Author's aside...

a small change coming

Life is a voyage. – Victor Hugo

When I started my Substack, I had a good idea of what I wanted to do with it. Anyone who follows me on social media knows that I am a pretty eclectic (!!!) person: food writer, recipe developer, French-cuisinophile (my word), but also hotel owner, jam maker, traveler, political junkie, and American in France. 

I also have a private life that I have only begun to unravel and reveal - the complicated, confidential, secret side of me that knows depression, grief, anxiety, personal strife. 

There’s also the crazy side of me that dumps her life belongings on the sidewalk in front of her Brooklyn apartment building to run away to France or follows a guy down to Nigeria on a whim. Or trains to be a milliner in Italy. Or buys a hotel.

I assumed that my Substack would be the perfect platform for me to bring all of these diverse stories together in one place, to one audience. But that’s not how it happened.

Life’s a Feast turned into Life’s a Feast, an extension of my food blogging then my food writing - but better, if I may say so. I have long had a passion for teaching Americans (“teaching” is such a pedantic, hoity-toity word for sharing with a bit of instruction, which is what I guess I am trying to say) what French food really is. As an American myself, I well know what we need to learn about the subject.

Coming to France with my own misconceptions about what French cuisine was, and seeing these misconceptions still fed and reinforced through today’s cookbooks and magazines, I took it upon myself, a sort of one-woman-show, to bust the myths and preconceptions that many of us had or have. I began to write about the simplicity, generosity, even frugality of French home cooking, highlighting the differences - and the crossover - with the more complex noble, upper class, cooking-school cuisine. And this inspired me to include the history of French food, my real passion. The explanation of the dish, its origins, social evolution, and life, adds to the understanding and appreciation of the dish itself. Besides, the history of food is just fun.

I now love what my Substack has become, this cookbook of recipes accompanied by a short history of each dish, pastry, or dessert that I share. This content will always be free for all subscribers. But the other stories no longer have a sensible place randomly interspersed with what I’m posting.

So what to do with the rest?

The excerpts from my other book projects, the jam instruction and recipes, the stories of the hotel and hotel life and my life in France? 

My essays on mental health issues, or the bits and bobs about my work habits and my writing process? Not to mention the impending changes in my life.

And that doesn’t even include my desire to listen to your feedback, suggestions, and thoughts on these projects.

Here is my solution: I will create this additional content for paid subscribers of my Substack, for those of you who are curious about my other content and stories, and who are interested in getting a peek into my life and work - the more personal stuff. And for those of you who desire, it is a way to participate in my projects. Your pledges and paid subscriptions are a way to support my work and these new book ventures, and so this content is my way of thanking you, as well as offering you a way to bring your thoughts and ideas to me.

Those of you who have already so generously offered paid pledges for my Substack will, of course, receive these posts, along with the content available to free subscribers.

So stay tuned… this content will be available in the very near future. 

For those of you, older and newer subscribers, who might have missed my earlier posts, I thought you might enjoy these, my most popular recipes and histories so far…

French onion soup Riz au lait Coq au vin Jam tart (crostata)

Thank you for subscribing to my Substack, Jamie Schler’s Newsletter, where I share my (mostly French) recipes, my hotel and my jams,  my projects, and the stories of my life. You can support my work by sharing the link to my Substack with your friends, family, and your social media followers. I’m so glad that you’re here.