"cotes du rhone" news and stories

• Are all those starlets really big eaters, or do they just play them on TV?
• Speaking of skinny, get a load of all these razor clams.
• That glass of Côtes du Rhônes has a mild aftertaste of...what is it? Oh yes: climate change.
• Bar Basque is a conundrum: much to enjoy about the food, little to enjoy about the restaurant.
• How does a classic Belgian cookie somehow morph into an international incident? Like this.

I can't remember ever having a French onion soup that I loved. Sure, it was a dish I'd eat without complaint. But never have I longed for a cheese-crusted bowl of sweet oniony butteriness. Until now.

I was idly flipping through Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, my favorite coffee table cookbook, when I came across this recipe. I had a huge bag of onions and I was intrigued: evidently, Jacques preferred white wine for "extra flavor" in his onion soup, while Julia Child preferred red. As I identify more with Julia than Jacques - and I had a bottle of red wine at the ready - I figured, why not? Off went my hubby to the market to get Gruyere, and some more wine, just for good measure.

Little did I know I was only an hour away from addiction.