Last night….
This morning….
The blog will go on with pre-scheduled posts, but I wanted to say hello. My ability to reply to comments or visit other blogs will be limited until we fly back home next week. We are here on scientific business, but I hope to be able to blog on a special meal we have planned this weekend. Stay tuned, mes amis!
Paris, Valentine’s Day 2003… Restaurant Vin Sur Vin, unforgettable evening….
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I hope that you will have a wonderful evening, no matter your take on Valentine’s Day. We are not in Paris, but we will dream about being there… and act accordingly 😉
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
ONE YEAR AGO: A Few Blogging Issues
TWO YEARS AGO: Dan Dan Noodles
THREE YEARS AGO: Sophie Grigson’s Parmesan Cake
FOUR YEARS AGO: Antibiotics and Food
Today Chief turns 15 years old! He was just a tiny, incredibly cute puppy when I got him, but his strong personality was already evident. Whenever I corrected him with a loud and firm “NO!” he would furiously bark back at me, much like a teenager challenging the orders of a parent. To celebrate such an important milestone in the life of our dear four-legged friend, let me share a few pictures.
This is perhaps my favorite shot of Chief ever! Before getting married to Phil, I lived in a small house, my backyard separated from the neighbor’s by a simple wire fence. My neighbor also had a dog, a female Springer Spaniel called Maria. Chief used to squeeze through the holes of that fence very easily to play with her. At some point, I traveled to attend a meeting, and left Chief with a friend. When I came back 10 days later, he had grown so much that passing through the holes was impossible! The photo captured well his expression of frustration faced with a reality he could not quite comprehend. 😉
He loved to eat his treats laying over the lawn. But you can more or less read his thoughts… “Why are you taking my picture? I am not sure I should allow it!“
All those treats gave him strong jaws! As an adult dog, he had no problem to deal with leftovers from a pulled pork. The bone ended up clean as a whistle… And, in case you are wondering about that bulky thing on his collar, it is a gadget he had to wear all the time to prevent him from digging under the solid wood fence in our home in Oklahoma. Quite a digger!
He loved playing with the hose… Still does, but his jumping days are over…
And loved playing in mud almost as much. This particular photo was taken 45 minutes after a bath, and almost caused me to go into cardiac arrest.
Always able to find the best spot in any room…
He loved his buddy Pits, and we know his life has never been quite the same ever since we had to say goodbye to our beloved dalmatian. Pits had the patience of a saint. Seriously.
Happy Birthday, Chief, you will always be a puppy for me!
ONE YEAR AGO: Sesame and Flaxseed Sourdough
TWO YEARS AGO: Green Beans with Miso and Almonds
THREE YEARS AGO: Saturday Morning Scones
FOUR YEARS AGO: White Bread
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 280,000 times in 2013. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 12 days for that many people to see it.
Click here to see the complete report.
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Right after Christmas 1993, I left Brazil with the firm, but slightly far-fetched idea that I was not going back. Many things made my departure hard. A marriage. A lovely home. Toby, a dog I was crazy about. I could only take two pieces of luggage with me. Everything else was left behind. Books, dishes, pans, photos. But, much harder than that, family, friends, and the safety of a job at the best university in the country.
At the time, I had no idea whether I was making the right decision. I left São Paulo at the height of the summer, I arrived in Paris on a very cold night, a few days short of New Year’s Eve to face months of loneliness like I had never experienced before. I quickly realized I was fully unprepared for it, but giving up and flying back to Brazil was not an option I was willing to take. My former husband at some point told me: the struggles you are going through today, one day will be like invisible medals you will be proud to wear on your chest. Wise guy.
Twenty years flew by. I cannot express how fortunate I feel for taking that risky first step. I do not mean this as advice, it’s rather a personal observation: the only way to move forward is to take some risks, and to accept the idea of being very uncomfortable for a while. So, when in doubt, take a deep breath, and dive into your dreams!
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…
(opening line of a favorite book, read in Paris, March 1994).
Bewitching Kitchen 