On your birthday I advocate treating yourself right; and by that I mean, you should buy yourself something. That way you get exactly what you want. No disappointment. That's what I do. This time around I used some gift certificates, and I bought a whole bunch of stuff.
First off, I bought books I have been meaning to read, namely, Eating My Words: An Appetite for Life by Mimi Sheraton, Return to Paris: A Memoir with Recipes by Colette Rossant and Endless Feasts: Sixty Years of Writing from Gourmet. I took the Gourmet book on vacation and haven't finished it yet. The others have yet to be cracked open.
Over the weekend I also bought a load of goodies from Sur La Table. In addition to replacing things I have broken or mangled, I bought some new goodies specifically a couple of offset spatulas and a set of long and skinny ice cream spoons to reach the ice cream that always gets stuck in the bottom of parfait cups. I also bought a nifty little tasting spoon that is a teaspoon on one end and a tablespoon on the other end. Actually I bought several of them because they were so irresistible and on sale to boot.
Which brings me to this month's contest. The first respondent to correctly guess which chef spoke these words will receive a copy of Tea: The Essence of the Leaf. The next two correct responders will win a tasting spoon, just like the one in the picture.
"I like a well-tailored plate of food, and I want things to look and taste like what they are. I detest cooking that masks one flavor with another, and I dislike fussy presentations that don't respect the identity of the ingredients. A tomato is a tomato not a rose. Noodles are noodles, not birds' nests or baskets."
There is by the way a sneaky hint to where you can find the correct answer somewhere in this post...
a. MFK Fisher
b. James Beard
c. Nigella Lawson
d. Julia Child
Choose the correct chef and post your guess in the comment section be sure to include your email so I can contact you if you win!
