food
my favorite things: retro milk
My vacation to Lake George (the upper Hudson Valley region of NY) yielded a real treasure–milk in glass bottles! Perhaps I’m overly dramatic, being a writer and all, but it really affected me. There was just something about it all–the freshness, the old fashioned glass bottles–added to the lakeside setting, that made the coffee richer,... »
nature’s bounty~clams
There’s just something raw and animalistic and yes, sexy, about catching your own food. Some of my favorite memories are clamming with friends on a salt pond in Rhode Island. The clams are barely an hour old when we’d bring them back to the house and throw them in the closed shells on a hot... »
when smoking is good…
No, I’m not talking cigarettes or even the hipper cigars. I’m talking smoked meat. There’s this guy in a truck I stumbled upon a few years ago. He starts up the smoker in the morning, fills it full of ribs, drives to a parking lot and sits there. When the ribs are properly smoked, he’s... »
virgin no more
Confession–until last week I was a virgin. A farmers market virgin, that is. Yes, I’ve been to the farm stands that line Long Island’s Rt. 27 on the drive out to Montauk. But somehow a farm stand and a farmers market are different. I learned that last Thursday when I met my friend at the... »
back to nature…
Sadly, I fear I have been ruined by goodness and newly acquired hightened expectations. I’ve gone through life very happily with my eyes closed, simply selecting something off the grocery store shelf that promised tasty goodness on my tongue without much thought past the pretty picture on the package. I am of the Red Dye... »
a memorial day minute
We’re coming up on Memorial Day weekend here in the States. The unofficial start of summer when everyone cleans off the grill and heads outdoors for a barbecue. In honor of the holiday, and the men and women in the armed forces, here are a few fun things. Take a minute this Memorial Day... »
personalized pop
Today’s confession is this…authors (at least this author) procrastinate. I will do anything, including clean the house on rare occasions, to avoid work at times. Yesterday’s procrastinating yielding something very fun and exciting that I figured I’d share here. JONES SODA I love when food products go above and beyond and this company is off the... »
into the wild
Reading Amy’s Blog post about her trip to Africa and all the wild game she saw, not only in the wild but also on her plate, brought back some great culinary memories for me of my own trip to the UK. Why you ask? The Brits are best known for their Fish and Chips, right? That’s... »
a wine by any other name
Though we are told to never judge a book by its cover, we all know most people do. Confession–I judge wine by the label. That’s pretty much the main way I choose what bottles to buy. Ignoring the collective gasp from all the wine aficionados I have to say it’s worked out pretty well for me... »
where’s all the good stuff at?
I spent a considerable amount of years working summers at a country club to put myself through college. That meant I was constantly surrounded by the typical catering hall fare. Racks upon racks of icky, mushy prime rib which I swear is not made from the same cut or even the same animal as... »