A friend of mine, who is a very talented sculptor, had an exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland last year. This was her first exhibition abroad so a couple of friends and I decided to go with her in advance of the opening day to help with the set up.
During our 3 day stay, I spent nearly every minute of my free time at a store called Globus. Not only did I eat the best Chinese food ever and bought my beloved melamine serveware, but I also found something very precious: Cafe de Paris spice mix.
Over the years, I became addicted to these rich, tender and satisfyingly sweet (but not overly so) scones. The preparation is extremely easy and the recipe below is a true classic, made tender and rich with cream, butter and eggs.
Back in the spring of ’99, after endless days of house hunting, Özlem and I managed to find a 3 bedroom flat in the foggiest and most depressing district of San Francisco – Richmond district, 22nd and Balboa to be specific – just a day prior to getting kicked out by our landlord, who looked like the Chinese twin of Joan Collins. Sick and tired of getting rejected because of our nonexistent credit history, we really did not mind that the house looked exactly like the ones we have looked at over the past 15 exhausting days.
Everyday was a deja vous. Same carpet, same layout, same kitchen cabinets, same tasteless linoleum flooring, etc. Up to this very day, we still suspect that every apartment owner starting from Masonic all the way to Ocean Beach hired the same grotty contractor, who decided to redo all these houses exactly the same way just so he can get an extra discount for his bulk orders.
