On many occasions, an informal buffet and casual seating offer a little more intimacy than a loud gathering around a big table.
I am sure that in the story of Adam and Eve, the forbidden fruit was a fig and not an apple, pear or anything else.
You don't need a machine to make pasta: a rolling pin and a fast hand can create a smooth, if thick, sheet.
One Indian-inspired favourite of mine is mashed potato mixed with lemon juice, breadcrumbs, coriander and chilli, shaped into patties, fried and served with chutney and yoghurt.
Most pumpkin dishes involve scooping out the seeds, cutting off the skin, and chopping up the flesh before cooking.
Chipotles, which are dried jalapeno peppers, give out a terrific smoky flavour - they're warm, earthy and usually not too spicy.
Cobnuts have a fresher flavour than any other nut I know of and go very well with autumnal fruit and light cheeses.
Tahini is fantastically versatile, its deep, nutty flavour a harmonious match with roasted vegetables, grilled oily fish or barbecued meat.
The addition of vinaigrette to freshly roasted vegetables gives them a freshness and juiciness they don't normally have; the acidity brings out new shades of flavour, too.
Dried porcini add a substantial, deep flavour to otherwise more neutral vegetables. I use them in risottos, mashed roots and winter soups.
Take your average couscous salad, and it's almost always a sloppy mush, no matter how much attention has gone into getting flavours in there.
Leeks are normally given the job of flavouring other things, such as stocks and soups, but I find their creaminess and sweet, oniony flavour very satisfying.
I'm an enormous fan of Thomas Bernhard's books, and I like the relentless feeling in his work - the pursuit of darkness, the negative - and I think in some sense I've internalised that as what one is supposed to do.
You can browse to your heart's content but it's hard work and not easy on the feet unless you do it through catalogs or the Internet, and I like to touch and try on the things I buy.
When you have controversial parents, people have expectations about you. If every day at work I thought to myself, 'How does this relate to them?' I'd be paralyzed.
Biennial culture is already almost irrelevant, because so many more people are providing so many better opportunities for artists to exhibit their work.
Why we play as children is not because it is our work or because it is how we learn, though both statements are true; we play because we are wired for joy, it is imperative as human beings.
I think if I had been writing fiction, where the work is entirely dependent on the writer's creativity and the potential directions the narrative might take are infinite, I might have frozen.
The work of Henry James has always seemed divisible by a simple dynastic arrangement into three reigns: James I, James II, and the Old Pretender.
My work has taken me from historical research to involvement in electronic publishing ventures to the directorship of the Harvard University Libraries.
I had lived in that part of London that used to be called Islington since I was eight. I attended a private school for girls, leaving at sixteen to work. That was in the year 2056. AS 127, if you use the Scion calendar.
