Cooking With Ideas

Cookbooks, Cookbooks, Cookbooks 4: A Sense of Another Place

Thanks to this site which is, as usual, not actually depicting the actual pile of cookbooks which I am about to write about.The place this time is not in the U.S. but Greece. Hence the book is entitled Food From Many Greek Kitchens. Authored by one of the best cookbook authors ever -- Tessa Kiros of Falling Cloudberries fame (a cookbook I reviewed here) -- this is another Andrews McMeel production, lavish with photographs and with a range of recipes from -- yes, I said it already -- Greece. The book is filled with that blue sky, tealish color I associate with Greece. And recipes as obvious as dolmades and loads of versions of lamb, and things I admit to never having heard of before. What was most nostalgic for me was actually a recipe for saganaki -- cheese, fried and then set on fire with a bit of brandy (or some such thing) -- which I think of whenever I think of Greek town in Chicago and graduate school. I may indeed some day make it. Meanwhile, though, I will think about those small, occasional, moments of triumph and the sound of OOMPAH in deep male, apparently Greek voices, in Chicago -- with ouzo. Alas, though, this is not my favorite of Kiros' cookbooks. Beautiful pictures -- but fewer tempting recipes. But it certainly offered a trip down an imaginary memory lane. Not to mention as trip down a fantasy future trip to Greece.

Among the many Greek foods I like beyond saganaki are all sorts of lamb with lemon (yes, I like it with artichokes), various things one can do with phyllo, and spanikopita -- which I get almost every time I have the opportunity.I have not made anything even approaching spinach pie in years.  I did once make grape leaves as a result of a cooking class -- whcih were dandy -- though I am not sure they rose to the level of dolmades. (I described the excitement here in 2007.) And I even have tried a few recipes by a Greek (or Greek American) friend of mine.

For general stuff on greek cuisine, try here or try here for an interview with the cookbook author.  And, in case you are in a cooking mood, even though the recipe is from a different cookbbook by Kiros, you might enjoy clicking here.

Crime Fraiche

Some time ago, I came across a culinary-related murder mystery entitled The Grave Gourmet and reviewed it here. I had never heard of the author, and despite a bit of a zig zag toward the end of plot twists and sudden turns, I enjoyed the book. I read it, reviewed it, read about something all too similar to the plot later, and thought little of it. And then, the author (Alexander Campion -- a pseudonym, and I shall not share his real name) wrote me via email, responded to my critique and asked if I would like to see the next of his efforts into the genre. I was enthusiastic and am pleased to say that Crime Fraiche arrived via post (as a pre-publication copy from Kensington Publishing Corp.) earlier this month, I read it as soon as my day job toned itself down a tad enjoying each morsel (and yes, there is a good mystery here as well as loads of foodie fun). Once again, a flic (aka police person) with a bit of an aristocratic tinge (Madame la Comtesse) and her somewhat older restaurant reviewer husband, are off. And, they are no longer only in Paris (where they reside) but are in the country shooting and eating and picnicking, drinking and sleuthing. Meanwhile, some of the series characters get a bit more flesh on their bones (literarily speaking) and one can see the author growing. (Too many first books are followed by loads of rubbish thereafter -- the author having used her or his plot devices and ideas all in the first book. Book one -- a real novel wiyh a mystery. Book two then becomes a sort of trinket. Not here. This one actually works better then The Grave Gourmet, at least for me. And I enjoyed the first read.)

For more on the author, complete with an interview, try his own site, here. Alas, the book is not due out til July 2011 -- so, unlike me, you'll have to wait for this fresh mystery featuring Capucine and her husband Alexandre (Who is not only older but a bit endearingly pudgy, which warms my heart). Meanwhile, rest assured that if any of the following appeals to you, this book will too:

1. Cattle. . . very special cattle . . . very special French (Normandy) cattle. I think I have never had the pleasure of eating such a thing, but I do know is said to be quite special. . . .(If you're clueless, try here or here. Or, perhaps, that is not quite the right breed. Hmmm. There seem to be a variety of famous french cattle breeds. Here, for example, is another kind. Hmmm. Here's one breed that is obviously from Normandy. I was so engrossed in the mystery I may have missed a major point. But still.)

2. Mushrooming . . . aka foraging -- and finding lovely examples (checked out with a knowledgeable pharmacist prior to cooking them) -- also appears here and so, if you like the names of mushrooms and the idea of foraging for them. . . well, here you go. (A friend of mine who lives nearby found morels recently in her front yard and cooked them up in a wonderful counding way.) Mushrooms.

3. One of the very few cooking classes where I have been well in over my head was actually a demonstration class I saw at the Cordon Bleu in Ottawa. The class was on pheasant. And the end product had the most amazing tastes ever-- a sauce that involves loads of bones and the pheasant that lifted my spirits. I think it was raining that day. I can still see the plate and taste the dish even though it ws years ago. I am not always rah rah pheasant. But if you are -- or if you had one such dandy encounter, you'll find pheasant, too, in Crime Fraiche.

4. Calvados -- don't know what it is? Click here or here. Or ask for some at your favorite place where you imbibe. And yes, it is a region in Normandy. And yes, with a bit of pear brandy it is called (I think) domfrontais. Click here for some dandy recipes involving calvados -- and even, once in a while, pheasant.

5. Couscous, tajine and related foods -- well, yes, they appear here as well. In fact, so does quinoa -- to the utter bafflement of some french traditinalists. The former are somewhat synechdochal for the immigration of many into France from various elsewheres (not a surprise to fans of The Grave Gourmet, since one of Capucine's fellow flics is of such descent) while the latter appears as a result of . . . well, you'll have to wait until nearly the end of the book. . . . so I will not spoil even this not-so-plot-related bit of fun.Meanwhile, if you want more on teh food of Normandy, try clicking here or here. And do not, of course, forget the cheese. Or many other french tidbits from fois gras (Whcih I cooked for the first time recently) to . . . well, you'll see.

Not all the mysteries here are food-related, and I have had to leave out some of contemporary food politics so as not to spoil too much, -- but I hope very much to hear from "Alexander" when the next mystery emerges from his pen.

For another review of this dandy page turner -- and its foodie wonders -- try here.

 

 

Cookbooks, Cookbooks, Cookbooks 3: 3 More Cookbooks

Thanks to this site which is, as usual, not actually depicting the actual pile of cookbooks which I am about to write about. The mail keeps coming and more and more cookbooks arrive. So, even though we have been doing piles and piles of cookbooks, here are 3 (three) more. Yep, third entry of this title, with three cookbooks reviewed. How trinitarian.

Ann Gentry's Vegan Family Meals: Real Food for Everyone puts into a hardback book some of what her fans at Real Food Daily (a web site; she also wrote a cookbook of that title) expect from this "pioneer of vegan cuisine." Vegan food. I am definitely not a vegan. Yep, I know its all about ethics and responsibility. And Gentry makes it about flavor too. But I am not a vegan. (Ok, are you the last remaining person on the planet who does not know what the word vegan means? If so, click here for a high falutin' scholarly view (kidding) or here or here. Or go for broke, google the darn word and spend a few days exploring where that takes you. You might even get as far as this listing of vegan bands which includes genres I have never even heard of. Or this list of the top 10 movies to make you go meatless (which is not the same as vegan, but still. . . Trust me. It is absolutely amazing where googling can take you. Isn;t that how you got here?) Anyway, this cookbook (which yes arrived free in the mail will be available June 14, 2011, and comes from Andrews McMeel). Only part of this book puts me off: I am never sure about pseudo meats like seitan. I have never had it served to me in any thing approaching an edible form. Nor does tempeh do anything for me. Plus,  there are a number of words throughout this book which are utterly unfamiliar to me -- like hiziki. Because I too can use the wonders of google and googling I now know what that word means. In theory. What a brown sea vegetable tastes like, though, escapes me. And will likely continue to do so.

Despite all this, there are lots of intriguing recipes here for those who want to be vegan -- or occasionally eat vegan -- or have vegan friends -- or, to be utterly frank, just like a tasty meal once in a while. There are also fun facts to know (and worry about) like (on pages 124-125) the clean 15 (foods you can go ahead and eat the conventional forms of (like asparagus, cabbage, onions, sweet potatoes) and the "dirty dozen" (no, not the film) which reall y means pesticide-laden -- like apples. bell peppers, carrtots, celery. cherries, grapes, kale, and. . . more.

Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine penned In the Small Kitchen: 100 Recipes from Our Year in the Real World. They have a website called BIG GIRLS SMALL KITCHEN created in 2008 (some years after Cooking with Ideas. Hmmm.) This is their first cookbook and seems aimed at either college kids or people immediately post-college. Hmmm. I spend a lot of time with folks like that who, when not immediately moving home, do often end up in urban areas with incredibly small kitchens. On page 124 the following statement appears: "gender sterotypes can be misleading." Hmmm. Yeah? If you agree and want to review this book let me know and I will mail it to you in exchange for a (unremunerated otherwise) guest blog reviewing the book. While I do in fact have a smallish kitchen, I am clearly not quite the demographic they have in mind (which seems to be twenty-somethings).  They do, though, have a dandy recipe for cioppino (p. 226) and vietnamese fisherman's stew (find that one on your own). Turns out, by the way, there is a whole genre of cookbooks for folks with small kitchens, so if that is your big brain wave to fund your graduate school or college debt, not so much. And this despite the fact that this one will likely do fairly well. (Published, by the way, by William Morrow. . . . ) For an interview with the authors, try here and, yes, this is, yet another blog to book deal. Not my favorite genre. Alas.

Patricia Wells' newest is Salad as a Meal: Healthy Main-Dish Salads for Every Season. Unlike the immediately prior cookbook, this is most definitely not a debut. Wells, of course, is well known for her dandy French and Provencal cookbooks and has a long list of dandy things to her credit, perhaps most startlingly being the only foreigner and woman to be a restaurant critic for a French publication. I am not, as perhaps you have surmised, a huge fan of salads -- but every time I actually take the time to follow the directions and make a new one I am very happy. I learn about salad dressings, and new combinations of vegetables and greens and . . . tastes. Ok, beneath the veneer of hating salads, I may in fact like them. And this book will likely, when I get around to it, confirm that salads can be wonderful. Some of these involve only greens, some involve meats and eggs and seafood and all sorts of somethings. Or somethings. And/or somethings. Dandy job William Morrow! And here's Wells' website. Furthermore, want reviews of her book(s)? Try here. And this really cool review/interview/etc, here. It's a keeper. And, in fact, I fantasize about her black truffle extravanagza cooking class in Provence (or is that Paris)? Hmmm.

Coming Soon to a Blog You Read . . . COOKING WITH IDEAS!!!!

Already lined up for the next week or more, with thanks to this site for the little chap letting us know that all this is coming soon, are the following kinds of things:

Cookbook reviews focusing on

    . . . . small kitchens, and I do not mean the one you cook in. . .

    . . . . salads as meals? Really?

    . . . . the question of whether vegan cuisine is an oxymoron (not so much).

    . . . . and Greece. And here, I do NOT mean a location near Rochester.

More crucially, for the mystery lovers among the readership, a new mystery from Alexander Campion, entitled Crime Fraiche, due out in a month starting with J.

And, it is always risky to hype an interview since so many of those never come through (like the folks from Madderlake -- for example. . . .) but watch here and see if the folks from Leaf Kitchen (already reviewed once here) answer some of Bibliochef's questions. . . .

Cookbooks, Cookbooks, Cookbooks 2: Maida Heatter

Thanks to this site which is, again yet or still, not actually depicting the actual pile of cookbooks which I am about to write about.

Originally published in the late 1970s, Maida Heatter's books on cakes and cookies were reproduced by Andrews McMeel recently in cute-ish paperback editions. Their titles? Maida Heatter's Cookies and Maida Heatter's Cakes. Sauveur has called Heatter the "queen of cake'; for the article click here. She has also been called, more generally, the "queen of desserts" and the first culinary patriot. There are whole sites devoted to her recipes (and not from her)! She is a four time James Beard award winner. And yet, I had never heard of her until two books, titles noted above, arrived (free) in my mail. Well, I am not a baker, I admit it -- and I still have a lot to learn about food and related themes, but still. A queen? The queen? Who knew?

With forewords for the new editions by Wolfgang Puck (for the cookie book) and Nancy Silverton (for the cake book), these entered my pile of cookbooks to browse well recommended. Puck calls Heatter a "fairy godmother of anythig sweet, spicy, crunchy, chewy, or fluffy that you could possibly imagine baking" (p. ix). And besides, their covers look a bit like the flocked wallpaper that. . . . well. . . . in orange (for cookies) and green (for cakes) just puzzled me entirely. So: I opened them.

I am still not going to be a big baker. I know that. But browsing along and finding all those options for cookies, and cakes ranging from cheese cakes to rum cakes. Seeing crackers in the cookie book and ice creams in the cake book, well, I might in fact be a convert. And meanwhile, I am humbled once again by how much I do NOT know.

Let us know if you have used her books over the decades!

And meanwhile, for an interview with Heatter, click here. And, for a whole lot more, including her chocolate sorbet, and a culinary tidbot related to Lady Bird Johnson, click here.

Summer in A Glass

I picked up the book Summer in a Glass on a whim at the Colleges' Store at Hobart and William Smith (by the way: the place is NOT Hobart nor, to my mind is it HWS. William Smith is the women's college. Let's not eclipse it. Please.). Anyway, the whim turned out to provide a lovely glimpse of my own backyard, a bit idiosyncratic in its take, but home-y and familiar and enlightening along the way. When I opened the book, its inside covers offer a map of the Finger Lakes region -- and therein lies both the wonder (it was absolutely wonderful to see the Stonecat Cafe on the map) and the idiosyncracy (why not other beloved places?). Hmmmm. Of course, I went immediately to the index and read the few pages involving the Stonecat -- which had hosted an important wine tasting. A clue: everything in here has to do with Evan Dawson's read of the region and, as his subtitle indicates, "the coming of age of winemaking in the Finger Lakes."

With its foreword by wine critic James Molesworth from the Wine Spectator, this is a book that in many ways contributes to its own story: the making of a region -- and the making of the region credible as a wine-making region. When I arrived in the area in 1988, the whites were coming into their own a bit; the red -- well, I thought of it as kool aid plus alcohol. The world has changed since then; while I bemoan the yucky buses filled with people who think of wine tasting as a cheap way to get blotto, its been nice to witness and benefit from the food, wine and related industries of our region. And it was great to read about such favorites as Anthony Road, Fox Run, Red Tail Ridge (interviewed early on Cooking with Ideas) and places I used to frequent like Ports Cafe (have not been there for ages! I found myself wondering why not?). And places here and there that I have found quite over-rated even. And even a few I had never heard of but clearly should have -- like Heart and Hands.  In any case, the stories in this book may be familiar to many of the people I know -- but not all were familiar to me so I am grateful to Dawson. For example, I shall definitely be trying some new wines!

Also important in this book; the ways Finger Lakes wines are (and sometimes are most definitely not) always already global. The voices of key immigrants like the folks of Dr. Frank -- and more recent people, combine with trends toward generationally owned vineyards; hippies and businessmen meet and drink; riesling and pinot noir can excel here it turns out. And, perhaps most crucially, this is a region filled with tiny little microclimates -- both literally and of angst, competitiveness and cooperation. A complex place to go along with increasingly complex layerings in wines (and increased sizes for some of their bottlings). There is a risk the book is one huge advertisement; it certainly is an advocacy document from someone who -- together with his wife -- fell in love with the Finger Lakes wines at one point and followed that with a passion to learn and investigate and share that knowledge. Yet, there is a frankness here as well, recognizing that there is increasingly wonderful wine here and also a fair amount of mediocre to bad wine. All in all, I enjoyed it, learned from it, and will visit some of the places either literally or via the wines they create.

Who is this author who so chattily and forthrightly presents his topic? Evan Dawson is . . . a television journalist in Rochester, NY. (Click here for that information.) He is, though, also the managing editor for the New York Cork Report, as noted here.

For other reviews of this book see a) Dawson's own New York Cork Report here; b)  a serious read here; c) what the Hudson Valley WIne Goddess thinks here; or d) just read it yourself -- and comment right here on Cooking with Ideas. Meanwhile, for loads of info on Finger Lakes wine, check out the Finger Lakes Weekend Wino, who has been a blog link partner since almost the very beginning of Cooking with Ideas in 2006 or so!

Cookbooks, Cookbooks, Cookbooks 1: A Sense of Place

Thanks to this site which is, as usual, not actually depicting the actual pile of cookbooks which I am about to write about. (Yes, I own one of them -- Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home which is absolutely wonderful -- and yes, I have even cooked from that book -- but that is not the point today. (And that despite the fact that I wrote about cooking from Ad Hoc here.) And I definitely do not own the rest of this particular pile. I have a pile of my own, arrived by mail, that I am behind on writing about here. Hence the visual and hence the multiple cookbooks discussed below. Who knew that eventually this blog would (at least occasionally) feel overwhelming. Not me. And thank goodness it is only occasionally. I feel somehow obliged to review most (if not quite all) of the free cookbooks that arrived, unsolicited. I do not have time to cook from all of them, nor the inclination most often, but I do love reading them -- except when I feel like there is too much else on my metaphorical plate. And today, that's exactly the case. But, I also know that the overwhelming sense will, eventually, dissipate. So. . . . cookbooks.

In this case, both cookbooks examined below focus on a sense of place -- a sort of terroir of cooking, which seems to define some of the cookbooks that arrive at my doorstep. If you care about a sense of place and are a Genevan -- or any Finger Laker, try this book by my late colleague, Deborah Tall: From Where We Stand: Recovering a Sense of Place.  For a tiny bit on that book, try here. Or just buy it.)  I know Cooking with Ideas has a Finger Lakes focus, but the cookbooks come from all sorts of places, distant and far. In this case, Asheville,North Carolina and a less psecific, more mysterious place called "heartland." Well, actually, not so mysterious really -- we all have something in mind when we say the heartland. And so, in this case, the place is the midwest -- with a modern twist. The cookbooks are called, in the first instance, Tupelo Honey Cafe (subtitled Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New Southern Kitchen) and Heartland: The Cookbook. Let's look at these places.

The first book, by Elizabeth Sims "with" Chef Brian Sonoskus has its rooted in Asheville's award-winning cafe of the same name: Tupelo Honey Cafe. (For their publisher's notes on their bios, click here.) It has a lovely feel to its hard back bookness -- the dust cover is yellow, with a kind of honey comb effect and a tree, in black, silhouetted. The tiny bee next to the authors' names is a sweet little touch. The book really has nice insight into Asheville; think Thomas Wolfe (yep, of the "you can't go home agian" fame) and Biltmore (yep, Vanderbilts). The tone of the book is a cross between chamber of commerce-y sales for Asheville and recipes a cross between restaurant and home-y. I am even tempted by the notion of grits all because of one of the recipes which involved fried green tomatoes with goat cheese basil grits. (I was put off of grits quite seriously decades ago when I attended college in the South and was subjected to grits cafeteria style in the food servicce division of the university. Absolutely, unredeemably awful.) Hmmm. I love fried green tomatoes -- and there are actually multiple uses of green tomatoes in this cookbook. This cookbook made me nostalgic for a place I have never been. What does that mean?

The second book reviewed here has a big visual of a farm, complete with a red barn and a silo or two, against the greens of a few trees and a big sky. Heartland: The Cookbook (possibly with an emphasis to the word THE) is authored by Judith Fertig who has written several prairie oriented cookbooks and is also, I think, known as a barbecue queen. (For that background, click here.) The book includes reflections on how we came to call the Middle West the Midwest and how it came to include the states it includes. Its origins are, in many ways, Kansas, for example. Turns out there are loads of slow food advocates in the midwest. . . . who knew? And here, there are loads of bits I have not read yet, but likely will. Somehow, this was the best -- not the worst -- of the midwest.

One comment on the combo of these two books: its amazing how these books combine literature and cooking. They situate themselves in part by identifying the writers of their locales. In the case of Heartland, you're ot very far into it before, for example, you encounter Willa Cather and, of course, I have already mentioned Thomas Wolfe in regard to Asheville. (Also relevant there, Roy Blount Jr.) The Heartland authors also mention L. Frank Baum, author of the Oz tales, who indeed has midwestern roots but has significant upstate NY connections as well -- including his mother-in-law, Matilda Joslyn Gage.  Yep, these are from Andrews McMeel, my favorite free cookbook joint. And thanks to them. While I enjoy a lot of what they send me, some are just tasty visuals, some too kitchy, and some just right. These are just right for today's grey day in mid-May.

For another review of the Tupelo Honey cookbook. click here or to order a signed copy, here.

For a review of Heartland from Santa Fe recognizing the midwest as an overlooked food region, click here. And for more -- a healthy helping more -- try clicking here. Learn about Fertig, her prior work, and this particular cookbook.

Upcoming Finger Lakes Food Events

As a newly appointed member of the Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty Board, I am learning a LOT about events related to food and wine in the area. For most of the board members, this is a vocation while for me all this foodie delight is . . . an avocation. And so there is always a lot to learn. Among the upcoming events:

Cayuga Creamery is beginning to do breakfast a la mode -- starting Memorial Day weekend or so until Labor Day -- and I hear there may be oatmeal ice cream.

There will be a culinary tent at Waterloo's annual Memorial Day event. (That would be Waterloo, NY, folks, not Napoleon's Waterloo.)

Cork and Fork is having its second annual event. All the excitement will take place September 16 and 17, 2011 -- and for more information click here! There wil be vendors, seminars and demonstrations. . . think cork and fork.

And yes, it is all about Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty -- eat local. Add wine. Stir. Smile

 

A Site to See

Not a blog, but still a Geneva-related site to see: right here and now added to the list on the side bar. . . .

Portland Dining (Maine-ly Great)

Three places to enjoy while you are in Portland:

Street and Company is, yes, on a street. And yes, when it was recommended to me I heard Straight and Company. Dr. Freud. (No, that is not who I dined with. I dined with my id, ego, superego.) The place is along a smallish street in the old downtown area called Wharf Street and serves seafood of various sorts. I sat at the bar, where I had lovely conversations and really enjoyed the bar tender who really knew his stuff. What did I eat? First, a Maine crab salad with fava beans, mint and orange. Do NOT think greens with a tiny bit of crab. Think crab with slivers of fava. Think wonderful mouthfuls. Best favas ever. I followed this with a special: fluke with a pepper salad. It was pan seared and served, also, with aoili. Unctuous is not a word I use often, I am not even sure I spelled it right. But that is exactly what it was. Nice minerally white was recommended by the bar tender. After that, you'd not think I could hold dessert, but by then I had been there some time and, well, there was a lot of talk about New Orleans going on around me so I had bourbon pecan pie. Not the best ever, but pretty darn good and the rest of the meal was spectacular. In fact, when the bill came I actually said (and I truly do quote myself): "Oh my god, that's cheap. Did you make a mistake?" The ambience is also nice: warm feeling. And the bar is beautiful  Part of the fun was watching oyster shucking but most of it was a leisurely meal, texting occasionally with Geneva, and relaxing. It's always nice to find a place where it is truly ok to eat alone and I learned the "eat at the bar" thing from a real fan of that in Geneva. If you're in Portland try this place and enjoy.

Here's urbanspoon on Street and Company:

And for breakfast, try a place called The Good Egg Cafe at the Pepper Club. Apparently there was a place called the Good Egg Cafe ages ago in Portland which went the way of some places -- away -- and then the folks at the Pepper Club kind of brought it back? I love the phrase "good egg"; I know several people who use it a lot and . . . well, it says a lot (depending on tone of voice. In fact, I often woner (other than the obvious) where the phrase comes from and for once have failed to learn more by googling! Anyway, I found this little hippie-ish seeming joint while wandering and had a dish called eggs from hell -- which involves chipotle hot sauce, eggs (mine were scrambled), black beans, and salsa. The name seemed apt for Sunday morning. Actually, the bits came as little heaps on top of a reddish looking tortilla. I also had coffee and a small (aka tiny) oj. Not the best version of this sort of thing I have ever had (I still pine for a place whose name escapes me somewhere on the way to the San Juan Islands). But the coffee was dandy and it was a busy Sunday morning there . . .  and the service was attentive but not too in your face. Here's urbanspoon on the place:

And that leads me to at least one (maybe even two) additional places, neither of them restaurants but definitely of foodie interest. The first, Portland's best chocolates -- which is right near The Good Egg. It's name? Dean's Sweets. Very very tasty -- in a tiny little place -- with flavors like lemon apricot chevre (I csan recommend that), coffee (also dandy), and ginger (yep, good) -- as well as some I have not had like salt caramel and brandy and. . .  They'll pack you a little set of them (or a big one) by hand. Dark chocolate. Very good. Did I say that already?

And, right next door, the place I was aiming at when I found the Good Egg and Dean;s Sweets: Rabelais. A bookstore. A bookstore focused on food. A wonder. Ncie ambience (though when I arrived the person who seemed to be the owner was standing right in the doorway talking to people, and I could not get in. That's why I went to Dean's Sweets and probably why I spent more time there than in the bookstore. (And, by the way, spent money in one and not the other. Not perfect business practice.) Alas, by the time I got there and it was open (which took a bit), I was not really able to focus and so I did not get a treat for moi. But, should I ever be in Portland again, I will indeed go to Rabelais.

All in all, good food for thought and . . . for the belly. Portland. Sunshine. Salt water. And more.