Laguna Beach Feasts 2024

For the weekend, a week or the rest of your life, Laguna is a striking location with lots of activites.

Culture, travel, Laguna Beach, Laguna, dining, outdoors, Vigado Concert HallKaren TripsonApril 4, 2024Nicks Laguna Beach, 230 forest Avenue, Evan's Gourmet, Pageant of the Masters, Sawdust Art Festival, beach walking, surf, swim, skate

My Presentation on Trust by Hernan Diaz

My presentation on Trust was a crowd pleaser!

Karen TripsonMarch 14, 2024

My new book is with the editor!

Escape to the French Riviera and the countryside of Provence for all the sensual joys of art, travel and fine dining. Three sophisticated women go on holiday to have fun and savor the culture of Provence. They learn about the difficulty of keeping secrets, friendship and love later in life.

Karen TripsonFebruary 4, 2024

Bruno's Cookbook: Recipes and Traditions from a French Country Kitchen

Karen TripsonDecember 29, 2023

Aborigine Art from Australia

Exciting art to view and think about from Western Australia.

Karen TripsonNovember 12, 2023

Australia at Last

Australia is BIG trip and so worth it. Read here about the joys of Sydney, Melbourne, Margaret River, Queensland and Perth / Freemantle.

My Favorite Restaurant Cookbooks

What’s your favorite restaurant cookbook?

Karen TripsonJuly 19, 2023

FL Vacation 2023

The icon of FL vacation mode: marina with fantasy boats, beverages and bands on a sunny day.

Karen TripsonApril 11, 2023

The Food Explorer - David Fairchild

I gave an exciting presentation on April 1, 2023 at McKee Botanical Garden in Vero Beach, FL.

Karen TripsonFebruary 13, 2023

Lessons in Chemistry

book review, book clubs, Event, Gustav Klimt, good reading, Womens University ClubKaren TripsonJanuary 12, 2023Bonnie Garmus, womens rights, equality, equality of sexes, equal pay, Elizabeth Zott, Six thirty, smart dog

Highlights of the Loire Valley

Richard Olney Comes for Dinner at My House

My hero Richard Olney dines with me at home and tells me everything I want to know.

cookbook author, Richard Olney, Provence cookbooks, menu cookbook, Cuisine et Vins de France, La Revue du Vin de France, Domain Tempier, Lulu Peyraud, BandolKaren TripsonSeptember 20, 2022Richard Olney, Simple French food, The French Menu Cookboook, The Good Cook Series, A Provencal Table, A Provencal Table The Exuberant Food and Wine from the Domaine Tempier Vineyard, Provence: The Beautiful Cookbook, Reflexions

Heat Wave Entertaining

Set a pretty table for hot summer night entertaining — with or without candles.

Cookbooks, seasonal menu, summer menu, party food, Portland Oregon, restaurants, rotisserie cookingKaren TripsonJuly 31, 2022summer menu, watermelon salad, pok pok portland, pok pok hens, ike's wings, Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings, Kai Yaang, Thai hens, Pok Pok, pok pok cookbook

Waz Japanese Kaiseki Menu

The Japanese restaurant Wa’z in Seattle is a unique tasting menu experience. Chef Hiro Tawara delivers a new menu every month to keep you coming back.

Seattle WA, Kaiseki menu, JapaneseKaren TripsonJuly 10, 2022tasting menu, japanese omelet, wagyu, shishimi, nigiri, sushi, dashi, sake, eel, urchin, shishito peppers

My Favorite Ottolenghi Jerusalem Cookbook Recipes 2022

For anyone who wants to try Ottolenghi recipes, go ahead and dive in! There is no reason to live without him because you don’t have the book yet.

Cookbooks, entree, WritersKaren TripsonJune 22, 2022dinner party, Yotam Ottolenghi, cioppino, Jerusalem, ciopppino

Cioppino at Home

It’s easy to make cioppino at home. Follow the pro chefs for a luxurious result with many varieties of seafood and Ottolenghi’s technique to give the host a few extra minutes.

Cioppino, entree, Italian restaurant, Ottolenghi, party food, restaurants, seafood stewKaren TripsonApril 25, 2022cioppino, Ottolenghi, fish stock, fish soup, Nicks Laguna Beach, Alaska fish, Alaska fishing trip

Nancy Pearl Recommends Books for 2022

Nancy Pearl hits the road after the pandemic lifts. After too much zoom, Nancy Pearl spoke at the Womens University Club in Seattle.

L'Oursin Seattle is Stellar

When you’re lusting after French food go to L’Orsin Seattle.

appetizer, bistro, French, Seattle WA, restaurants, restaurant reviewKaren TripsonMarch 12, 2022foie gras, canard, sweetbreads, ris de veau, armagnac, kuri squash, northwest salmon, northwest sturgeon, Loursin seattle

The Food Explorer Presentation

David Fairchild is the impressive star of the book The Plant Explorer by Daniel Stone—a wild adventure of a life devoted to plants and increasing the number of crops grown in the U.S.

Vero Beach FL, book review, David Fairchild, tropical plants, garden design, landscape designKaren TripsonFebruary 16, 2022David Fairchild, Daniel Stone, Barbour Lathrop, Frank Meyer, charles Marlatt, Alexander Graham Bell, McKee Garden, Fairchild Gardens, Waldo Sexton

Holiday Vacation in PDX

The week before Christmas is one of my favorite times to visit Portland-PDX-in travelers’ parlance. PDX has ambiance and a lively restaurant and bar scene.

Basque, Basque Cuisine, vintage cocktails, Japanese cuisine, Portland Oregon, travel, bar hop PDXKaren TripsonJanuary 9, 2022takibi, Jim Meehan, The PDT Cocktail Book, urdaneta, silvercloud, Portland, portland art museum, PDX, The Chinese Gardens