To find the answer, you can check out the September 4th issue of PEOPLE magazine (Jonbenet Ramsey is on the cover, but that has nothing to do with me), or click here www.theskinnythebook.com. Or, when it comes out, you can buy The Skinny: How to Fit into Your Little Black Dress Forever (Meredith, December, 2006). It's the book I wrote with my brilliant friend Robin Aronson (the other skinny girl in the photo). To be honest, before PEOPLE called to interview me for this piece, I'd never even flipped through the magazine, not even while getting my hair done. Now I may just have to subscribe. Yes, I'm that happy. This picture above, by the way, is not from the PEOPLE photo shoot (Michael Lavine took the photos of me at restaurant Daniel). It's a publicity shot of Robin and me for The Skinny, taken in Des Moines at the publishers. But I'm wearing the same dress as in PEOPLE. Every girl should have a favorite little black dress, and this sample-sale-scored Chaiken number is mine. May the dry cleaner never shrink it.

March, 2006- After a whole year's worth of trip to Paris to sample North African pastries, the piece finally ran in today's dining section (see my articles section.) One thing that was left out, however, was the box I wrote, giving addresses. I've put it up here for anyone who googles. (And, just to keep things lively, here's a photo of me eating ghribia, a semolina cookie; wish I had one now.) Where to Sample North African Pastries in Paris: La Bague de Kenza - 106 rue St. Maur (11e) 01 43 14 93 15 173, rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoione (11e) 01 43 41 47 02 233, rue de la Convention (15e) 01 42 50 02 97 Patisserie Malika - 80 Bd. de Menilmontant (20e) 06 25 27 68 74 Le Miyanis - 132 Bd. de Menilmontant (20e) 01 47 97 04 99 A tea room and restaurant with very good savory food as well as sweets. La Mosquee - 39 rue Geoffroy Saint Hilaire (5e) 01 43 31 38 20 Sip mint tea and nibble pastries in the tiled courtyard on a sunny day.

October, 2005- My book, Chef Interrupted, came out this month. There was a party, and a little bit of publicity (the Leonard Lopate show was a highlight and there’s a podcast somewhere in cyberspace should anyone want to listen; here’s a link: (www.wnyc.org.) See below for more info on this, but let’s just say I’m mighty proud.

Paris, March 2005. I just completed the most delightful assignment. I went to Paris and ate North African and Middle Eastern pastries ("patisserie Orientale" is what the Parisians call it) for three days. Alice (my "mostest" travel companion, to quote Eloise) generously helped with the cause. In turn I helped her research her article on natural wine bars. Our typical day: take the metro to a distant arrondissement, walk around in circles trying to find the address of the pastry shop, buy everything in sight, find the next place, and so on. Then stop for lunch at a natural wine bar. More pastry shops in the afternoon, then a comprehensive, comparative pastry tasting. Dinner at a wine bar. We did get a little sick of pistachio paste, semolina cake, baklava and mamoul by the end of it. Sadly, the dollar was so poorly valued that we couldn't buy anything but cheese, chocolate, wine and pastry and, ok, I snagged one cute top. You'll be able to read a full report of the pastries in the Times sometime soon...and I'll post the article here in the articles section as well...And check out Alice's website for information on the wine:(www.alicefeiring.com ).

2004.12.01
I finally handed in my cookbook, Chef Interrupted: Chef's Recipes You Really Can Make at Home, in which I took recipes from all my favorite chefs and interrupted them at the point where they are still home cook friendly, before they become too cheffy. It's what I do when I co-author cookbooks with chefs, only more so. I assure you that none of these recipes calls for baroque techniques or equipment (no clarifying stocks, no blow torches ) or annoyingly hard to find ingredients (save for that one sweetbreads recipe, sorry). And I think that they still taste as exciting as a chef's recipe should. The book will be out next October, published by Clarkson Potter. The picture, by the way, is me at the photo shoot, salting a rack of lamb. The lovely and talented Tina Rupp did the photography.

2004.10.01
October 2004 - Me, in Lucky Magazine! It's my house -- but, of course, none of the stuff that's supposed to belong to me actually does (the Champagne bucket is truly frightening). It was hauled in by a team of stylists who have since hauled it out. The whole thing is rather goofy, but it's still worth checking out if you happen to have a copy lying around.

Why do people say the food at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens is good? Zagat gives it a 27 for caterers. Everyone raves. But I must report the food is not a bit better than standard wedding fare—mediocre. Overcooked sole with buerre blanc. Roasted chicken breast with cranberry sauce (in June?). Dry as dust cake. However, the day was sunny and not too hot, and, most importantly, my sister was as happy as a bride can be. Of course, being the bride, she didn't eat...

To celebrate my father's birthday. I cannot relate to people (many of my friends and admired colleagues included) who think Wylie Dufresne's food is weird. He's tremendous. Granted, the food was better this time compared to the last time I dined there (just after it opened) when it was merely very good. So maybe those naysayers just need to go back. I think he's one of the most inventive, talented chefs out there today. We ate squid linguine with melon, sweet paprika mayonnaise and dried Serrano ham, which my sister, who is not the most adventurous eater (and in fact was quite miffed at not being able to get a salad…"is this the only non-Asian restaurant in NYC where you can't get a salad?" she asked) thought it was the best thing she'd ever tasted. I almost agree. But then there was the rest of the meal. Last time I was here, the foie gras terrine with marinated white anchovies was the amuse. This time it was listed as an appetizer. Naturally it sounds somewhat strange, but tastes just right, reminding me of monkfish liver in that it's rich, velvety and fishy in a good way. My brother-in-law (again not the world's most intrepid eater) described it as a little wrapped present. Other highlights included the Flatiron beef with a marrow tart, the pork belly (which the waiter introduced as a dish made famous in the NY Times…hm…), and the flawless sturgeon. Desserts also were of note. Parsnip cake sounds like grim English boarding school fare, but is a decadent, moist and caramelized creation. I barely got a bite of either the banana tart or the citrus panna cotta since my family downed those pretty quickly, but what I tasted made me want to sit at the bar one afternoon and just eat dessert for a few hours…which, if you know me, I've actually been known to do.

December 1, 2004
More rain, this time in Tyler Hill, Pennsylvania, where friends have a sprawling house at which we stay most Memorial Day Weekends. This year, we decided to hold a pig roast. The photo says it all…and for the record I ate the tail, ears and snout, but not the eyeballs.

January 5, 2003
Rainy London December 2002 Spent New Years' in London with friends. It rained constantly in an extremely atmospheric way. Food wise, the cupboard, so to speak, was nearly bare. Many of the better restaurants close between Christmas and New Years. But we loved the food halls at Harrods for jellied eel, and Harvey Nicks for their shellacked little game pies, biscuits made with coal dust (pitch black and vaguely gritty on the tongue) and oat cakes flavored fashionably with celery seed. Question for further contemplation: Why can't we get good oatcakes in the US? Might be an article in the making. We did however, get to St. John's for offal on our last night in town. I had dried, salted pigs liver and the best of British comfort food: mashed celery root with coddled eggs on top and deviled kidneys, which Paul detested but gamely tried nonetheless. I thought they were swell.

December 10, 2002
Me, in Food & Wine! December 2002 An example of being in the right place at the right time. Food & Wine magazine employed me to write another fast column, which I love doing. The theme? Hors d'oeuvres for a holiday cocktail party. Did it, handed it in. A week later the phone rings. Kate Heddings, my editor, is on the line. Could we turn the Fast column into a well story (meaning a longer spread with photos and etc.)? A story that they had originally scheduled fell through and they were in a bind. The new story would consist of photos of me, pretending to give a holiday cocktail party on a fine Tuesday morning in August. Was I interested? Absolutely. I gathered up some friends, strangers, and acquaintances and told them to dress up in wool and velvet as if it were December. We all showed up bright and early to a fabulous mid-town apartment belonging to a some one the art director knew (and it was much spiffier than my Brooklyn digs). Food stylists (extremely talented ones) made the food pretty. A make-up artist and hairstylist (Kyoko at Ultra 212-677-4380, in case you were curious) make me look pretty. I sucked my gut in and slithered into my favorite tweed skirt, about three pounds too small…And…well…see for yourself on their web site.