Barefoot Contessa, Back to Basics

Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics; Clarkson Potter/Publishers, New York.

Just when I decided that I had collected enough recipes and cookbooks for any one's lifetime, Borders e-mails a delightful video with Ina Garten being interviewed by Andrea Robinson in Ina's new Belgian-inspired barn (her office and kitchen.) They had me with that barn, before the sticky buns were out of the oven.

So here's my new cookbook. It's loaded with delicious recipes which are simple to make with ingredients you can find at any grocery store; plus sources and tips galore. The book even gives you a list of all the people who designed and built Ina's wonderful barn.

French Score

Cote Paris, Photo of my Copy

Everyone and her poodle has blogged about this first issue of Cote Paris but I'm still excited that I scored this first issue right here in Houston yesterday afternoon. I was scanning the foreign magazine section at Borders when I heard a woman ask a clerk, "Where are the French magazines," then saw her rudely step between me and the mags.

At that precise moment, I spotted the last copy of Cote Paris on the bottom shelf. I dove between her legs and grabbed the mag as I yelled, "Pardonez moi," frightening the hell out of her and startling Tall Husband.