What a beautiful blustery day it was yesterday, bright and brisk. After a few weeks away from Paris, I was happy to sink back into comfortable Sunday activities. What did I do?

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I can’t get enough of this news story. Apparently, a hungry wild panda broke into the pig pen of some neighboring Sichuan farmers and started gorging on their leftover pork ribs! This story is amazing to me because: A) Pandas are herbivores; their diet is mostly composed of bamboo. B) There are very, very few pandas left in the wild — less than 2,000 according to a 2004 WWF study. C) Someone managed to catch this on tape?!

I’m no panda expert, but I have visited and written about the Chengdu Panda Reserve in China’s Sichuan province twice. While I was there in 2005, I even made a new friend.
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Bonjour mes amis! I am back from my wanderings and home from my book tour!I was so happy to meet so many old and new friends in Southern California and couldn’t believe it when I saw Book Soup’s sign in Hollywood (photo above). How many times do you see your name in lights on Sunset Boulevard? Next to Rupaul, no less!
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Hello and greetings from San Francisco! Though I’m officially in town to promote my novel, Kitchen Chinese – I hope you’ll join me for my reading TONIGHT at 6pm at Books, Inc. (601 Van Ness) — I’ve managed to sneak in a little fun as well. What have I been up to?
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Oh, mes amis, where do I even start? Well, the good news is that we had a wonderful party on Tuesday at the beautiful Museum of Chinese in America, sponsored by the delicious Luckyrice Asian food festival. I loved seeing old and new friends from the New York book and magazine world and was incredibly touched that so many people braved the impending snowstorm to celebrate Kitchen Chinese.
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Hello and greetings from the the Big Apple!

Since I arrived on Friday, I’ve indulged in a cheap pedicure, feasted on lots of great food (spicy tuna rolls and tri-color rolls at Yama, housemade fresh tofu at En Brasserie – yum!), enjoyed an icy saketini, and spent a whole day eating nothing but toasted sandwiches (yesterday was panini Monday). I have also been so excited to be in the big city, I’ve forgotten to take photographs at every turn!

Kitchen Chinese is officially on sale today! I was thrilled to see it mentioned in the New York Post’s required reading column on Sunday. I was also honored and touched to have the book mentioned by blogger friends Camille of the delicious Croque Camille and Kathy of the adorable Kathy’s Red Door Welcome – merci mille fois, chères amies!

Tonight is the book’s big party at the Museum of Chinese in America — I’m making a noodle salad and have been up to my eyeballs in spicy peanut sauce! Check back soon for a post on the big event…

Finally, if you’re in Washington, DC and looking for ideas to ring in the Year of the Tiger, check out my post on the Washingtonian magazine’s website. I’ll be speaking at the Border’s on L Street tomorrow at 6.30pm and hope you’ll brave the snow to come talk about Chinese food!

Bonjour, mes amis! I saw the prettiest window display while running errands this afternoon — the birth of a ballet shoe.
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The French love their coffee, it is true, drunk in the morning with lots of milk, or in tiny cups after meals. But doesn’t the caffeine bother them? Don’t they ever have trouble sleeping? In a word, yes.

In fact, I’ve discovered that if there’s any drink the French are as passionate about as coffee, it’s the tisane (pronounced tee-zahn). What’s a tisane? It’s just another word for herbal tea. But, like so many other things culinary, in France it seems to have a spawned a whole industry of its own.
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It’s taken me over a year, but I think I’ve finally cottoned onto the French secret to eating well at home. Is it shopping at the farmer’s market every day? Making the daily rounds of butcher, baker, and green grocer? Lovingly slaving over a hot stove, preparing delicious and nutritious meals every night? Ha — who has time for that? No, the secret, mes amis, is Picard.

What is Picard? Simply put, it’s a chain of stores selling frozen food. But not just any frozen food. Alongside the usually icy suspects, like pizzas and readymade meals, are an array of frozen products designed to ease the busy gourmand’s lifestyle.
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Today’s post is dedicated to my friend, Heather — perhaps you recognize her name from the comments section. It’s a pretty name, Heather, isn’t it? In the United States, it was the eighth most popular name for baby girls of the 1970s, and tenth most popular of the 1980s. Too bad Heather’s parents didn’t know that she would grow up to become a French professor.

You see, the word “heather” is virtually unpronounceable by Francophones. There’s something about the aspirated “h” followed by the “th” combination that ties French tongues into knots. As a result, Heather has spent years in France hearing her name butchered. She’s learned to answer to “Ez-air,” “Ez-rrrrr” and many other variations.

As you probably know, the name refers to an evergreen, flowering plant indigenous to Scotland’s peaty landscape. In France, they call the plant bruyère (photo above), a word that Heather herself taught me. At first, I was incredibly impressed she knew such an arcane term. “You’ll see why,” she told me.

Out to dinner that evening, I introduced Heather to a French pal. “Je m’appelle Heather,” she told him.

“Ez-air? EZ-rrr?” he repeated unhappily.

“It’s a flower, the same thing as bruyère in French,” she told him.

Guess what he called her for the rest of the night?

“I just can’t remember what your English name is,” he told her.

Later, Heather assured me this was far from the first time that had ever happened.

“What’s in a name? That which we call heather by any other name — eg bruyère — would smell as sweet.” I’m pretty sure that’s an exact quote from the Bard’s mouth.