summer soup 2010

a little pastry sampler from dorie greenspan’s paris sweets

~ jama ~ 1 Comment

“For anyone who loves pastry, Paris is the center of the universe. Not only can you find a pâtisserie or boulangerie on every street, but the odds are tremendously in your favor that you’ll find a good, perhaps great, pastry or bread shop, and that it will turn up just when you most need a buttery croissant or a bittersweet chocolate cookie. Like sidewalk cafés, street-corner kiosks, and every famous monument from the Eiffel Tower to Sacré-Coeur, pâtisseries are part of what makes food lovers, bon vivants, and romantics cherish Paris.” ~ Dorie Greenspan, Paris Sweets

 photo of Dorie at the ALA Convention, June 2010 (ALA photostream).

 

Mais, oui! Enchanting deliciousness around every corner.


Ladurée pastry by w_a_b.

Breathtakingly beautiful pastries, jewel-like in their precision and artistry, beckon from bakery shop windows. Each bite a little ecstasy, connecting you to the most magnificent baking tradition in the world. Sigh.

If you cannot go to Paris just now, let Paris come to you in Paris Sweets: Great Desserts from the City’s Best Pastry Shops, by inimitable food writer, editor and cookbook author, Dorie Greenspan.

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friday feast: the power of blue

~ jama ~ 1 Comment


 Source: D. Sharon Pruitt, Pink Sherbet Photography

Some of you may have noticed I’ve been a bit obsessed with BLUE this week.

Maybe “obsessed” is too strong a word. Try, “enamoured.” Yes, that’s better. Though green has always been my favorite color, lately blue’s been toying with my affections, surprising me with its uncanny guises (I think there’s a picture book in there somewhere). “Call me by any one of my names,” it teases, and I’ll set you to poetic dreaming: cerulean, azure, cobalt, lapis. Aquamarine, baby, powder, indigo, denim, royal, robin’s egg. Prussian, sapphire, midnight, electric, teal, sky, navy, steel, periwinkle.

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still swooning

~ jama

So, did you watch Sir Paul receive the Gershwin Prize on PBS last night?

Len and I liked the program so much, we watched it twice in a row. When Paul was first introduced, I thought to myself that if I had been in the room, that close to him, I would have died, simply died right there on the spot.

It was great hearing other artists’ interpretations of McCartney’s songs. Though I enjoyed Emmylou Harris’s version of “For No One,” was transported to a place of peace and calm with Lang Lang’s “Celebration” on the piano, and am now crushing bigtime on Dave Grohl, it was Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Blackbird” that totally blew me away. OMG. Knowing the history behind the song, it being sung by an African American woman in President Obama’s White House — just wow. So pure, poignant, laden with decades of hurt and struggle. And Elvis Costello did a great job with “Penny Lane.” Loved it.

In case you missed the broadcast, you will soon be able to view it in its entirety at the PBS website. Meanwhile, here’s a fabulous interview with McCartney; it’s about 30 minutes long, but well worth your time — includes behind the scenes footage of him at the Library of Congress, and lots of discussion about his musical influences and creative process. ☺

 

and the blues keep comin’

~ jama

A little hi-jinx, courtesy of the Blue Man Group. Love me some drainage pipes!

Your assignment for today, should you choose to accept it: Don your denim, play with your pipes. And stay cool.

blue notes

~ jama

There’s more BLUE in music than any other color.

"Blue Eyes," "Blue Skies," "Blue Velvet," "Blue Hawaii," "Am I Blue?", "Blue Moon," "Blue Suede Shoes." Can you think of any others?

Here are two of my favorites:

Speaking of blue, don’t forget to watch "In Performance at the White House" on PBS tonight (8 p.m. EDT), to see Sir Paul McCartney receive the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Music. You remember George Gershwin, don’t you? He wrote a little piece called "Rhapsody in Blue." ☺

Happy Blue Wednesday!