When it comes to any place that?s food related, I?m easy to spot, usually excited like a kid in a candy store. Well, just imagine if I were actually in a candy store. Or a chocolate shop. Or a date shop even.  It was certainly the case when I was recently at Economy Candy in New York City, exchanging oohs and aaahs with Dorie Greenspan about our favorite candies and growing nostalgic as we shared memories of our family’s top picks.

More oohs and aahs followed when simply walking the streets of Manhattan, taking in all the sights and smells of the city.  Smells?!  Perhaps not quite what you expected, but I’m talking about one aroma in particular.  Nuts 4 Nuts!  I don’t actually like nuts in baked goods, but when they’re crisp and coated in sugar on their own, or mixed into chunky sweet granola, what’s not to like?  And who can really resist that smell of vanilla sugar that wafts from these nut stands below their orange umbrellas, those nuts caramelizing away, tantalizing you to buy those small, white, wax paper bags for a couple of dollars?

Now imagine those nuts with chocolate. (more…)

It’s still summer (despite the weather some days), and the markets have been overflowing with berries of all kinds, nectarines and peaches, fragrant melons and sweet cherries. The first plums have already grabbed my attention, the small greengage variety from France, called Reine Claude are fabulous. I never seem to buy enough at the market. Nor can I ever get too many punnets of raspberries, my favorite fruit. I may have come close though when I brought home a kilo of them (as well as a kilo each of blackberries and blueberries), each and every one picked from their stems by Olivier and myself.

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We recently celebrated Switzerland’s 719th birthday with the ultimate of Swiss adventures… biking in the Alps, a picnic with plenty of cheese and local fruit (cherries, nectarines, berries), a traditional breakfast table with Birchermüesli, fresh breads like Zopf and Gipfeli (Swiss croissants), dried meats and more cheese. Throw in an Alphorn, some yodeling, a day tracing Switzerland’s architectural history at Ballenberg and more.  Yet even with all of that, I knew you would sense that there was something missing. And many of you put your finger on it right away.  Chocolate.

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In the USA, it’s the 4th of July. And in France, the fireworks go off on July 14th. It was just our turn to celebrate here in Switzerland, the national day being August 1st. Happy 719th Birthday, Switzerland!

I love birthdays. I really, really do. Birthdays, anniversaries, the planning of surprises, cake, candles, cards and presents.  What’s not to love? (more…)