Comfort Me with Apples

I was completely charmed by this photo Chloé took of Claire holding her afternoon snack. She has a new camera and has been experimenting with filters, to great effect. It reminded me of a verse from the Song of Solomon: "Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love." It's a long time since I've been lovesick (thank goodness), but I love the elevation of the apple to the upper echelons of Comfort Food.

Again, I was reminded of that verse when I went last Saturday with Karen to meet Ruth Reichl, editor of Gourmet Magazine. She's touring for her latest book, Not Becoming My Mother. The Book Passage bookstore does a great series called Cooks with Books, where you get to meet the author have a meal based on recipes out of their latest book. I've been to a few of these events -- all wonderful.

Ruth has written several memoirs, one entitled Comfort Me with Apples (second in a loose series, but entirely readable on its own). If you love food stories interspersed with recipes, you'll love her books. Her latest doesn't have recipes, though, so the meal we ate was out of the Boulevard cookbook by Nancy Oakes, who was there with her sleeves rolled up on Saturday. All I can say is, I don't get out too much any more, and it's a crying shame. Comfort me.