September Diet

grapes blog, tart agenda, Babar book review, iconic stripes etc.

concord grapes as part of a train picnic for two to Montreal (not pictured salami sandwiches, apricots, and two bottles of Martinelli apple juice)

Here is my monthly diet of things that have occupied my thoughts, moved me in some way or just feel special enough to share with you here in the form of food, clothes, movies, books etc. for paying subscribers (thank you!). Last month’s diet included my French menu dress and an ebay deep dive for the best food-related Pleats Please pieces, summer toasts, movies I like to watch for resetting for fall, a chic pregnancy dress and matching cake and purchases from Mast Books.

Grapes Blog

I searched "grape" in my photos and a screenshot I took in 2018 came up of a post by Lee Manning. It's a photo of a page in a book with a passage from Jonas Mekas’ 1974 essay On Happiness:

This plate is my Paradise. I don't want anything else - no country house, no car, no dacha, no life insurance, no riches. It's this plate of grapes that I want. It's this plate of grapes that makes me really happy. To eat my grapes and enjoy them and want nothing else - that is happiness, that's what makes me happy.

Here are more grape references that came up in my search:

the grapes taste even better in a matching bowl - I love the Vignelli Hellerware dishes and was so happy when MoMA re-released them

My favourite shoe account to follow on IG is the Bata Shoe Museum’s, which is where I saved the above purple suede grape flats from in 2021. These “Grape-vine shoes” are by Japanese designer Tokio Kumagai and were part of his Spring/Summer 1987 collection (here is a gold pair!).

More about the shoe and designer here

Martha’s grape sweater - (I shared more of her gardening looks here). Photo from Martha Stewart’s Gardening

I’ve started to acquire board books in preparation for the baby (please let me know any favourites!) - these grapes are from My Very First Book of Numbers by Eric Carle (I also got The Very Hungry Caterpillar, too, of course).

Spectacular grapes and chive blossom basket from Martha Stewart’s Weddings.

Grapes and leaves from the Rhinebeck Farmer’s Market in 2022

Tart Agenda

One of my favourite things to do is tuck fruit into a bed of frangipane, especially at this time of year. At the back of Chez Panisse Fruit there is a Basic Dessert Repertory and I like to use the recipe for pâte sucrée, which I’ve found (as promised in the recipe) has never shrunk while baking and never gets tough from over rolling. The frangipane recipe I like most is from Rose Bakery’s Breakfast, Lunch, Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery, although by now I usually just eyeball. Sometimes I like to make a caramelized nut topping that goes on halfway through the baking (a recipe I use from here with either almonds or hazelnuts).

Some combinations I love: