Frances Mayes's Journal Travel, Food, Books, People

The stack of books waiting by my bed has risen to tottering height. So much to read and already the spring garden is calling. I want to recommend Ecology of a Cracker Childhood and Drifting into Darien, both by Georgia writer Janisse Ray. She is a memoir writer and and ecologist / naturalist who grew [...]

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Sunday night supper–the words conjure a rainy, homey evening with just the family, a crusty chicken pot pie or a hearty beef stew served with a simple wine. In actuality, at our house, Sunday night supper takes place several nights a week.  When we are alone, we cook simply. Ed makes a huge soup twice [...]

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This weekend we found a big fluffy cedar down in the driveway. It was only about twelve years old so shouldn’t have fallen. No wind. No apparent disease.  Just gave up the ghost.  (What DOES that really mean??)  Meanwhile, we’re taking down lots of truly dead trees along our lane, ripping out ivy, and securing [...]

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Now that trip-planning season and winter dreaming are intersecting, I want to recommend two big, coffee-table books. You won’t be packing them in your suitcase, but perhaps will copy lots of info from them. As you see, I wrote a foreword for the Italian one. It’s just a brief note. The real work was not [...]

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In the current issue of Martha Stewart Living, I read the article on Martha’s workroom. My first reaction was, “This is obsessive.” My second was that I would love to have such an orderly space for projects.  On a smaller scale, I saw @ElbieSwan on Twitter. She’d reorganized her pantry so nicely. I have [...]

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