Foodie shopping in London, as I recall, is great fun. We shall have to see if my memory is correct when we go back with you and Heather in a couple of years!

It’s very nice glazed terra cotta. Very plain and utilitarian, and we paid all of ten pounds for it, (about $18.50 American.)

The problem then was to carry it around the rest of the afternoon, (during our tour of BBC Television Centre in Hammersmith,) and on the plane ride home. Heather called the little orange dodad her “White Elephant” during our long haul from Blackheath to Heathrow, (via bus, train, and several different London Underground Tube lines with 6 heavy bags and a fragile tagine.)

It survived and lives happily in our kitchen. Now we just need to get our new kitchen, (Barbara’s old kitchen, currently stacked up in our non-functional summer kitchen…how ironic…) installed and learn to use it! I miss London curries!

Lots of love!

-Dan

Thank you for your kind words about my writing. As for my moments of teaching–that is part of why I started writing Tigers & Strawberries–in order to teach more effectively to a wider audience, and share the insights and skills I have learned through various means.

I have learned that writing these “lessons” makes me a more effective teacher when I am working “live.” I always thought it would work the other way around–and it does–that my experience teaching up in front of a class makes me more able to write instructions clearly and concisely. I just never thought it would work the other way around, too, but it does.

So, in essence, in writing this blog, I am improving myself as well as others–what more could I ask?

I do love your writing. Although I have taken many Chinese cooking classes none of the instructors has given me details like you do with this recipe of dry roasting beans. I check Tigers & Strawberries daily for your daily teachable moments that helps me better utilize my wok. Thank you for your generosity in sharing your knowledge and skills.

Staff turnover is a big thing at Williams Sonoma here in Ohio, too. The folks at Sur la Table seem to be the same faces who were there when I started working with them as an instructor–and the folks there really seem to like it a lot there–they are highly motivated folks who are enthusiastic and fun to be around.

Allison–I am glad you loved the Wok Shop, too! If I lived in the Bay area, I swear I would bug Tane until she gave me a job. She wouldn’t have to pay me much–I’d just want to work there to help folks find cool stuff for their kitchens! (Actually–she teasingly offered me a job the first time I was there, but I think she was only teasing–besides–I was only a tourist and had to go home!) Glad you like the site and the blog–I will keep writing–no worries.

Brian–you are right–restaurant supply stores are a great place to go–I haven’t been to that one–I tend to go to the one in Lancaster because it is closer to home.