August 25 marks the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Paris. For over four years, the German army had subjugated the city to brutal suppression, with civilians being deported to death camps and resistance fighters tortured and killed by the Gestapo.
After the Allies landed in Normandy on D-Day, the French worried that the city might be bypassed, or worse, destroyed by retreating Germans. In fact, Hitler ordered that all the major landmarks of the city, including the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, be destroyed and the city set aflame.
Thankfully, the military governor General Dietrich von Choltitz ignored his orders and, after a week-long uprising and the arrival of the Allies’ 2nd Armoured Division under General Philippe Leclerc, the city was free.
You can relive the struggle in my latest novel! The Hotel Seamstress tells the story of a beautiful young Parisian woman who risks her life to save her city. It is a story of struggle and passion and the eventual triumph of the heart.
And how one person can change the course of history.
The year is 1944. Paris has been under German occupation for four years, its citizens ground beneath the jackboot of fascism.
The French Resistance knows that an Allied invasion is imminent. They do not know how the Germans will react, however. Will they retreat from Paris, or burn the city to the ground?
Veronique Grenelle is growing up in an impoverished inner-city neighborhood, scrambling to feed herself and her family. The Resistance recruits the vivacious young woman to befriend Lieutenant Gunther von Clause, an aide-de-camp to the German Army’s Military Governor. She gradually gains his affection.
James Gallagher, a lieutenant in the US Army’s Military Intelligence unit, frequently parachutes behind enemy lines to deliver funds and instructions to the Resistance. He meets and befriends Veronique, who falls madly in love with the dashing American officer.
D-Day approaches, and Veronique finds herself in a bind; should she pursue her heart or her duty to the Resistance? In the end, her decision will not only determine the fate of Paris, it will reverberate down through her family for generations to come.
The Jewel Thieves who hired a hooker to pose as Marie Antoinette – and almost got away with it!
While researching French history for my memoir, A Paris Moment, I came upon a most bizarre tale. The Comtesse de la Mottle, a saucy woman of high society, concocted a scheme in which she artfully swindled a cardinal out of a diamond necklace designed for the Queen of France.
Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy, also known as the ‘Comtesse de la Motte’ was born in 1756 to the illegitimate descendant of King Henry II.
Seeking to escape poverty using her charms, she attempted to establish a social relationship with Marie Antoinette, wife of King Louis XVI. Despite rebuffs from the queen, Jeanne persisted, and her machinations eventually led to a delightful swindle that was to become known as ‘The Affair of the Diamonds.’
Her plot was hatched at the Hôtel de Rohan, an immense palace built for Cardinal Rohan, a rather vain man with a crush on Marie Antoinette. He fancied the queen as a mistress, but she never had the slightest interest in him. In fact, word has it that she blamed the cardinal for the humiliating incident that occurred as she was traveling to Paris for her betrothal to Louis XVI. Stopped at the border of France, she was made to strip naked, removing everything that was Austrian.
The focus of the diamond affair was a necklace crafted by the French jewelers Boehmer, who had unsuccessfully tried to sell it for 1.6 million francs to Louis XVI. Madame de la Motte, then the mistress to Cardinal Rohan, fancied the necklace for herself, and came up with a plan to acquire it using the gullibility of her lover. She forged a letter from Marie Antoinette to Rohan saying that she would look favorably on the cardinal if he were to buy this necklace for her.
When Madame de la Motte delivered this letter personally to the cardinal, he was naturally suspicious. He asked to meet Antoinette in person, so the crafty Madame arranged for a hot midnight assignation in the forest of Versailles with a prostitute disguised to look like the queen.
Tantalized by this taste of forbidden fruit, the duped cardinal put the first payment down for the necklace and gave it to Madame de la Motte, who immediately broke it up and sold the diamonds.
The subterfuge was soon discovered when the defrauded jewelers came looking for their second payment. When the truth emerged, the king had Cardinal Rohan stripped of his offices and sent into exile.
Madame de la Motte was put in jail and branded with a V, for voleur, but the jewel thief later escaped to London where she had the last laugh, publishing a salty, vengeful memoir about court life in Versailles.
The world’s oldest Oscar recipient was sleeping in bed when he won!
Movie Review
The Father
Streaming on Amazon Prime
The Father explores the mental deterioration of an aging man and its impact on his family and friends.
The dementia sufferer in question is Anthony (played by Anthony Hopkins), a retired engineer and widower living alone in an apartment in London. He is the father to Anne (Olivia Colman); as the sole living relative, she takes on the task of caring for her increasingly confused parent.
Originally written by Florian Zeller as a play, Zeller adapts and directs the exploration of one man’s gradual loss of self-awareness. His delusions are dramatically manifested by removing and replacing furnishings in Antony’s flat, and alternating his perceptions with that of his surrounding family and caretakers. The result is a confusing mélange that communicates to the audience the growing loss of memory and awareness of reality experienced by those suffering dementia.
This is, on many levels, a disturbing and poignant movie. For anyone who has ever experienced the mental deterioration of an aging loved one, the film highlights the frustration and helplessness that envelopes everyone involved. For those who have not, it offers a frightening insight into what might happen if your own faculties atrophy.
The writing, directing and acting are all superb; it was reported that the entire crew burst into tears while filming the final scene. In addition to Anthony Hopkins winning the Oscar for Best Actor in 2021 for his performance, Florian Zeller won for Adapted Screenplay.
I highly recommend The Father!
The Best Roast Duck You’ll Ever Eat!
Recipe
This is easy to make and so delicious!
Ingredients
1 Whole duck
1 lemon, sliced
2 potatoes, cut into cubes.
Sauce
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup Cointreau (or orange liqueur)
1 Tsp of corn starch.
1 Mango, peeled and sliced
Directions
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Place potato cubes into microwave and cook for 4 minutes.
Remove the duck from the fridge, clean and pat dry, then allow to warm for 1 hour.
Prick skin all over with a fork. Rub with salt.Place lemon slices in cavity.
Cut a diamond pattern in the skin above the breast with a sharp knife. Do not cut flesh.
Place the duck in a deep roasting pan. Line pan with potatoes.
Roast duck, breast side up, for two hours.
Tilt duck to drain liquid from cavity into pan.
Transfer duck to a cutting board and let stand 15 minutes before carving.
Remove potatoes.
Sauce
Mix the sugar, lemon juice and orange liqueur in a shallow pan at medium heat. Reduce for 3 minutes.
Mix in corn starch and thicken.
Add mango pieces and turn to low for one minute.
Cut the roasted duck into pieces and serve with potatoes and sauce. Enjoy!
And how one person can change the course of history.
The year is 1944. Paris has been under German occupation for four years, its citizens ground beneath the jackboot of fascism.
The French Resistance knows that an Allied invasion is imminent. They do not know how the Germans will react, however. Will they retreat from Paris, or burn the city to the ground?
Veronique Grenelle is growing up in an impoverished inner-city neighborhood, scrambling to feed herself and her family. The Resistance recruits the vivacious young woman to befriend Lieutenant Gunther von Clause, an aide-de-camp to the German Army’s Military Governor. She gradually gains his affection.
James Gallagher, a lieutenant in the US Army’s Military Intelligence unit, frequently parachutes behind enemy lines to deliver funds and instructions to the Resistance. He meets and befriends Veronique, who falls madly in love with the dashing American officer.
D-Day approaches, and Veronique finds herself in a bind; should she pursue her heart or her duty to the Resistance? In the end, her decision will not only determine the fate of Paris, it will reverberate down through her family for generations to come.
Life in Mexico
While soccer remains the overwhelming sport of Mexico, golf is growing in popularity by leaps and bounds. The country has hundreds of courses, with new ones being built all the time.
Recently, I went out to a new course east of San Miguel. It’s a nine-hole, par-three layout where duffers inspired by Latino greats like Lee Trevino can learn the game.
The fish in its ponds are definitely not inspired by Latin culture, however. I spotted a gardener feeding bread scraps from the clubhouse restaurant to a school of carp. “They won’t eat tortillas,” he explained. “They prefer bagels.”
We typed in our CURP (permanent residency) numbers and they automatically emailed us printable copies; we took the files to a print shop where they made us laminated, wallet-sized certificates.
A big thank-you to the medical technicians and government officials of Mexico for a splendid job!
Recipe
The Meal that Napoleon Ate Before Every Battle!
Who knew that Chicken Marengo would be the Emperor’s Lucky Charm?
When Napoleon and his troops defeated the Austrian army in Marengo, Italy, he sent his chef in search of ingredients for a dish worthy to celebrate the victory. He put together a treat so tasty that the superstitious Emperor insisted it be served before every battle. The recipe is easy to make, very delicious, and good luck to anyone who eats it!
Ingredients
1 chicken, cut into large pieces
1 Tsp of butter
1 Tsp of olive oil
½ cup of mushrooms, sliced
½ tsp of nutmeg
Salt and pepper
1 Tsp of flour
1 cup of red wine
1 cup of broth
1 cup of tomatoes, chopped
Parsley, chopped
1 lemon.
Directions
Sauté the chicken parts and mushrooms in butter and olive oil.
Add seasonings and flour. Stir in broth, wine, tomatoes and simmer covered for 30 minutes, until chicken is done.
Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with parsley, and squeeze lemon on top.
Enjoy!
The Paris hotel where a German Army general refused Hitler’s order to burn the city to the ground.
The Hotel Meurice, host to guests ranging from Elizabeth Taylor to Kanye West, was once the HQ for German High Command during the occupation of WWII.
Built in the early 19th Century, the Hotel Meurice has occupied a premiere spot across from the Louvre Museum for almost 200 years. In 1940, after the Germans occupied Paris, the German Army set up headquarters in the luxury hotel and ruled over the city for four years.
When the Allies burst through the outskirts in August, 1944, General von Choltitz and his staff retreated to the hotel, where Hitler demanded he destroy Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre. Choltitz refused, and the city was saved!
MOVIE REVIEW: THE GRADUATE
How did the scene where Dustin Hoffman grabs Anne Bancroft’s breast stay in the film?
While running through a dress rehearsal for the scene where Mrs. Robinson (played by Anne Bancroft) seduces Ben (Dustin Hoffman) in a hotel room, director Mike Nichols motioned to Dustin to approach Anne from behind and caress her.
Deciding a little improv was in order, Dustin walked forward, reached over Anne’s shoulder, and cupped his hand over her breast like a naughty schoolboy!
Mike fell to the floor laughing. Dustin, fearing that he would lose it on camera, turned and began banging his head against the wall.
Anne, who was preoccupied with a stain on her blouse, turned her head toward Dustin with an expression of bewilderment – what the f**k are you doing?
The scene was so priceless that it stayed in the final cut!
That’s not all that is memorable about this movie, however. Filmed in 1967, the theme – alienation between generations – resonated with audiences throughout North America.
Benjamin’s family lives in a suburban LA McMansion decorated with morose clown portraits. Disillusioned by the shallowness of his prospects, he flails hopelessly for meaning in life.
In a turn on traditional power relations of promiscuous sex, the vulnerable young man is seduced by an experienced older woman. Fearful of following in the footsteps of his parents, Benjamin finds uneasy solace in her arms – until he meets Mrs. Robinson’s daughter, Elaine (Katherine Ross), and falls deeply in love.
This doesn’t, of course, go over well with Mrs. Robinson. To the mournful strains of Simon & Garfunkel, the wheels quickly fall off the entire charade, leaving Benjamin in the ditch. The movie ends in a wonderfully dysfunctional climax in which Elaine flees her wedding and escapes with Benjamin on a rusty old municipal bus.
Written by Buck Henry (Get Smart), and directed by Mike Nichols (who won an Oscar), this is a wonderfully scripted, directed and acted film that maniacally races through a kaleidoscope of genres, from romance and comedy to satire and melodrama, with barely a beat in between. It is entertaining, thought-provoking and, after over half a century, still stands the test of time.
We have moved to San Miguel de Allende for the summer! SMA, as it is known locally, is a beautiful colonial town located between Guadalajara and Mexico City. It’s full of wonderful colonial buildings, restaurants and cultural events. It’s also at over 5000-ft in altitude, so while summer days are sunny and warm, the weather is cool and refreshing by the time I cook dinner.
On a related note, I get a lot of queries regarding the recipes in my newsletter. “Do you really make them yourself?”
All the recipes are tried and true. People think that my love for food arose from my travels around the world, but the simple truth is it all boils down to self-preservation. My first wife was a vegetarian who loved to make garbanzo casseroles and prune burgers. I had to learn to cook for myself before I starved to death!
Recipe; Chicken Parmesan
Oh, I love this recipe. It takes a little time to prepare, but the results are absolutely amazing! This is a great dinner meal when serving guests, and leftovers can also be frozen for quick lunches.
INGREDIENTS (serves 4)
2 chicken breasts, deboned
Salt
2 eggs
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tsp fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced
Garlic bread
Cooked spaghetti
1 Can tomato sauce
1 Tsp Italian seasoning spice
1 tsp Salt
½ tsp ground pepper.
DIRECTIONS
1 Preheat oven to 400 F.
2 Mix the tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper together. Set aside.
3 Cut each breast into three pieces and pound thin.
4 Mix together the breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, and pinch of salt.
5 Pour the olive oil into an electric skillet and turn to medium.
6 Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl and coat the chicken pieces. Dip the chicken pieces in the breadcrumb mix and place in the skillet. Gently fry the chicken cutlets until they are golden brown on each side, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.
7 Arrange 1/2 the tomato sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Place the cutlets on the sauce then top with the rest of the tomato sauce. Sprinkle the tops with sliced basil, then lay slices of mozzarella over each cutlet and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.
8 Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the mozzarella begins to brown.
and how one person can change the course of history.
The year is 1944. Paris has been under German occupation for four years, its citizens ground beneath the jackboot of fascism.
The French Resistance knows that an Allied invasion is imminent. They do not know how the Germans will react, however; will they retreat from Paris, or burn the city to the ground?
Veronique Grenelle is growing up in an impoverished inner-city neighborhood, scrambling to feed herself and her family. The Resistance recruits the vivacious young woman to befriend Lieutenant Gunther von Clause, an aide-de-camp to the German Army’s Military Governor. She gradually gains his affection.
James Gallagher, a lieutenant in the US Army’s Military Intelligence unit, frequently parachutes behind enemy lines to deliver funds and instructions to the Resistance. He meets and befriends Veronique, who falls madly in love with the dashing American officer.
D-Day approaches, and Veronique finds herself in a bind; should she pursue her heart or her duty to the Resistance? In the end, her decision will not only determine the fate of Paris, it will reverberate down through her family for generations to come.
Book Review
Golden Girl
By Elin Hilderbrand
Hilderbrand is widely hailed as ‘Queen of the summer read’, so it’s appropriate that her most recent book is launched this month.
The latest installment of her voluminous Nantucket series features the travails of a successful novelist, Vivi Howe, a 51-year old transplanted Ohio native who is yearning to finally crack the #1 New York Times bestselling list.
As summer unfolds, Vivi spends her time worrying about her three adult children. Her eldest, Willa, is desperately trying to become pregnant again after a string of miscarriages; her middle child, Carson, is going through a series of love affairs, and her youngest son, Leo, is caught up in high school teenage angst.
The plot takes a surreal turn when Vivi is killed by a hit-and-run driver during a morning jog and suddenly finds herself in a mysterious afterlife, literally hovering in the clouds over her children. She is offered the chance to observe the lives of her family unfold, along with the gift of ‘three nudges’ from Martha, her mysterious spirit guide.
If this sound a bit twee, bear with me; the premise of the ‘fly-on-the-wall observer’ is a tried-and-true device that allows the author to explore the subsequent impact of Vivi’s sudden demise on not only her family, but the extended tribe of neighbours, friends and fans that populated her life.
Which, of course, is what Hilderbrand does best. She meticulously plots the interactions of each character, spicing their lives up with the triumphs and tragedies that pothole their personal journies through life as they come to grips with Vivi’s death. All-in-all, an excellent beach read from the master – I highly recommend Golden Girl!
Movie Review
Chinatown
Streaming on Netflix
Can you believe this movie is closing in on half a century? Director Roman Polanski’s gritty noir conspiracy first screened in 1974, going on to win eight Oscars (including the best picture), the following year.
The story follows the investigative work of PI Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson), as he uncovers straying spouses in 1930s Los Angeles. He finds himself in trouble when a woman impersonating the wife of Hollis Mulwray asks him to find out if her husband has a mistress. When Jake’s peek-a-boo photos of a spicy liaison between the husband and a young woman subsequently get splashed in the tabloids, however, Jake is confronted by the real Mrs. Mulwray (Faye Dunaway), and the PI realizes he’s been played for a fool.
The plot thickens when Mulwray, the LA water commissioner, is found drowned. While his death is ruled accidental, Jake soon uncovers evidence that points to a sinister plot being orchestrated by Mulwray’s former partner, Noah Cross (played with evil sincerity by John Huston). Cross’s henchman put the muscle on Jake (including a cameo by Polanski who slits Jake’s nostril), but the PI perseveres, leading to the inevitable tragic ending.
This is a picture that has stood the test of time thanks to the incredible screenplay, acting and directing that made it one of the most beloved movies of all time. I highly recommend Chinatown!
Mexicans love weird tacos. I passed a stand the other day and the sign said they were offering:
Tongue!
Brains!
Neck!
Tuesday special: two-for-one tripe!
That last one must really pull them in.
I’ve never eaten racoon, but I know for a fact that it must taste like monkey crap because if it was anything like fried chicken they’d be stuffed into tortillas across the country.
Recipe: Shrimp Tortillas
This is a great lunch dish; fast, easy to make, and delicious!
Ingredients
8 large shrimp, peeled.
1Tsp of butter
1/4 cup of flour
4 medium-sized flour tortillas
Sriracha sauce (or any mild hot sauce).
¼ cup of mayonnaise
Juice from ½ a lemon.
1 garlic clove, crushed.
½ tsp of salt.
Chopped cabbage
Chopped cilantro
Directions
Mix together the hot sauce, mayonnaise, lemon juice, crushed garlic and salt.
Lightly coat the shrimp with flour. Melt the butter in a pan and fry the shrimp until they turn pink. Set aside.
Place the tortillas, one at a time, in the pan and heat for 15 seconds a side.
Fill the tortillas with the shrimp, then drizzle on the sauce and garnish with cabbage and chopped cilantro.
Enjoy the first novel in the FBI Agent Jack Kenyon series for free! Jack travels from San Francisco to London in order to investigate the mysterious death of his Aunt Lydia. What he finds out will change his life forever.
Book Review
Three Wishes
By Liane Moriarty
I have enjoyed Australian writer Liane Moriarty’s novels for several years. In Addition to Big Little Lies, which was turned into an award winning series by Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, I have been avidly entertained by The Last Anniversary and The Hypnotist’s Love Story.
Three Wishes focuses on triplets Cat, Gemma and Lyn. Now in their thirties, the three women are on different life trajectories: Lyn is the owner of a burgeoning catering business; Cat is a successful marketing executive at a chocolate company, and Gemma is drifting through an endless series of failed romances.
While the story is set in contemporary Sydney, the tale takes frequent flashbacks to their youth, where their young parents struggled to raise three girls all at once. Their mistakes have consequences that reach far beyond the nursery into their adult lives, causing them family calamities as they struggle to find happiness.
As always, Moriarty uses her profound insight and humor to create an engaging novel that compels you to read right to the very end – and then wish for more. I highly recommend Three Wishes!
TV Series Review
Restaurants from the Edge
Streaming on Netflix
I love just about any series focusing on restaurants and food around the world, including anything by the late Anthony Bourdain. But I wasn’t sure whether I would warm to Restaurants on the Edge.
The premise is simple; three experts travel the world saving restaurants that are about to go under. Karin Bohn is an interior designer, Dennis Prescott is an international chef and Nick Liberato is a marketing guru. Together, they figure out how to turn around the ailing restaurants’ fortunes.
But how can they succeed, given that they have to do it in one week?
Despite my reservations, I quickly became addicted. Traveling around the world, the trio take on challenges from Austria to Hong Kong (with a few from Canada thrown in).
The restaurant owners have got themselves in a jam for a variety of reasons, from naively opening a business they know nothing about, to overburdening their budgets with pricey items nobody eats.
Together, they set out to clean up tacky interiors, revitalize menus with local ingredients and tune up owners with hard-won wisdom. Along the way, they explore local culture and farms, giving the viewer a taste of each exotic destination. In the tradition of all makeover shows, there’s a final scene in which the grateful owners walk into their establishments and weep copious tears of joy.
What I enjoy most about the series, however, is the knowledge about the service industry imparted by Dennis, Nick and Karin. They use their expertise to open up the viewers’ eyes to what goes on behind the scenes to make a restaurant a success. As someone who enjoys eating at family-run establishments wherever I travel, it’s fascinating to learn how such decisions as ingredients, marketing and the dining room environment contribute to the overall dining experience.
In the end, I learned a lot about what can go wrong at a restaurant, but far more fascinating, I learned what can go right. I highly recommend Restaurants on the Edge!
I always smile when visitors ask if Mexico has organic food. The truth is, most food is pesticide and antibiotic-free for the simple reason that farmers here can’t afford them.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be concerned, though. We went to Jorge’s restaurant in Salagua a few years ago. It’s a classic dirt-floor cantina where Mama cooks over charcoal in the kitchen.
I ordered quesadillas. “The chicken tastes terrific!” I said. “How do you get it so flavorful?”
Jorge pointed to hens pecking away under a nearby banana tree. “They eat the scorpions.”
Recipe: Chicken Quesadillas
This is a delicious recipe that’s easy to make using left-over chicken. We serve it as an appetizer with lots of sour cream and quacamole!
1 cup chopped cooked chicken (a rotisserie chicken works great for this)
2 Tsp taco chili seasoning
3 Tsp water
2 Tsp softened butter (or oil spray).
4 burrito-size flour tortillas
3/4 cup shredded cheese
Fresh lime wedges, guacamole, sour cream, for serving
Instructions
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the red bell pepper, garlic, red onion, and jalapeño (if using). Sauté until just tender and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
Add in the cooked chicken, taco seasoning, and water. Bring to a simmer, and cook until just thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove the chicken mixture from the skillet and set aside.
Heat oven to 425 F.
Take a large flour tortilla and fill one half side with chicken filling. Add a layer of cheese. Fold and coat outside with butter or oil spray. Place on a baking tray. Bake the quesadillas for 7 minutes on one side, then flip and bake for another 7 minutes.
Remove from the oven and immediately cut into wedges using a pizza cutter or sharp knife.
Serve with fresh lime wedges, guacamole, sour cream.
“In Paris, when you walk out the door . . . the day springs to life as a full-blown performance, and if you are not part of the audience, you are part of the cast.”
With a wonderful turn of phrase and a wicked sense of humour, Cope provides an intimate account of everyday life in a magical city, most often as “part of the cast.”
Cope and Linda find the Paris of their dreams on the Right Bank of the Seine in Le Marais, a neighbourhood rich in controversy, conspiracy, culture, and madness – in short, their kind of place.
Cope is struck by the immediateness of his surroundings and the subtle rhythms and pulses of the neighbourhood. His observations on life in Le Marais – its delightful residents, fascinating history, and sublime culinary experiences – are crystal clear and create an appealing intimacy.
Some days you might find yourself wandering the narrow lanes of Le Marais as he introduces you to the denizens of the area. On other days, you might find yourself at Cope’s side, delving into the colourful history of Le Marais.
And on in-between days, you will find your mouth watering at Cope’s delectable descriptions of their frequent forays into fine dining.
Book Review
Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead
By Sara Gran
The novel is narrated by Claire DeWitt, the world’s greatest private investigator. She is fearless, insightful and pulls no punches.
In City of the Dead, the first in a series of three books, Claire finds herself in New Orleans, searching for Victor Willing, a popular district attorney who disappeared during the flooding in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. According to his nephew Leon, Vic’s body was never recovered, and the family would like closure over his fate.
A devotee of the great French detective Jacques Sillette, Claire searches for an answer by identifying the clues that cling to every mystery – if only we can see them. Her investigation soon takes her to the grimy remnants of flooded neighbourhoods where drug dealers, the homeless and the dispossessed cling to life.
This is a compassionate story; Claire works to help redeem the souls who are still haunted by the tragedy of the flood. But it is also a dark comedy, as the detective heartily nourishes her own demons along the way. Although every character in the book insists that there are no happy endings in New Orleans, the author resolves the mystery in satisfying fashion and leaves the reader hungry for the next installment in the trilogy.
I highly recommend Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead!
Movie Review
American Beauty
Streaming on Netflix
Here’s a movie that has stood the test of time. When it was released in 2000, it was nominated for 8 Oscars and won 5, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Kevin Spacey) and Best Actress (Annette Bening).
The story revolves around Lester Burnham (Spacey), a frustrated suburbanite suffering a mid-life crisis. His wife Carol (Annette Bening), is an aspiring real estate agent who views her husband as a loser. Their teenage daughter Jane is a wanna-be Goth who hates them both.
Unbridled passions intrude. Lester develops an infatuation for Jane’s best friend Angela, played Lolita-style by Mena Suvari. Jane, in turn, falls for Ricky, the enigmatic son of the Burnham’s new neighbours. Carol has an affair with Buddy Kane, the King of Real Estate.
Lives go topsy-turvy. Lester loses his job, trades in his Camry for a Pontiac Firebird, and starts scoring weed from Ricky. Carol buys a gun. Jane and Ricky plot their escape from suburbia.
Calamity ensues. Lester is brutally murdered, but who did it? Was it Ricky’s closeted dad Colonel Fitts (played by a delightfully psychopathic Chris Cooper), broody Ricky or adulterous Carol?
While ostensibly a domestic tragedy, American Beauty straddles many genres, including mystery, black comedy and paranormal. While the personal lives of the cast have taken many turns over the years, the acting, directing, writing and cinematography have made this a classic movie that is still a delight to watch.
Our doctor has us on that anti-COVID regime where you take mega doses of Vitamins B, C, zinc and an anti-worm medicine for cats. I don’t know if it’s helping the COVID or not, but at least I’ve stopped rubbing my butt on the carpet.
Favorite Recipe; Split Roast Chicken
Delicious!
You can buy split roast chicken cooked in a charcoal pit virtually anywhere in Mexico. But it’s also easy to make at home in less than an hour, and it always comes out moist, tender and delicious!
Split (also called spatchcock, or butterfly), chicken is made by removing the backbone so that the whole chicken lies flat. You can do it at home if you have a good pair of meat shears, but it’s also sold pre-cut in La Comer; if you don’t see one out on the shelf, just ask the butcher to prepare one for you (butterfly translates as ‘mariposa’ in Spanish – easy to remember).
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, backbone removed.
½ cup of butter, soft
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp of salt
½ tsp of black pepper
2 Tsp of parsley, chopped
Two carrots, chopped
2 potatoes, chopped
Directions
Heat the oven to 425F.
Lay the chicken skin-side up in an oven tray that has been sprayed with oil or covered with parchment paper and allow it to warm to room temperature.
Mix together the butter, garlic, salt, pepper and parsley into a paste. Place half the paste under the skin of the breast and legs, and spread the rest on top of the skin. Add in the carrots and potatoes around the chicken.
Roast uncovered for 45 minutes, then cover and allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving.
Enjoy!
TV Series Review
Firefly Lane
Streaming on Netflix
The ten-episode series follows the life of two women from their first meeting as teenagers into their forties.
Tully, played by Katherine Heigl, is the daughter of Cloud, a free-spirited hippie with a VW microbus and a penchant for drugs. Kate, played by Sarah Clarke, is growing up in a traditional family setting where her mom bakes apple pies and dad rules the roost.
Predictably, their lives shape their personalities and their relationship. Tully is driven to be the focus of attention wherever she is, while Kate tries her best to blend into the wallpaper. Each sees the other as part of what they aspire to be: loved, yet respected; independent, yet needed.
The narrative flashes back and forth between their childhoods and adulthood, where Tully has gained fame as the host of national talk show, while Kate has raised a family and now seeks to rejoin the working world.
Naturally, nothing goes to plan. Tully careens between lovers while Kate struggles with the divorce from her husband Johnny and blossoming love for single dad Travis.
The fast-paced shifting back and forth in time and space is a little confusing at first, but series creator Maggie Freeman masters the same editing technique used in the widely popular This is Us, creating a captivating narrative.
FBI AGENT JACK KENYON is squaring off against one of his most intractable foes.
Dev Patek, a renowned nuclear physicist, has been found lifeless in his backyard. All evidence points to suicide, until a letter arrives at Kenyon’s desk, to be delivered only after Patek’s untimely death.
But the dead man letter is in code, a cipher that requires the use of a mysterious manuscript to crack it. The message may reveal who killed Patek, or something far more sinister.
As Jack pursues Dev’s murder, he begins to uncover a comprehensive scheme to steal one of the world’s most valuable secrets, the blueprint to Baron Feargus Morgan’s nuclear engine.
Follow Jack from San Francisco to London as he pursues a host of spies, murderers and kidnappers who will stop at nothing to achieve their goal.
Movie Review
I Care a Lot
Streaming on Netflix
This black comedy is about an unscrupulous legal guardian who preys upon the elderly by getting them committed under her care.
The guardian, Marla, is played by Rosamund Pike, a shark dressed in designer labels. She connives with doctors and retirement-home executives to dupe an over-loaded legal system into giving her custody of elderly patients. Once under her control, she isolates them from their families and bleeds their estates dry.
Marla’s system seems foolproof until she snares an elderly widow named Jennifer (Dianne Wiest). The latter seems like the perfect victim; rich, childless and easily bossed around. What Marla doesn’t realize is that she has entrapped her worst nightmare.
The nightmare in question is Roman, a local criminal boss played in delightfully evil fashion by Peter Dinklage. Jennifer, it turns out, is in charge of laundering his ill-gotten gains, including a stash of cut diamonds. When Roman discovers Jennifer has been stripped of her freedom and stashed away, the result is a cat-and-mouse game between Roman and Marla as they spar for control.
Written and directed by J Blakeson, the real criminal in this tale is the justice system that allows wide-spread abuse of the elderly under the legal custodial system. Although recently highlighted in the news by Britney Spears’ battle to regain control of her life, scores of the young, elderly and sick find themselves in a similar predicament.
Regardless, you’ll find yourself loving to hate and hating to love I Care a Lot.
It’s a sunny morning and I am driving into Santiago. On the shoulder of the road, a man dressed in bright green running shorts is pushing a titanium baby stroller worth more than my car. And he is wearing a mariachi sombrero.
Man, I wish I could blend in like that.
When we were living in Paris, I vowed to learn French. One day, Linda sent me to the department store to buy a new set of shower rod rings. My dictionary explained that the French translation for rod was baguette, and ring was anneau. Unfortunately, they were also slang for penis and asshole. I hustled down to the housewares department where, using helpful sign language, I asked a young clerk where I could sodomize her, at a reasonable price.
Now I’m doing my best to learn Spanish. Although I haven’t managed to issue carnal invitations yet, I do elicit broad grins from grocery clerks as they patiently inquire what language I’m speaking.
There are other ways to embrace my new home, of course. After living here for a few years, I felt comfortable enough to invite Mexican friends over for dinner. In the spirit of assimilation, I decided to serve Kraft macaroni and cheese in tortillas. They were speechless.
I had better luck dancing. Mexicans like to grind their hips when they boogie. My personal form of cutting the carpet is often described as ‘spastic prancing’, which, when combined with hip grinding, tends to generate lots of personal space under the disco ball.
Still, there’s lots more I can do. Mexicans appreciate kind gestures; I could keep a roll of Tums in my car for the street-corner busker who blows flaming gasoline from his mouth.
On second thought, maybe I’ll just ask the jogger where he got that cool hat.
Recipe: Roast lamb
Delicious!
This is super easy to do and a big hit with family and guests, especially when served with baby potatoes.
Ingredients
1 leg of lamb, deboned, about five pounds in weight. (La Comer sells them in the frozen meat section).
1 lb of baby potatoes, boiled.
3 garlic gloves
1 sprig of fresh rosemary.
1 small chili, minced.
¼ cup of olive oil.
¼ cup of wine.
1 tsp of salt.
1 tsp of pepper.
2 Tsp of flour.
Sliced onion.
Chopped parsley
Butter.
Directions
Rinse the lamb and pat dry.
Mix the garlic, chili, rosemary, olive oil, wine, salt and pepper in a blender.
Place the lamb in a Creuset (iron pot) atop a bed of sliced onion and pour the marinade over the meat. Set aside for at least one hour to let the meat warm to room temperature.
Set your oven to 400 F.
Place the meat in the oven, uncovered, and allow to cook for 90 minutes. The outside will crisp up while the inside is medium rare. If you have a meat thermometer, the inside temperature should be around 300 F. Allow to cook for another 30 minutes if you prefer medium or well done.
Remove the roast and tent it on a serving platter, along with the roasted onion bed. Mix the flour with ½ cup of roast drippings. Put the iron pot on a stovetop burner and heat the drippings to a mild boil, then slowly pour in the flour mixture to create gravy. Salt to taste.
Carve the lamb and serve it with the boiled baby potatoes that have been garnished with chopped parsley and butter.
Enjoy!
Valentine’s Treat!
Click on cover for free download!
“A heart-warming, romantic romp through Paris.”
Book Review
The Guardians
by John Grisham
John Grisham loves to write about the underdog, and this 2019 novel is no exception. Cullen Post is a lawyer and Episcopalian minister and a partner with The Guardian Ministries, a non-profit organization that works to free innocent prisoners from the American penal system. They have saved a handful of inmates from death row, and are constantly searching for new cases.
In the tiny town of Seabrook, Florida, a lawyer named Keith Russo was brutally murdered in his office late one night. There were no witnesses, but the sheriff quickly focused on Quincy Miller, a young black man who was unhappy with Russo’s handling of his divorce settlement. Using sketchy evidence and testimony from a jailhouse snitch, Quincy is convicted of first-degree murder and sent to prison for life without any hope.
Reviewing the testimony, Post and his cohorts realize that Quincy was railroaded. Even though the trial was over 20 year ago, they begin a new investigation, hunting down witnesses and challenging their testimony. They slowly piece together a cohesive defence to overturn the conviction.
They also uncover evidence of the motive and means of the real killers, a sinister cabal that has run the drug trade in northern Florida for decades. As Post gets closer to the truth, his safety comes under jeopardy. He has to race against time to not only exonerate Quincy, but to save his own life.
I highly recommend The Guardians!
TV Series Review
Lupin
Streaming on Netflix
Based upon a series of mystery novels from the early 20th century, Lupin is a contemporary update of the gentleman thief and master of disguise who steals from the rich and eludes the police.
Actor Omar Sy plays Assane Diop, the son of Babakar, a Senegalese immigrant who came to France seeking a better life. While working as the driver for Hubert Pelligrini, a powerful businessman, Babakar is convicted of theft when a valuable diamond necklace is stolen from the Pelligrini home. The ashamed man hangs himself in his cell, making Assane an orphan.
Assane grows up vowing revenge. Using the tales of Lupin as a role model, Assane hones his skills of deception in order to steal valuables from gullible rich folk. He builds up a nest egg and a cadre of cohorts to pull off a heist in the Louvre, where a valuable necklace is being auctioned.
When the necklace disappears, the French police launch a massive investigation, but their case runs cold until one detective, a fellow fan of the Lupin novels, focuses his attention on Assane. The two play a game of cat and mouse, with Assane always staying one step ahead, until the series reaches an exciting and satisfying climax.
Driving in Mexico is similar to juggling chainsaws; it requires agility, skill and an utter lack of sanity.
Mexican motorists approach driving as a philosophical exercise – in this case, nihilism. Passing on a blind corner at high speed while texting is the norm.
Drinking is also a popular pastime. At Easter, jurisdictions throughout Mexico festoon their roads with smashed cars featuring catsup-smeared mannequins hanging out the windows. Beer sales go up.
Drivers at night consider stop lights akin to Christmas decorations, except when the light is yellow, which compels them to stomp strenuously on the gas pedal.
Road crews dig trenches across lanes then mark them at night with a tree branch or an old tire to warn of the hazard. And forget about pot holes.
Drivers in Mexico adjust accordingly. They use mental telepathy to indicate a lane change and, if a more complex maneuver is required, they hit the emergency flashers. This grants them the right to enact new traffic laws, including the right to pull a U-turn over a highway divider or back up along the shoulder to a missed off-ramp. Their universal usage is a god-send to every other motorist, as it forewarns an act of idiocy.
My major concern is that I have become a Mexican driver through a decade of osmosis. While this greatly enhances my chances of survival, it also predisposes major traffic tickets when I return to Canada. I can only hope they still have Uber.
Recipe: Salmon burgers with Tzatziki sauce.
These are great! Easy to make and very delicious, it’s the perfect lunch meal, either served in a bun or stand alone!
Delicious!
Ingredients
1 lb fresh salmon filet (you can also use two cans of tinned salmon, drained).
1 clove of crushed garlic
½ tsp Black pepper
3 Tsp of olive oil
1 cup onion, finely diced
1/2 red bell pepper diced
3 Tbsp unsalted butter divided
1 cup Panko or bread crumbs
2 large eggs lightly beaten
3 Tbsp mayo
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
Directions
If you are using fresh salmon, preheat oven to 425˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place salmon skin-side down, brush with 1 Tsp olive oil. Bake uncovered for 10-15 min or just until cooked through. Remove, discard skin and use a fork to flake the meat.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 Tsp olive oil, 1 Tsp butter, garlic, pepper and finely diced onion and bell pepper. Saute until golden, remove from heat.
In a large mixing bowl, combine cooled flaked salmon, sautéed onion and pepper, bread crumbs, eggs, mayo, Worcestershire sauce and fresh parsley. Stir to combine. Form into 4-6 patties.
Heat 1 Tsp oil and 2 Tsp butter in a large pan over medium heat and once butter is done sizzling, sauté 3 1/2 to 4 min per side or until golden brown and cooked through. Smear Tzatziki sauce on toasted buns, add lettuce and serve.
Tzatziki Sauce
½ cup grated cucumber
1 cup plain yogurt
1 Tsp of sour cream
1 Tsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp chopped fresh mint and/or dill
1 Tsp lemon juice
1 medium clove garlic, minced
½ tsp fine sea salt
Squeeze the grated cucumber between your palms over the sink to remove excess moisture. Salt the cucumber and place on a paper towel.
Put the cucumber in a medium bowl. Add the yogurt, olive oil, herbs, lemon juice, garlic, and salt, and stir to blend. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Serve tzatziki immediately or chill for later.
The latest FBI Agent Jack Kenyon mystery thriller!
“COPE HAS DONE IT AGAIN – DEAD MAN CIPHER IS A REAL PAGE-TURNER!” MC Anderson, founder of the san Miguel de Allende book club
FBI AGENT JACK KENYON is squaring off against one of his most intractable foes.
Dev Patek, a renowned nuclear physicist, has been found lifeless in his backyard. All evidence points to suicide, until a letter arrives at Kenyon’s desk, to be delivered only after Patek’s untimely death.
But the dead man letter is in code, a cipher that requires the use of a mysterious manuscript to crack it. The message may reveal who killed Patek, or something far more sinister.
As Jack pursues Dev’s murder, he begins to uncover a comprehensive scheme to steal one of the world’s most valuable secrets, the blueprint to Baron Feargus Morgan’s nuclear engine.
Follow Jack from San Francisco to London as he pursues a host of spies, murderers and kidnappers who will stop at nothing to achieve their goal.
Movie Review
Death to 2020
Streaming on Netflix
This is a hilarious mockumentary highlighting the mad, bad, horrific year that has mercifully finally come to an end. It features interviews with star reporter Dash Bracket, played profanely by Samuel Jackson, as well as dotty history professor Tennyson Foss (Hugh Grant), White House spokesperson Jeanetta Grace Susan (Liza Kudrow), and Queen Elizabeth II (Tracey Ullman).
Interspersed between the faux interviews are clips from the real actors, including Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Rudi Guiliani and a host of debauched maniacs striving to make the planet shoddier than they found it.
The film walks us through the year chronologically, starting with the undisclosed emergence of COVID in China to its inevitable spread throughout the world to the presidential campaign, Brexit, and pretty much every other dumpster fire you might care to forget.
While it sounds depressing, the satirical narration (by Laurence Fishburne), and such over-the-top performances by Kumail Nanjiani (playing an egocentric dot.com billionaire), and Samson Kayo (a crazy scientist), quickly overcome any misgivings of revisiting the most odious year that anyone alive has experienced.
I highly recommend Death to 2020; if you’re like me, you’ll cry ‘til you laugh!
TV Series Review
Bridgerton
Streaming on Netflix
Based on the romance novels of Julia Quinn, Bridgerton is a bodice ripper set in 1813 at the height of social season. Royalty parades itself in fancy ball costumes amid pomp and circumstance befitting the British Empire.
The plot revolves around the Bridgerton family, where mama must find suitable suitors for her four coming-of-age daughters. Top of the list is Daphne, who has been pronounced the ‘jewel of the season’, by none other than Queen Charlotte herself.
Daphne (played by a doe-eyed Phoebe Dynevor), must navigate the debutant minefield as she seeks out her true love. She inveigles Simon, the aloof Duke of Hastings (played by the immensely handsome Regé Jean Page), to act as a fake admirer in order to ward off her most oleaginous suitors.
Even though Simon and Daphne court one another in chaste fashion, there’s plenty of sex going on throughout the series as supporting actors take every opportunity to fornicate in everything from the library to the back of a stage-coach.
Making everything more complicated, an anonymous gossip with the alias of Lady Whistledown publishes weekly pamphlets revealing the marital secrets of all and sundry, creating titillation and panic throughout the capital.
The series is a lavishly staged period rom-com with laughter, heartbreak and a happy ending. Thankfully, Quinn has penned several sagas surrounding the Bridgerton clan, and we can expect many more holiday treats as her work reaches the small screen. I highly recommend Bridgerton!
Normally, December in Mexico is a cacophony of song and joyous noise as everyone revels in the festive season. Carols play out of loudspeakers, cannonballs burst in the air like pious anti-aircraft flak and costumed worshipers march through the streets of Santiago to celebrate the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Not this year. The roads around the Santiago parish are devoid of the stalls selling religious icons and pork tacos. No lights glitter on the boulevard. The annual firework extravaganza that caps New Year’s Eve has been scratched.
That won’t stop Mexicans from celebrating, however. Christmas is a time for families to reunite, and folks will be heading home to Granny’s from not only the US, but from throughout the country. They will celebrate with traditional Christmas cakes shaped like the magi’s crowns and lots and lots of tequila – COVID be damned.
Hopefully, vaccines will eventually arrive and curb the devastating pandemic. With any luck, everything will begin to return to normal in 2021, and we will once again celebrate not only holidays but life in general. Until then, stay safe!
Recipe: Red Curry Fish
I first ate this dish in Thailand and immediately fell in love. This is a delicious and exotic main to serve guests – plus it`s easy to make!
Ingredients (serves 4)
Half-pound of shrimp, shelled.
Half pound of white fish, cut into 1-in cubes.
8 mushrooms, cut in half.
1 can of coconut milk
1 tsp of red curry paste
2 Tsp of fish sauce.
1 Tsp of brown sugar
2 Kaffir lime leaves (or 1 Tsp of lime zest).
Chopped fresh basil and coriander
Lime juice
1 cup of Jasmine rice. (Makes 2 cups when cooked).
Directions
In an electric fry pan or large pan with a lid, mix in coconut milk, red curry paste, fish sauce, lime and sugar. Bring to a boil, cover, then let simmer on low for ten minutes.
Cook the rice.
Add the fish and shrimp and return to boil. Let cook for 2-3 minutes, until shrimp is red and fish is no longer translucent.
Serve on cooked rice. Garnish with fresh basil and coriander. Add lime juice to taste.
“In Paris, when you walk out the door . . . the day springs to life as a full-blown performance, and if you are not part of the audience, you are part of the cast.”
Sometimes your wildest dreams really do come true. No-one knows this better than author Gordon Cope whose life took a very exciting turn when his wife, Linda, was offered a one-year posting to the world’s fantasy destination – Paris, the City of Light.
They find the Paris of their dreams on the Right Bank of the Seine in Le Marais, a neighbourhood rich in controversy, conspiracy, culture, and madness – in short, their kind of place.
In Paris, more than anywhere else, Cope is struck by the immediateness of his surroundings amid centuries of history, and the subtle rhythms and pulses of the neighbourhood. His observations on life in Le Marais – its delightful residents, fascinating history, and sublime culinary experiences in the local brasseries and restaurants – are crystal clear and create an appealing intimacy.
Some days you might find yourself wandering the narrow lanes of Le Marais as Cope introduces you to the denizens of the area. On other days, you might find yourself delving into the colourful history of Paris.
With a wonderful turn of phrase and a wicked sense of humour, Cope provides an intimate account of everyday life in a magical city!
Movie Review
Goodfellas
Streaming on Netflix
Directed by Martin Scorsese, the movie is based upon Wiseguy, a best-selling book written by New York journalist Nicholas Pileggi. Scorsese and Pileggi collaborated in the screenplay, and the movie was released in 1990 to wide acclaim.
The film is primarily narrated by Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), an up-and-coming Mafioso who uses his amiability to ingratiate himself in the local mob. Along with henchmen James Conway (Robert de Niro), and Tommy DeVito (played by the wonderfully flamboyant Joe Pesci, who won an Oscar for his supporting role), he cheerfully robs millions of dollars from airplane payloads, shark-skin suits from shipping trucks – and virtually anything else that isn’t bolted down.
Life is sweet, with bribes to cops and politicians granting immunity to their nefarious deeds. His downfall eventually occurs not from an FBI investigation, but internal squabbles. Temperamental Tommy whacks a made man, unleashing the ire of Mafia capos, which ultimately motivates Henry to flee into a government witness protection program.
At times hilarious and horrifying, Goodfellas is an entertaining look into the colorful and seedy New York gangster culture of mid-20th century America.
Book Review
The Brass Verdict
By Michael Connelly
In my opinion, this is one of the LA mystery writer’s best novels. Criminal lawyer Mickey Haller, finally recovered from a devastating gunshot wound, finds himself in the thick of courtroom drama when he inherits the practice of a murdered attorney.
Top of the case file is Walter Elliot, billionaire owner of a Hollywood studio. The press is whipped into a feeding frenzy when he is charged with murder after his wife and her lover are found dead from a violent shooting in their Malibu love nest. Haller not only has to find a way to acquit his client but fend off the media tsunami.
Haller has the backing of his dedicated crew but also the unexpected aid of Detective Harry Bosch, an LAPD murder inspector with his own agenda. Together, they peal back the layers of deception and dig for the truth.
