Plum season seems to have wound down for the year – sniff…sniff – but I’ve spied a number of lovely heirloom (or à l’ancienne) apples and pears at the markets, along with grapes (for sorbet), pears (for poaching, roasting, and baking into red wine tarts), which will go great with the amazing crème d’Isigny I discovered on my trip to Normandy. Yes, I’m hooked, but eat that insanely-good stuff in microdoses. Although the word “addictive” gets used a lot, my empty crème jars are proof that Houston, we’ve got a problem.

I’ve had my head down this month, working on the final round book edits for my next book. But like many writers, I was thwarted by the internet. Here are a few things that kept my mind (unfortunately!) off of my work…

-How to make those elusive, creamy-soft Japanese chocolates at home. (Food52)

-French women chime in on the 35-hour workweek. (Refinery 29)

-Finnish grocery stores have a “happy hour” to fight food waste. (My Modern Met)

-The great Dionne Warwick warbles Walk On By on the roof of Maison de la Radio in Paris, circa 1964. (YouTube)

-French employee dies during an, um...indiscretion, on a business trip. His company is liable. (BBC)

-Notre Dame’s Toxic Fallout. (NYT)

-And you think cooking is hard? JJ Goode, ace writer of cookbooks, talks about cooking with one arm, which he adds is especially a challenge when you’re using it to hold one of the kids while cooking. (Taste)

-LA Times restaurant critic critiques a chef accused of harassment – and his food. (LA Times)

-Archived, but still funny: How can a couch suck so much? (The Awl)

-I’m not one for cute animal videos but this little thief busted for munching away at someone’s garden is adorable (The dodo)

-Table for one? How to enjoy dining alone when you’re traveling. It’s something I’ve yet to master. (Travel + Leisure)

-Churn up your own “Butter of the Gods,” aka: homemade cultured butter. (Janet Fletcher)

-Watch the futuristic new water taxis zoom across the Seine in Paris (CBS)

-I want this house.

-Extra-excited about the re-release of The Last Course by pastry icon Claudia Fleming, long out of print… (Amazon)

-Chef Paul Bocuse makes Œufs pochés à la beaujolaise. (YouTube)