LDEI Program at the Free Library Summer 2013

Les Dames D’Escoffier volunteered to help raise funds for an inner city reading program at the Free Library. We were donating food for lunch with demonstrations. We prepared chili, brioche, ratatouille, and many more. I enjoyed very much the questions asked by the attendees both children and parents.

Reading Terminal Cooking at La Cucina Winter 2013

I was glad to be invited to do a food demonstration at La Cucina. I prepared Moroccan tagine with couscous, figs, almonds, dates, oranges, and spicy harissa. I also baked an olive cake. I also put together a winter ratatouille with squash, turnip, potatoes, parsley, parsnip, celeriac, black olives sauteed in a slightly spicy vinaigrette.

Colonial Tours 2013

I am a certified guide and I enjoy walking the streets of the old Philadelphia and telling the stories as you look up buildings along the way. One of the tours that I give is Society Hill and in the Independence Hall area. I gave one tour one morning of a wintery day. Everybody was a good sport and we went through the history of the beginning of the city dreaming of Benjamin Franklin, Joseph Bonaparte, Louis Philippe future king of France, Talleyrand, Thomas Jefferson, and many more. We ended up at my house eating a delicious lunch. I give them both in French and English. I will soon give a tour of the Rittenhouse Square area where I will create a program linked with the Rosenbach Foundation. I will also give a tour of the museum area linking it with the Barnes Foundation and the Rodin Museum. Contact me if you are interested. It always ends with a delicious meal served in town but prepared by the Spring Mill Cafe chef and me.

Austin, Texas LDEI Annual Conference

Every year, Les Dames D’Escoffier create a conference where Les Dames from all over the world meet. Last year, it was in Austin, Texas. I had never been to Texas so I was very delighted to sign up. I volunteered to give a class on how to not waste food and what to do with leftovers. I created potato leek soup and a spinach custard. It was a very well-planned event. There were many different workshops. I was pleased to participate in some cheese workshops. Of course, there was tons of food. Austin is a lovely town, quite old with beautiful restored buildings. I will be back.

Dame Judy Schad from Capriole cheese farm.

Trip to San Francisco, February 2014

I was just in San Francisco the first week of February, what a treat to be invited to create a dinner in a beautiful restaurant called Firefly. I was working with Chef Gabriel Sanders. I prepared brioche, chicken liver pate with truffles, and Moroccan lamb tagine. It was a rewarding experience. I connected with him through his aunt who used to be my student at Germantown Friends 42 years ago. I was staying at the friend’s house who is also a former student of mine from Germantown Friends. I connected also with an English friend who used to live in Philadelphia. Thanks to him, I tasted beautiful food from Tartine. I also went to a show typical of San Francisco. It has been running for 40 years, it’s a satire, vaudeville, and more. The show is called Beach Blanket Babylon. I was very lucky. I sat next to a couple in a very old theater with old red bucket seats. I was offered the wine list. The wine choice by the glass was not very good. I was thinking about the whole bottle. The lady next to me said, “What about sharing a bottle?” Beautiful reading of minds. In the end, her husband refused my money and said, “Welcome to San Francisco.” Thank you, San Francisco.

With Brad, the owner of Firefly

Cooking at Firefly

Eating thin crusted pizza at Almany farmer’s market