Category

Stories and Rants

  • My First Chanterelles

    My First Chanterelles

    It’s a known fact that chefs prize chanterelles more than any other mushrooms. In one of the cookbooks that I own (I forget which one), the chef/author instructs: “If you ever see chanterelles, buy them.” And so it was that when I first saw chanterelles at the Hollywood farmer’s market more than a week ago,…

  • Hospital Food

    Hospital Food

    Last Tuesday morning, Craig complained of a stomach ache that didn’t feel like an ordinary stomach ache. Right away my mind went to “appendix” and though Craig was reluctant at first to admit that this might be the case, after spending a few seconds on WebMD, he was convinced–based on the location of the pain…

  • Food Shopping For The First Time In California

    Food Shopping For The First Time In California

    Do you remember that game show where couples would race through a grocery store trying to buy as much as they could in 60 seconds? “Supermarket Sweep”: that’s the name of it! I remember watching that when I’d fake sick and stay home from school to watch “The Price Is Right” (the major perk of…

  • Goodbye New York, I Will Miss You / Hey L.A., I’m Coming Your Way

    Goodbye New York, I Will Miss You / Hey L.A., I’m Coming Your Way

    All right, folks, this is it. About to turn my modem back in to Time Warner Cable and then I ship my air mattress, pack my suitcase, and await the moment, tomorrow morning, when I drug my cat, make my way to the airport and hop on a plane to become the newest resident of…

  • What I Ate During Hurricane Irene

    What I Ate During Hurricane Irene

    This weekend on the East Coast, many of us prepared for and then endured a hurricane. How badly we endured it depended on a variety of factors; for those of us in the West Village, things weren’t too bad: some downed branches, a few giant puddles here and there. But before it happened and while…

  • The Iron Chef of Ditmas Park

    The Iron Chef of Ditmas Park

    After the movers whisked my stuff away to California on Saturday, it occurred to me: “I won’t be able to cook for several weeks!” That’s a problem for a food blogger. So while making plans with my friends Patty and Lauren, who live in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, they made mention of their C.S.A. box. (For…

  • The Serious Eats All-Star Sandwich Festival

    The Serious Eats All-Star Sandwich Festival

    I’m not one to complain about the weather. To my mind, there’s nothing less interesting than talking about the weather; and yet, these past few days in New York, that’s all I could talk about. I mean REALLY, New York, have you ever offered up a summer that was steamier, stickier, or more suffocating? Is…

  • We’re Moving To L.A.!

    We’re Moving To L.A.!

    I’m really bad with a secret. No, really. Case in point: I wasn’t supposed to share this particular secret until 12 PM, but I couldn’t hold it in any longer. You see, Craig just accepted an amazingly cool job offer in L.A. (more on that later) and we just gave notice here in New York…

  • The Speedy Life & Tragic Death of My AeroGarden

    The Speedy Life & Tragic Death of My AeroGarden

    For my birthday this year, my brother Michael got me a very thoughtful gift. He got me an AeroGarden. In case you’ve never seen one, an AeroGarden is a black plastic contraption that holds a very strong light. You place little pods in little pre-set holes, fill the base with water, plug the whole thing…

  • How Did I Lose 15 Pounds Writing a Cookbook?

    How Did I Lose 15 Pounds Writing a Cookbook?

    Last week I thought I was dying. No really: it was Craig’s birthday and I took him out to Soto where we ordered the tasting menu (this is after taking him to a taping of The Daily Show.) The food started to come–a tiny amuse bouche, then a bowl of miso soup–and after the soup,…