale melamine bowl with Santa on the bottom and several gold ornaments. I spent hours hot-gluing pistachios to those balls to make a holiday ornament for our “space.” You glue them open-side out and must keep track of sizes. And they all go bad in a month. So at least 12 solid hours went into these temporary ornaments but what else was I supposed to do sitting in a hotel room? Yes, we did bring my computer and sometimes I had internet access.

I say this because I just got a floral foam cone and cranberries. Place a straight pin through the cranberry at the stem, roll in whisked egg whites and roll in sugar. Attach to the cone from the bottom up. Again, sizes are important. I believe this 12″ cone will be our Christmas tree this year. It will be placed on the mantel.

Yes, I go to lengths to please the ones I love. I don’t like crafts because I’m no good at sewing or anything else but have a few I’ve perfected over the years. They’re like snow-people, they disappear because nuts and cranberries go bad. My recipes aren’t difficult, but the techniques to get there may be.

So I cook every day and perhaps do two craft projects per year. I still remember sitting in that corner chair in the hotel room for hours gluing pistachios to a styrofoam ball. That’s when we both knew we had to get a larger place to live, with a real kitchen. Cheers, Dee