The Countess arrived more or less unheralded in our house, and on a quiet evening after a hard day, her appeal was great. I mean, “She sacrificed all for love... and sacrificed others for beauty. A 17th century Hungarian countess embarks on a murderous undertaking, with the belief that bathing in t...
I was reading Elizabeth David's English Bread and Yeast Cookery in search of the straight dope on Lardy Cake, which I've promised expat friends for a forthcoming English Tea. Having found what I needed, I decided to treat myself to rereading her consummate explanation of the perfect English Cottage Loaf, and how to make it. And there I discovered a lengthy passage, prompted by the recollections of Virginia Woolf's cook Louie Mayer, pointing out both that Woolf herself was a great baker (who knew?) and that she started her bread in a cold oven and baked it under a pot, to create a hot and steamy atmosphere during the first half of the bake.
Start: 95.4 Last week: 87.3 This week: 87.6
Two helpings of everything for Thanksgiving cannot have been the only issue. Maybe it was the fresh almonds?
Does anyone need a choice of more than 50 breakfast cereals? Many more.
I’m trying to remember that fancy word from economics, where a sing...
Program 8 Broadsides in the Sounds to Grow On series contained some wonderful songs, and some terrible ones (Song for Patty, anyone?). Some early Bob Dylan, some early Bob Dylan wannabees, some glorious others. But how could I resist a song that starts
In school I...We took the Eurostar (40 minutes late leaving Rome; what a cheek) to Florence for a very civilised day trip. Three items were on the agenda, and we managed all three. First stop, Santa Felicità and the Capponi Chapel for a good look at the frescoes and painting by Jacopo Pontormo et al. There’...
