A world of food in one city

A world of food in one city

On the recent occasion of my first-ever evening in London: I walked down a street named for the patron saint of travelers. Walked past Lebanese, Chinese, Mexican, and Turkish restaurants, past sushi and tapas and burgers, before eating French and Italian food served by a Spanish woman named Melina. I thought I’d gotten around a bit for a girl raised in the heartland. Alaska and Hawaii, Canada and Mexico, France and Italy. I thought I understood “diversity.” But London! London is in a class of its own. London showed me what “multicultural” really looks like.

The Amazing Texas-Toast-Bacon-and-Egg-Sandwich

The Amazing Texas-Toast-Bacon-and-Egg-Sandwich

Kid Two still loves Texas toast but along the way has acquired a taste for paninis with egg and baby greens with a bit of cheese. It was only a matter of time before he decided to try and combine the buttery crunchiness of Texas toast with savory eggy-ness of his...
Doctor up your pancake mix

Doctor up your pancake mix

Trader Joe’s Buttermilk Pancake Mix is my breakfast shortcut of choice. Just add eggs and water – or eggs, water, and oil for waffles – and presto! Pretty good homemade-tasting pancakes in a few minutes. It’s hard to find a from-scratch recipe...
A Heavenly breakfast

A Heavenly breakfast

There’s a great breakfast place in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, between Scotts Valley and Felton, California – the Heavenly Cafe. It’s filled with roadside country charm and offers something for everyone, from oatmeal to a full bar....
Bannocks – gluten free, vegetarian oat cakes

Bannocks – gluten free, vegetarian oat cakes

It’s been an oatmeal kind of autumn around here – there’s something about the cooler weather that calls out for the warmth and earthiness of hot oats, don’t you think? Recently I was having a taste flashback to the bannocks we used to eat when...

Conversation before coffee

KID ONE murmuring with his girlfriend MIJA. They are sitting at the dining room table with a light breakfast. KID ONE The main character. You know who it is, we both like him. MIJA I can’t picture him. KID ONE (calling out) Mom, can you look up the main...
The best doughnuts in Burlington, CO

The best doughnuts in Burlington, CO

Meet my mom and dad, Grandma Juju and Downtown Tom. Despite their four kids and seven grandkids, they’ve been channeling coolness ever since they moved from our childhood home to a rehabbed hat factory-turned-hipster loft in downtown St. Louis. They’ve...
Drinking my vegetables

Drinking my vegetables

“Tiny pellets of poison” what a friend calls peas. Personally, I don’t have any problem with peas as long as they’re not mushy and are mixed in a creamy white sauce, tossed with penne, and topped with crispy prosciutto. Everything is better...
Sometimes I just have to amuse myself (3)

Sometimes I just have to amuse myself (3)

I found the milk carton in the fridge empty on Saturday morning, victim of Kid One’s early-morning pre-work power breakfast of Ezekiel 49 and bananas. Kid Two’s Buddy had spent the night and the remaining boys were promised waffles, but I couldn’t...
Make: Online | Individually labeled egg

Make: Online | Individually labeled egg

Last spring I took the boys to the Make Magazine-sponsored Maker’s Faire in San Mateo, an uber-science fair of ideas brought to life by creative gadget-minded people from all walks of life. This is from their blog today, and is too good not to share. Think of...

What makes a good hash (latimes.com)

Many weekend mornings lately have started this way: mince a handful of onion, dice a couple ribs of celery, saute in a little grapeseed oil, add some leftovers and a couple of cubed potatoes, and pretty soon we’ve got hash. It’s gone Mexican, topped with...
Flying for pancakes

Flying for pancakes

Guest blogger Downtown Tom takes to the skies, searching the bi-state area for a pancake breakfast.