My mother-in-law was not known as a great cook. Whenever she would offer to cook, my father-in-law would leap from his chair and say, “You look tired, Sal. Let’s go out.” That ploy seemed to suit everyone most of the time, but even people who claim not to cook usually have at least one dish they can prepare, despite their lack of interest or experience. For my mother-in-law, it was her beef brisket with potatoes and carrots. My husband still […]
Cheeseburger is paradise. Heaven on earth with an onion slice. Not too particular, not too precise. I’m just a cheeseburger in paradise. -from Jimmy Buffett’s Cheeseburger in Paradise A cheeseburger may not be everyone’s idea of a perfect food, like a banana, or an egg, or spirulina, but it is certainly one of mine. (Spirulina is lake algae, and healthy as it is, you probably wouldn’t love it. At least not the way you would love, oh… a cheeseburger!) Today […]
I keep a list of food holidays on my desk, both because it’s inspiration for this blog, and because it gives me an excuse to make something like a chocolate milkshake in the middle of the day for no apparent reason. Today is National Chocolate Milkshake Day, as you probably surmise. After I take food photos, which is a bit of a frantic process when it involves something melty like ice cream or a cocktail, the food remains, waiting to […]
If I ever write a children’s book, I’m going to call it Vineyard Tales. I have so many happy memories from growing up on a grape farm, and now that we’ve come to grape-picking season, they rise in my mind like the syrupy fragrance of ripe Concord grapes. Every fall when the grapes were ripe, I would race out to the vineyards after school. The weather was still sunny, but you could feel autumn coming in the crisp breeze that […]
Most families have at least one favorite recipe that they use for special occasions and family get-togethers. It’s usually an old 3×5 card, stained by sticky fingers, rubbed off in some parts, with comments scribbled in the margins. These recipes are tried and true, the backbone of good American cooking, and I want to share one of those from my friends Gail and Scott Brown. They make these peanut butter finger bars for birthday parties and summer barbecues on the […]
