Book spine poetry: the food edition

Book spine poetry: the food edition

This morning I decided to play Book Spine Poetry but handicap myself by choosing only food fiction or food fact books. There’s a collection spilling around the kitchen; I thought it would be easy. But turns out a shelf of titles starting with “The” and ending in “Cookbook” is a bit limiting, and try as I might I couldn’t figure out how to put “The Widow Cliquot” together with “A Goose In Toulouse” and “The Nasty Bits” without cheating. Check it out – here’s what I came up with.

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...
Perfect pizza topping combinations

Perfect pizza topping combinations

From arugula to jalapeno-stuffed olives to smoked salmon, here are some of our tried-and-true delicious pizza topping combinations. What are yours?

Grilled pizza how-to

Grilled pizza how-to

Jack Prelutsky’s pizza poem made me hungry! Since I’m thinking about pizza I thought I should let you in on the secrets of one thing I do really, really well – handmade barbecued pizza.

In a pickle

In a pickle

Most recently, my universe wanted pickled red onions.

It started one afternoon when Kid Two and his Buddy sat here after school and ate an entire jar of baby dill pickles and a one of cornichons for their snack.

Jordan Marsh blueberry “muffin” cake

Jordan Marsh blueberry “muffin” cake

This recipe card fell out of my old Fannie Farmer cookbook while I was rummaging around trying to remember which pancake recipe the boys like best: A forgotten recipe! I remember writing out this card; I was 16 and on a trip to Connecticut with a high school friend;...
A Big Sur Thanksgiving, 1939

A Big Sur Thanksgiving, 1939

Knowing how to brine a perfect turkey is not as important as the ability to remember what, exactly, to give thanks for. Here is novelist Lillian Bos Ross’ description of her 1939 Big Sur Thanksgiving meal. Lillian Bos is one of my heroes; read on to find out more about her.

Tomato artichoke soup recipe

Tomato artichoke soup recipe

Somewhere along the line I picked up an excellent cookbook called Soups of Italy: Cooking over 130 Soups the Italian Way by Norma Wasserman-Miller. Her short history of Italian soup in the first chapter is really interesting; she writes that zuppa, the Italian word...
Plantains, provecho!

Plantains, provecho!

Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken’s smoothly sweet soup of plantains, parsnips, and leeks. Elton John is the reason I found the recipe. Every meal tells a story, and here is just one.

The Egg and The Eye

The Egg and The Eye

Circa-1973 cookbook of egg recipes from around the globe: caviar to colonialism with a stop at our house for scrambled eggs with shoyu.