Cape Cod etiquette requires you to be formally introduced to your dinner while it’s still alive, and I’m not sure exactly how I feel about this. It certainly didn’t make me think, ‘Oh no, I can’t possibly eat Larry the Lobster now that we know each other socially!’ Which was just as well, because Larry… Continue reading Cape Cod etiquette
Category: USA
Montreal Botanic Gardens
I must admit that I expected Montreal to feel a lot more French than it actually did. It seems to me that apart from the language, it is a totally North American city. The culture, the way of life and the food are all very unFrench; having dinner at 6 pm, eating chips with gravy… Continue reading Montreal Botanic Gardens
Coming face to face with the Pope Spanker
I do love eccentric women. There’s something about the way they just do their own thing and don’t give a toss what anyone thinks of them, that I find hugely admirable. And Isabella Stewart Gardner of Boston definitely fits into that category. Isabella was a wealthy patron of the arts, having inherited nearly two million… Continue reading Coming face to face with the Pope Spanker
Blowing my own trumpet at Harvard
When I got an email telling me I’d won a prize in an international short story competition, the message went on to say that my story would be read out at the annual Barbara Pym Conference at Harvard and I could either attend and read it in person, or a member of the judging panel… Continue reading Blowing my own trumpet at Harvard
Meeting My Hero
I bought a second-hand copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking when I was in my early twenties, and one hot summer Sunday I sweated and stressed as I created a tarte aux fraises using sweet shortcrust pastry, patisserie cream and the ‘handsome strawberries’ the recipe insisted on. It was tricky but… Continue reading Meeting My Hero
Only in California …
Sitting upright in a chair is so last year. Anyone who’s anyone over here has a zero gravity chair which ‘enables a neutral spine alignment, improves blood circulation, relieves muscle tension and promotes overall wellness.’ Now, I bet you all wish you were lying in a sort of head-down-legs-up contraption too … a bit like… Continue reading Only in California …
How to be a Californian
Being a helpful sort of person, I’ve decided to compile a manual for anyone who, like me, spends a certain amount of time in California and would like to go native as quickly and as effortlessly as possible. If you follow my advice, you’ll find that you’re embraced as a local in no time at… Continue reading How to be a Californian
My first Super Bowl
If you’d asked me what a Super Bowl was, any time up until a couple of weeks ago, I’d have confidently told you that it was a delicious healthy lunch dish with rice, avocado, kale, quinoa and various other on-trend ingredients. But I now know better. Last week a new display of cakes and biscuits… Continue reading My first Super Bowl
Everything, Everywhere, All At Once
In 1914 William and Agnes Bourne decided to build themselves a home for their retirement. To this end, they bought 654 acres of land in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California, built a large country house and then surrounded it with 16 acres of formal gardens. Luckily William was the owner of one of… Continue reading Everything, Everywhere, All At Once
My First $300 Bottle of Wine
Robert Mondavi helped to put California wines on the map in the mid-twentieth century, and it’s good to see that his descendants aren’t just resting on their laurels (or their grape vines) and counting the cash they raked in when the winery was taken over. Instead they’ve set up a new winery in the Napa… Continue reading My First $300 Bottle of Wine
If you go down to the woods today …
In true Mr Toad style I have enthusiastically embraced a brand new favourite hobby … snowshoeing. It’s ideal for people like me, who want to enjoy the mountain scenery in winter, but have no desire to hurtle down a slope at 70 miles an hour, pitching headfirst into snowdrifts on the way down. The house… Continue reading If you go down to the woods today …
The Dangers of Drinking Wine
I wholeheartedly recommend holidaying in the company of a wine expert. Good wineries are researched, appointments are made, and all I have to do is turn up and taste the wine. Ridge Winery makes an award-winning red called Monte Bello which was one of the wines chosen for the famous blind tasting in 1976, known… Continue reading The Dangers of Drinking Wine