Fans, Friends, Foes— it’s 2008 and on Monday we’ll be celebrating this site’s 4th anniversary. I thought I’d take a moment to probe you (not in the bad way) on who you are, what you like about the site and what you’d like to see me do in the future. At your convenience, please answer…

Seattle is a city I never expected to know well. Geographically, it’s pretty much as far away as you can get in the continental U.S. from where I grew up in Boca Raton, Florida. My impressions of Seattle were entirely limited to that which I saw in movies (“Sleepless in Seattle,” “Singles”) and TV shows…

If Molly Orangette invites you over for New Year’s dinner, you don’t say no. You say “yes” as fast as you can and hope she doesn’t change her mind. I had to explain this to Craig who wanted to go but had “plans” with “friends” he’s known “forever” and he “promised” them he’d spend “New…

For the longest time, as a young Jew, I was convinced that all of Christianity hinged on a deep, profound belief in Santa Claus. Jesus baffled me; I presumed he was just a supporting player in the epic, inspiring story of Santa. And as much as I was supposed to be impressed with an oil…

Please ignore the short rib in the above photo and focus on the cloud of white beneath it. That, my friends, is what we in the cooking industry (or the food blogging industry) call a potato puree. It’s a blend of riced potato innards (Yukon Gold & russets), two sticks of butter, heated cream and…
I’m off to the airport to spend two weeks in Seattle. Not sure if I’m going to update the site while I”m gone, so in case you don’t hear from me: Happy Holidays and here’s to a terrific new year!
Many of you who’ve read my book have asked if Lisa, star of Chapter Three, is a Supertaster. You ask because Lisa abhors coffee and olives and her sensitivity to these foods makes her a likely candidate for Supertaster status. Since it was Lisa’s birthday recently, I contacted Doug Cress who administers The Supertaster Test…