Who Could Resist a Parisienne Romance with Recipes?

What could be more luxurious than having your own personal guide in the world’s great cities to take you shopping to all those out of the way places only insiders know and don’t usually reveal? I Know A Little Place asks both local residents and international experts to open their personal black books and give you their own special shopping destinations – the ones they recommend to friends looking for a perfect item and a memorable experience. The following is a review of Cooking for Me and Sometimes You by Barbara-jo.

Who Could Resist a Parisienne Romance with Recipes?

When Odile Heiller, owner and founder of the Village Voice, Paris’s English-American bookstore, describes a book as a “must read,” no person in their right mind would pass it up. Not only because Odile and her domain are a center of gravity for the city’s Anglophone artistic and literary community, but because she has perfect pitch for matching readers and books.

Once home with my copy of Cooking for Me and Sometimes You: A Parisienne Romance with Recipes by Barbara-jo McIntosh, I read – actually devoured – the book from cover to cover in one evening. Barbara-jo, if you are listening, I felt I was right there with you: tasting and testing our way through some of the city’s best pastry, bread, cheese, wine and specialty food shops, sharing walks through my neighborhood on the Left Bank, savoring the lights on the Seine at evening, and always, enjoying the chic and simple dinners in your apartment. You captured it all in a book that is as much poetry as prose.

Barbara-jo shared so much of herself and her Parisian sojourn, that I wanted to know more about her life as a food professional.

Her story can be viewed on her Books to Cooks website, www.bookstocooks.com, where her Vancouver store features cookbooks, wine books, international periodicals as well as rare and out of print books. A food-focused reading club, events, and cooking demonstrations go on throughout the year and the store’s blog, http://blog.bookstocooks.com, invites everyone into the friendly conversation.

Take Odile’s advice – whether you are a cook, a lover of Paris, or just someone who appreciates a charming read, Cooking for Me and Sometimes You will leave you with the same warm satisfaction as a good meal with a friend. Who could ask for more?

TK of www.iknowalittleplace.com

Cooking For Me and Sometimes You on VPL's January Staff Picks

Cooking For Me and Sometimes You by our very own Barbara-jo McIntosh is on January's Vancouver Public Library Staff Fiction Picks: "This lovely book is guaranteed to bring out the romantic, not to mention the appetite, in every armchair traveller."

Paris at Pastis

Feel like a little visit to the City of Lights to get you through Autumn? From October 13 through November 13, Bistro Pastis is featuring a celebration of Paris with special Parisian bistro menus. To launch the month-long festival, Pastis will be featuring Cooking for Me and Sometimes You by Barbara-jo McIntosh.

On Wednesday, October 13 at 6:30 p.m., join Barbara-jo at Bistro Pastis for a delightful menu inspired by Cooking for Me and Sometimes You:
-Watercress salad with Crab, Pancetta, Lemon and Chive Mayonnaise (Domaine de Grachies)
-Roast Pork Tenderloin, Squash and Potato Puree, Apple Cider Sauce (Brouilly George Duboeuf) or Duck Confit, Sauce a l'Orange, Glazed Turnips, Pomme Dauphine (Pinot Noir Louis Jadot)
-Ginger Poached Pear, Coffee Ice Cream

Tickets are $115.00 and include all taxes and gratuities. Please call our shop at 604-688-6755 to register.

Cooking for Me AND You

Throughout the summer, Books to Cooks has been hosting Parisienne lunch salons featuring Barbara-jo's Cooking for Me and Sometimes You. Julie Pegg writes about her lunchtime sojourn to Paris and reviews Cooking for Me in EAT Magazine.

Our next Parisienne bistro salon is Wednesday, August 11 at 12:00 noon. Call 604-688-6755 to register.

Photo by Julie Pegg

Cooking for Me: a Perfect Summer Read

Tim Pawsey reviews Barbara-jo's Parisienne memoir, Cooking for Me and Sometimes You in this article in the Courier. It's the perfect summer read for the beach, cottage or garden.

Also, all the books mentioned in Tim's article are available at Books to Cooks.

Where to Find Cooking for Me and Sometimes You

Copies of Cooking for Me and Sometimes You by Barbara-jo McIntosh may be purchased directly through our shop (drop by or call us at 604-688-6755) and and through select purveyors of fine books.

In British Columbia:
Hager Books (Vancouver)
Country Furniture (Vancouver and North Vancouver)
Call the Kettle Black (Vancouver and North Vancouver)

Canada:
Librairie Gourmand (Montreal)

In the US:
Kitchen Arts & Letters (New York)
Omnivore Books (San Francisco)

In Europe:
Village Voice (Paris)

Several libraries locally and across Canada are also carrying Cooking for Me and Sometimes You.

Cooking for Me: Falling in love with Paris and books

Cooking for Me and Sometimes You gets reviewed in a couple of local publications this week.

Carolyn Ali includes Cooking for Me in a summer cookbook whirlwind trip around the globe in this article in the Georgia Straight including Barbara-jo's mouthwatering recipe for Pan-roasted rib-eye steak with Roquefort and red pepper butter and Barbara-jo's new classic cocktail, Pink Drink.

Mia Stainsby falls in love with books and Paris in this article in the Vancouver Sun. The article also appears in the National Post and Victoria's Times Colonist.

Cooking for Me and Sometimes You: Recent Reviews

Cooking for Me and Sometimes You is a gem of a book. Part journal, part cookbook, all passionate love for Paris.

Rhonda May reviews Cooking for Me and Sometimes You in this article in City Food Magazine.

And here's review by local writer, Duncan Holmes, whose writing can be found at his site.

With Cooking for Me and Sometimes You, Barbara-jo McIntosh carried us to her Paris flat, and there, in the shadow of Notre Dame, shared her kitchen, her month of supplies, and yes, even it seems, her bed, as her gentle story folded back the covers of a life being discovered. Food is central to all of BJ's tale—a stainless-steel frying pan constantly sputtering with beurre, and a parade of goodies that she gathers along her Parisian way. But it is a tale too of the heart, where her words and feelings are beautifully squeezed, sometimes with tears, onto the pages of Cooking for Me and Sometimes You. As the rain soaks the City of Light in late February, and it feels like her Vancouver, BJ writes of her friend and perhaps lover: "We both have so much to be grateful for in our individual lives, but when one lives too long without identifying one's pain, it is possible to, indeed, become lost." And she continues: "I am beginning to believe that this time we are sharing together is helping to melt the ice that has frozen over the core of both our hearts." Haven't we all been here before? Or at very least close? This is a cookbook—an icon BJ knows so very well—but it also a personal and revealing journal that Paris has inspired in so many who have bared their souls to the city's siren call. There are unanswered questions in Cooking for Me. Hopefully, this lady will soon take 'pen' in hand and write more. I know that we will be glad to be the Sometimes You, as often as she invites us in.

Duncan Holmes
June 2010

NXNW podcast with Barbara-jo

If you missed Barbara-jo's interview on North by Northwest this past Sunday, you can download the podcast from the CBC NXNW site for Sunday, July 4. Barbara-jo's interview with Sheryl MacKay starts about half-way through the podcast.

North by Northwest Interview

Tune in this coming Sunday, July 4th to hear Barbara-jo McIntosh being interviewed by Sheryl MacKay--the host of CBC's Radio 1 program North by Northwest--between 7:30-8:00 a.m.

An Affair to Remember...

Mes Amis

I have many memories, thankfully. Dates travel through the year and arrive at their destination, and if you happen to be around me at the moment you might just hear me say, “it was on this day, when I was eight, that I was hit by a car”. Or, “it was on this date, my grandfather would have been 126”, and so on. But it was on June 17th, 2010 - cinq a sept - that I launched 'my little one' and though it was only a few days ago, the memory is hazy at best. For me, the affair was magical, surreal and over-whelming. So many of you were there to support me, thank you, from the tip of my Parisienne pink toes - complete with tour Eiffel - to the top of my tête rouge(ish).

As luck would have it, Carol was walking along the seawall one day and discovered DINETTE, our amazing Django Quartet. I am looking for an excuse to have another fête so I can have them near me again soon. Lawren, Mark and Glenys organized the food (recipes from the book), while Brad, head barman at UVA, came to muddle the Pink Drink (recipe in the book) and Barb took care of the gold at the till.

Of course Bernie Lyon was there, grinning from ear to ear. My eyes well up with joy and gratitude when I leaf through the pages of COOKING for ME and SOMETIMES YOU. Thank you Bernie, your illustrations captured my mood beautifully. Ruth Wilson, with her leg in cast, was there too. Ruth was my editor/proofer. Ruth proofed Tin Fish Gourmet back in 1998 so this was our second liason. The memory of her professionalism stuck with me and I was delighted she was available for this project. As well as bringing Dinette into our lives, Carol helped me manage the project, and of course, there were moments of distress. Merci Carol, your aid was magnifique. (Oh yes, thanks for serving the pink drink)

The books showed up the day before the fête…sigh. The fête was grand and I won’t forget it.

I hope those of you who have purchased COOKING for ME and SOMETIMES YOU - are enjoying my ‘little one’. It is a very private book and it was cathartic for me to write the words. And, if you haven't yet purchased the book, I HOPE you do!

Barbara-jo McIntosh

June, 2010

More photos of the evening's festivities may be found here.