Section » Cooking
Exploring the pastabilities
I love pasta. There's just no getting around that simple fact. Others may avoid carbohydrates like the plague, but I find that a meal isn't quite complete without something a little starchy to hold everything together. An old-fashioned trencherwoman, that's me. And pasta ranks at the top of the list because it's so easy to prepare and so easily adapted
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Dancing with the starches
While the winter weather hems and haws, trying to decide whether to leave us alone or slam us with snow and ice, the gardens and the fields here in northern Ohio make it pointedly clear that if you're looking for fresh produce, you'd better be prepared to look long and hard. Most grocers won't have an
Celebrating the Twelve Breads of Christmas
Though the New Year has arrived, making Christmas a distant memory, I'm still lingering over my holiday baking. Normally, having focused on cookies, I'd have wrapped everything up by now and given the last crumbs to hungry friends. This year, though, I spent more time baking bread than cookies, and
In defense of corn
It's cold, gray, and raining buckets here in Northern California, causing me to feel distinctly snacky. Problem is, the SOLE food lifestyle doesn't really support the quick, salty, fatty comfort food like I crave right now. I eyed a persimmon – too healthy. A couple of walnuts failed to satisfy.
Eating locavore for the holidays in the Bay Area
The husband and I had Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner by ourselves. We're hibernating, like big antisocial bears — he's hanging drywall and I'm organizing my files. But don't pity us: we couldn't be happier. I hadn't really planned out what we were going to eat, simply going to the farmers market
The joy of cookbooks: Judith Jones’s “The Tenth Muse”
When I read "My Life in France" by Julia Child a couple of years ago, I was struck by the vast effort it took to edit and publish her first book in the United States, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." Written with her French co-authors, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, this
Bake on the wild side: Part 1, the sourdough starter
I love to bake bread. It can be a messy process, requires a lot of patience, and rarely results in bread as good as what Bay Area bread wizards like Acme and Vital Vittles sell at many nearby markets. But that's OK with me — the process is as important as the product. Bread making can be nearly
Baking spirits bright (and other homemade holiday gifts)
Some people look forward to the holidays for the time spent with family and friends or for the thrill of giving and receiving presents. Me, I look forward to the food. I’m not alone, of course. Ask anyone you meet, and you’ll find that he or she has at least one particular food associated
No harm, no fowl: Vegetarian Thanksgiving favorites
No other holiday seems to hold such firm sway over the hearts -- and stomachs -- of Americans as Thanksgiving. Between an enormous feast shared with family (or friends), an entire day of television devoted to parades and football games, a dash of fervent patriotism, and three more days off for leftovers
Eat your Devil’s Food and be quiet
We’re in the weeds up to our bleary eyeballs with deadlines and other pesky interruptions to our regular blogging obsessiveness. In the meantime, please nosh on this cooking-themed third installment from Barry Foy's Devil’s Food
Book review: “Super Natural Cooking” by Heidi Swanson
The mass media's coverage of food is a cacophony of quick fixes ("Eat a handful of goji berries and wipe out the effects of those two fast-food burgers you ate for lunch!") and hype ("Do cranberries cure cancer? Stay tuned for a shocking new report"). Heidi Swanson — creator
Acid trip: the joys of local cider vinegar
I don't like to play favorites among the seasons, but autumn has a fragrant glory all its own, despite its shorter days and the hints of cold weather yet to come. When the temperatures begin to tumble at last and I reach for a cozy sweater, I want to smell crisp, sweet-tart apples and warm apple cider
Tongue in chic: On being a modern offal eater, plus recipe for poached beef tongue
Supposing you were asked to make something you've never made before for a potluck. What springs to mind? And what does it say about you? The range of dishes on offer at my friend Rachel's latest edition of Grub provided interesting insight
Autumn in Montreal
When the leaves begin to fall from the trees around these parts and the Canadian geese fill the skies, some folks smile with delight at the vibrant colours of the fall foliage. Other folks, a group which I belong to, see it in a different light. For me, autumn signals the death of the leaves and the
Recipe: A vegetarian twist on chiles en nogada
For a Grub potluck with the theme of "back to school" (make something you have never made before), I contributed chiles en nogada, a fairly complicated combination of a roasted poblano chili, a vegetable or meat mixture,
