Paul Klenk | The Official Site

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Recent articles...

• Enjoy John Singleton Copley’s Watson and The Shark, and other art, on the Virtual Museum Tour. Links to the Met, MoMA, Whitney and NGA are updated.
• Give new ESV Bibles to your friends and neighbors for as low as $2 – or even $1 – apiece.
• My sister recently introduced me to an easy, yummy Chicken Stuffing Casserole.
• “Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants,” performed by the legendary sleight-of-hand artist under the direction of David Mamet, is this week’s Feature Presentation in a 6-part YouTube playlist.
• Like Scrabble? My new list of playable given and proper names may surprise you.
• My short items in The New York Times’ “Metropolitan Diary” are linked on one page.
• Hear Tim Keller’s sermon, “Injustice: Hasn't Christianity been an instrument for oppression?”
• Many links and tools throughout the site are now refurbished and updated.

Crossway’s affordable ESV Economy Bible

February 20, 2011 – A few years ago, I fell in love with a new and fresh translation of the Bible, called The English Standard Version (ESV). And today, I’d like to share with you how you or your church can buy some very inexpensive, elegant editions of this Bible for $2.00 each, and even as low as $1.00.

Everyone should have a Bible, and every Christian should be prepared to give a Bible to anyone who wants or needs one. This can be done economically. Crossway, the publisher of the ESV, has made giving Bibles much easier by publishing the most affordable edition of the Bible on the market, called The ESV Economy Bible.

Crossway calls these “outreach editions,” a trade paperback designed specifically for giving away in small and large quantities. By producing them inexpensively, they can be purchased in cases of 48 by churches and even individuals, at a low price. Crossway’s outreach editions are lovely to look at, with very elegant typesetting (a feature I have always loved about their Bibles), and are easy to carry and read. Some are full Bibles (Old and New Testaments), and some are New Testaments only. They have NT editions with both Christmas- and Easter-themed covers, priced at $1.00 and perfect for use in inviting your neighbors to holiday services.

ESV Outreach Bible, Blossom Design

The ESV Economy Bible has a retail value of $2.99. But it is only available by the case; when purchased quantities of 48, or $86.12 per case, the price drops to $1.80 apiece. With shipping ($20.83), the total cost per unit is $2.29.

For an even more amazing price, you can purchase 5 cases at $48.00 per case; this is 240 Bibles for $240.00, or $1.00 apiece, an ideal price and quantity for churches. Shipping for 5 cases is $98.01, making the per-unit cost $1.41.

Remember, this is a full Bible, not the New Testament only, in an edition less than 1" thick that includes an article on What the Bible is All About, a Reading Plan, and a Plan of Salvation.

Follow these links to learn more about the translation philosophy of the ESV, its team of translators and its editors, and the history of translations leading to this version. An excellent study Bible is also available, complete with an amazing interactive digital version on the Web which allows you to bookmark pages, highlight passages, and even make notes in the margins, just as you would with a paper Bible.


– p.k.

February 10, 2011 – Chicken Stuffing Casserole is a tasty and hearty “homemade” dish that is easy for non-cooks to make. It is guaranteed to satisfy everyone, from finicky children to grown-up foodies. It will get gobbled up at potlucks, and freezes well if you like to stock up on homemade meals. Read more »

February 4, 2011 – One of the delights of playing Scrabble is learning unusual and arcane words.  Recently I was surprised to find that the first names of two of my siblings, Laura and Timothy, are actually playable words. Read more »

January 28, 2010 – Each Monday, The New York Times publishes stories by its readers about life in New York City, in a N.Y. / Metro column called “Metropolitan Diary.”  It’s a day-brightener of anecdotes, cute stories, overheard conversations and acts of kindness which reflect the City’s unique signature.  Read more »

January 13, 2010 – Julia Child’s publisher, Knopf, has generously made her legendary Boeuf à la Bourguignonne recipe available online (view it below).

As you know, the dish was featured in Julie & Julia. After it opened, The New York Times ran a piece about the reaction in France to the movie, Child, and her cuisine.

One prominent French cookbook author and television personality, Julie Andrieu, called Child’s cuisine a “cliché,” “academic and bourgeois.”   But she does admit that Americans write better cookbooks than the French.

“The French think that they are natural-born cooks; they prepare a dish off the top of their heads, without testing it,” she said. “In France, we rush over explanations.”

And then Andrieu followed Child’s example and tested the recipe.

From the article:  After watching “Julie & Julia,” Ms. Andrieu said, she felt compelled to go home and make boeuf bourguignon according to Ms. Child’s recipe. “I cut the flour in half, and it turned out to be the best I had ever made,” she said.

So much for clichés!

While preparing for my future attempt at this great dish, I stumbled upon a terrific video (see below) produced by Wine Spectator which makes reference to chef Thomas Keller’s refined version of Child’s recipe (adapted here).  Normally I would not be interested in such a thing, but Bruce Sanderson and Owen Dugan sold me on it.  (Another remarkable suggestion worth sharing – one which I believe sells itself – is to serve the stew in puffed pastry shells!)

Additionally, they have chosen a wine to be served with the dish.  Child pioneered the inclusion of wine pairings with recipes; Sanderson and Dugan followed her lead and recommended a red Rhône Syrah, Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Sélection’s Saint-Joseph Offerus 2006.  At $29.95, it is quite affordable.  It is widely (and wildly) praised on the Web, and Snooth can help you find it.

Julia’s recipe:


Wine Spectator’s video:


I found this recipe online by accident. I was going to ask one of my two older sisters to copy it out of their Mastering the Art of French Cooking and send it to me. (The past two Christmases we’ve talked about making it, and I have a standing promise to visit Laura upstate to do just that.)

– p.k.

December 12, 2009 – Part of Julia Child’s charm is that she nonchalantly became her own authority. One of my favorite quotes is her description of her “brand-new, super-duper” Chocolate Mousse Dessert Cake:

“And here it is: Le Gâteau Victoire au Chocolat, Mousseline! One of the great chocolate cakes of all time, according to me.”

Not, “in my opinion,” but “according to me.” Who says that? A master citing herself, that’s who.

She restates this notion of self-authority in the same television segment, a guide to an intimate tableside cooking of Steak Diane:

“So, as I said at the beginning before we started cooking, I think this is a nifty little dinner (and I really agree with myself) for a chafing dish dinner.”

The menu (which she pronounces “may-noo”) of this very simple feast includes:

• A cold first course, a ceviche [“sev-EE-chee”] of scallops, with fresh artichoke bottoms
• Steak Diane (“cooked in a chafing dish, right at the table”)
• Mashed potatoes, “made out of actual potatoes, which is a rare thing” (rare in 1978, I guess)
• Fresh peas
• The cake, made with a full pound of chocolate

Child must have imbibed quite a bit of alcohol on a daily basis, I think. I cannot believe that someone whose recipes and menus included such a prodigious amount of spirits, and a kitchen so well-stocked with them, did not start drinking around lunchtime.

For this meal alone, the following alcohols are used:

As ingredients:

• For the cake, rum.
• For the steak’s sauce, “a little bit of Madeira or port… [plus] a few drops of cognac” added at the last minute for taste. (“That never hurt anything.”)

Served with the meal:

• “With the Steak Diane, I would serve a nice red Bordeaux, or a cabernet, and with the first course, the ceviche, you could serve a chablis or Riesling.”
• And with the dessert, “a fine bottle of vintage champagne, maybe one of the great California wines.”

Bon appétit, à la vôtre, and enjoy the video.



– p.k.

2/21/11  |  Postscript: I am amused to see that many Google searches leading readers to this page include the words julia+child+drunk, was+julia+child+drunk, or words to that effect. No, my headline is only a play on words, reflecting Child’s citation of herself as an authority, and her love of using alcohol in her cooking. Her producer, Geoffrey Drummond, watched the 700+ shows that survive on tape, and never once saw her drinking from a bottle or exhibiting signs of inebriation (or, for that matter, dropping a chicken or reusing food that fell on the floor).

What are your plans for your bible gift bags? Leave a comment below.

– p.k.

November 18, 2009 – I was “blogging” in October 1998, before there was such a word. My very first Web site at Angelfire included a daily journal I posted when Dad was in the hospital, with prayer requests for him and our family.

Sadly, John passed away on October 18, 1998. Coincidentally, the next day, OpenDiary.com was founded; it is the first blog community where users could comment on each other’s entries. (The word “weblog” was coined in 1997; it was first shortened to “blog” in 1999.)

I have been unable to log into that old Angelfire account for years, so it hasn’t been edited since my last post. I sure hope it’s never deleted:

• http://www.angelfire.com/mn/paulklenk/john.html

You will notice an announcement on my old site that I was moving it to paulklenk.com. Well, I never quite accomplished that. I did own that domain name for a time, but when I let it lapse, it was snatched up by an evil realtor in the state of Washington. I’m sure I’ll never see it again.

In hindsight, I really do like the .us domain, and own several names there. Obviously, this blog is not a “commercial” site, so the .com TLD is probably not appropriate anyway.

Other Domains I Own

I’ve always loved discovering unique and snappy-sounding domain names. Often when a phrase comes to mind, I do a search at GoDaddy.com to see if it’s available to buy. Some sites I currently own (but seldom update) are plasticpie.com (humor), loudcitizen.org (politics), pkea.us (“Paul Klenk, Executive Assistant”), oriboxi.com (origami boxes), and zombiesforobama.com (for the viral video I co-produced).

I think the second domain I ever owned was www.WebSiteonaStick.com, which I used to market ready-made Web sites of my own design. I advertised my services in The New Yorker during the ’98 Christmas season; the ad can be seen on page 98 of the December 21 issue.

Recently I identified a veritably wicked domain to use for Tea Party politics; if I am successful in obtaining it, I’ll announce it on this post with an update.

But I think the jewel in my crown is a domain I purchased at 101domain.com, the registrar for Pakistan. That country’s TLD is .pk, and since my initials are PK, I searched their registry one day and found that www.paul.pk was available. Wow!  It’s so pithy, clever, and unusual – I just love it! At present, I only use it to point to my Google Profile page, but one day I may find another use for it.

– p.k.

November 12, 2009 – Recently I came across an excellent interview with the legendary operatic singer Leontyne Price. You can watch it below in a new YouTube playlist.

I’ve been a singer since I was very young, but I never became interested in studying voice until high school.  It wasn’t until college that I became serious about studying (when voice usurped piano as my major), and not until 2003 that I found a teacher who truly transformed my voice into what it was meant to be: namely, Michael K. Warren of New York City.

Singing is a passion for many people, but a surprisingly low percentage of teachers know even the first thing about how the voice works, let alone how to pass that knowledge on to a student through training. For this reason, singers often languish in frustration, give up trying, or lower their standards and pronounce their mediocrity as excellence.  Some stumble on a modicum of success purely by accident, or due to innate talent coupled with repeated effort, not because of what they’re being taught.

Listening to Ms. Price reminded me of the majesty of the voice, the importance of setting very high standards, and the pleasure of discovering the beauty of your instrument.

I hope this interview inspires singers everywhere.



This video was produced by the National Endowment of the Arts Opera Honors program.  – p.k.