A historian might envy the cat’s nine lives. Few of us have so many opportunities to begin our work lives anew. To research, write, and publish a single book can take a decade or even more. So I find it very exciting to have arrived at a moment of new beginnings. With my most recent book, Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America, in the safe hands of my publisher, I am free to start a new project. This moment arrives at the same time as a yearlong sabbatical from my teaching job at the University of Victoria. Taking advantage of this fortuitous timing, I have chosen to spend the year in Paris researching Americans’ centuries-long love affair with the food of that famous gastronomic destination. And to complete the theme of new beginnings, I am launching this blog to share the results of my research. I will be posting stories and photos from the archives, recipes and the results of cooking experiments, and reflections on moving to an unfamiliar city with kids and a spouse whose only words of French are “Je suis un rock-star” (he’s not). Bon appetit!
Rachel Hope Cleves 