digitizing vintage Kodachrome slides

For decades, boxes and boxes of family slides sat on a cupboard shelf in my Paris apartment. The images span the late 1950s to the late 1990s. Just a few weeks ago I found a very good photo lab in central Paris. They digitize old slides and retouch the colors. Here’s an example: my English mother in our backyard in the early 1960s (in a Toronto suburb.) I thought the technician at the photo lab did a really good job correcting the color: look how my mother’s lipstick nearly matches the red flowers!

When I showed this image to my 16-year old godson, he said – “She looks like Blanche Neige.” (Snow White)

momm

Scanning your old collection of 35mm slides is the perfect way to preserve them and give them a new life as digital images. If I have one piece of advice to give you, it is this: if and when you find a photo lab, make sure they do the work on the premises. If they farm the stuff out to another lab, there’s the risk of your precious memories getting lost en route. That happened to me once.

Friday night. chilling at home. flourless ganache chocolate cake.

Got home from work at 7 and cracked open a bottle of Bourgueil (from the Loire Valley, my fave wine region). As I recline on my chaise lounge, I’m looking at recipes for flourless chocolate cake.

flourless cake

ganache

Ganache frosting. I could eat this straight from the bowl.

Below is a recipe for cashew milk that I make weekends for my morning coffee. On Friday night I soak almonds and cashews all night then whizz them on Saturday morning. You can add a single date, if you want, to stave off any bitterness. Or honey, but not much. I add a smidgen of date syrup that I bought in London. Then I make myself a huge mug of strong coffee and add the heated nut milk and two tiny teaspoons of demerara sugar. You can also add some coconut milk if you want (warmed), or just regular cow’s milk.

(banish white sugar from your kitchen; use raw or unrefined sugars like muscovado, demerara, and turbinado.)

Simple Homemade Creamy Cashew Milk

Cake recipe:

Killer Chocolate Cake

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/flourless-chocolate-cake-recipe

Have a yummy weekend.