The taste of a particular food can evoke potent memories, bringing back sounds and smells, and calling up a moment in the past as if we’d never moved on from there. If I walk into a bakery and smell rye bread baking, it’s like being transported to my grandmother’s kitchen, where I used to kneel at the oven window, watching the little rye buns bake and counting the minutes until they were done. She always put coarse salt and caraway […]
I saw a recipe the other day for a flourless chocolate olive oil cake, in the British edition of House and Garden, which happened to coincide with my acquisition of an extra virgin olive oil called Olivastro from Olio2Go. Olivastro was the winner of the “best extra virgin organic olive oil in Italy” a couple of years ago, and it has a really fresh green flavor, a bit grassy with an almond aftertaste. It comes from a family-owned olive grove near […]
Ricotta is a very versatile cheese that makes a voluptuous, satisfying dessert. It’s fast and easy, whether you need an elegant finish to a meal for last-minute guests or a homey dessert served in a mason jar with a wooden spoon. It’s all a matter of presentation, as are so many things in life. I like having a recipe in my back pocket that can work in just about any setting. All it needs is a bit of fresh fruit, […]
My friend Lorraine Wallace has just published her THIRD cookbook, Mr. Sunday’s Suppers. It gave me the opportunity to throw a book party and invite her many friends to celebrate her success. My favorite caterer, Design Cuisine, served foods made from the cookbook: tiny chicken parmesan, pulled pork barbecue, mini-BLTs, and salmon chowder sips. For those with a sweet tooth, we had Lorraine’s pecan bars and chocolate-covered strawberries – a decadent pre-Valentine’s treat. It was a great crowd, with lots […]
It’s a well-established fact that I’m a big fan of Parks and Recreation, and I’ve watched this last (really good) season with a sense of impending loss. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a small Midwestern town myself and recognize an uncomfortably large number of the characters as people I know, or maybe it’s Ron Swanson’s libertarian instincts that appeal to me more than I can say, even while I’m laughing at them, but either way, I already miss […]
