Reader, are you in for a whacky couple of weeks.Welcome to finals season. This is where I, The Amateur Gourmet, go a little nutty (as if I weren’t nutty enough already) with crazy schedules, weird cravings, and inexplicable forays into the kitchen. Many law students smoke as they suffer their way through finals; I bake.Or…

I’m a certified cheesophobe. I don’t discriminate on matters of race, religion, or creed but I do discriminate when it comes to goat, feta and bleu. They’re all gross. Cheese is gross. I’m a cheesophobe.As the Archie Bunker of cheeses, I am now checking myself into cheese rehab and attempting to forge not only a…

In my brief stint as an Amateur Gourmet there have been few genuine kitchen disasters. Let’s see: there was the time I burnt my Martha Stewart Coconut Cake frosting; the time I almost poisoned Lauren with Isaac Mitzrahi’s parchament paper fish; and the time I used 5 Tbs instead of 5 tsps of salt in…

With Passover over, and the shadow of death passed over our apartment (the lamb’s blood properly sloshed), the time has come to revive my starter. Last we checked, the starter was sulking and shivering in the fridge; but now it’s had three days of feeding and looks beautiful and bubbly:Today we’re making Olive Bread.It begins…

As a special treat tonight, ladies and gentlemen, America’s favorite bulemic talk show host, PANCETTA, calls New York’s finest French restaurant, ALAIN DUCASSE, and attempts to make a reservation. Enjoy the results! [Note: It’s a sound file, not a movie!]PART ONEPART TWO

We here at The Amateur Gourmet pride ourselves on our journalistic integrity, our bravado, and our contacts at Starbucks. It was one such contact, today, that provided me with the keys to the kingdom of behind-the-scenes Starbucks knowledge that we, the average Starbucks consumer, can only dream about. I share with you now the things…

One thing I really like about this website is that it’s an excellent excuse to purchase pastries that I otherwise might not purchase. That happened today in Star Provisions when I purchased a rhubarb tart.First, let’s talk about why I was in Star Provisions.Star Provisions is nowhere near where I go to school. It is…

I find beards disconcerting when it comes to people who handle food.I was watching the Iron Chef yesterday, and the Iron Chef French (is that the write phrasing? It seems right since the others are “Iron Chef Japanese” and “Iron Chef Chinese”) had a black stubbly beard. I kept picturing bits of food getting caught…

Ok Tara,You’ve decided to step into battle with this mighty Goliath of a Gourmet. I now present you with your challenge:Martha Stewart’s Pine Cone CakeAnd yet, because I have a soft side and because I got to choose from a pool of choices, I will permit you to accept–as an alternative–any of the challenges from…

Today I had my hair dressed, or cut, or whatever your term of choice is for the act of having your hair sliced with scissors.Language is something Mark my hairdresser/cutter/groomer rolls his eyes at when it comes to his profession.”A lot of people are PC,” he says, “and say hairdresser or hair stylist. I think…