Writing about food since 2004.
-
Mississippi Mud Pie (From The Sky)
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No it’s me, The Amateur Gourmet, blogging to you live from Delta flight 2243, en route to Atlanta, Georgia. Yes, this is an absolute first for me, my first blog post written from a plane. And I choose, as my subject matter, a dessert that I made back in…
-
The Return of CHEESE FOR DINNER (with Heidi’s Oat Soda Bread)
You may remember May 12, 2009 as the day in history when I served cheese for dinner. I wrote a post about it called Cheese For Dinner and 47 of you left comments because you were so shocked and disturbed by the idea. Cheese for dinner? How can you eat cheese for dinner? Actually, most…
-
The Salvadorean Bakery, Delancey & A Glogg Party
There are three experiences I forgot to tell you about from my trip to the Pacific Northwest this year. The first experience happened on a morning in West Seattle (I’d written “East Seattle” and then Craig corrected me) with our friends David and Celia and their new baby, Johanna. Early in the morning, before my…
-
Amanda’s Coffee Intervention
Amanda Byron, one of my favorite baristas at my favorite coffee shop, Joe (don’t call it “Joe The Art of Coffee”!) had some strong words for me today about my post yesterday on How To Make a Good Cup of Coffee:
-
How To Make A Good Cup of Coffee
This weekend on Facebook, my friend Molly wrote that she was “constitutionally incapable of making a decent cup of coffee.” I related to this because, for the past few years, I had the same problem. The lowest moment came when, upon grinding my own beans, I overdid it, clogged my coffee maker and a black…
-
7 Years
It’s been seven years exactly since I wrote my very first post on this blog. Usually, when an anniversary comes along, I use the opportunity to share my favorite posts from the archives. But this time I’d like to turn the tables…I’d like to learn all about you nice people who read this blog everyday.…
-
Marion Cunningham’s Raised Waffles
In the food section of my brain, there are two major filing cabinets: (1) New York City restaurants organized by location, allowing me to choose the perfect spot to nosh no matter where we are in the city; and (2) a recipe file. My recipe file is mostly organized by ingredient (chicken, peas, bacon), though…
-
Dinner with Chinese Scholars at Grand Sichuan
Speaking of Chinese food (what is this, a stand-up act?) the other night we had the unique opportunity to dine with Craig’s cousin Dave, a senior at Georgetown, and several of the friends he met while studying abroad in Beijing last year at our favorite New York City Chinese restaurant, Grand Sichuan in the East…
-
Grace Young’s Vinegar-Glazed Chicken
It’s been tricky to keep the contents of my cookbook a secret. For example, certain chefs have led me to purchase certain cooking equipment and/or ingredients that have transformed the way I cook at home. Do I share those revelations here or do I wait for you to experience them in Spring 2012, when the…
-
Steve’s Legendary Prime Rib
Christmas Dinner isn’t something I ever ate growing up, being a Jew and all. For the past few years, though, I’ve been visiting Craig’s family in Bellingham, Washington and Craig’s dad, Steve–a really excellent cook (see his apple pie)–has made some kind of roast to serve on the big night. And this year the prime…
