I cook because I love to eat. I garden because I love to cook.
When I was a little kid, before the era of ready-to-eat “baby” carrots, my parents would peel three carrots and place them on a plate for my brothers and me to eat before dinner while we set the table (and fought). They tricked us into …
Growing up, my family was all about leftovers. As a matter of fact, sometimes it seemed like we didn’t eat the meal fresh, it was just put in the refrigerator with the express purpose of being served as leftovers – for what seemed like two …
I come from a family of Chinese food snobs. We would never be caught at a strip mall take-out joint or a restaurant with hanging lanterns. In college, I would announce to friends with great authority that it was impossible to find truly authentic Chinese …
Cooking for a crowd is harder than ever before, what with allergies and special diets and food preferences. Yes, options exist; they require that I put a little more time and effort into planning a menu that everyone can enjoy. And it requires some creativity. …
When I was in sixth grade going to school in downtown Philadelphia, they needed kids as extras for a scene in the movie Rocky II. Somehow I found out about it, and went with a handful of friends. There we were with dozens of other …
There are lots of famous pairs: Ella and Louis, Abbott and Costello, Fred and Ginger, Simon and Garfunkel. There are also famous pairs in the garden and kitchen, which I find often grow well together and mature or ripen at the same time. Think tomato …
Tomatillos (sometimes called Mexican green tomatoes) are a funny fruit. Not particularly well-known or used in the US, they are a distant relative of tomatoes. They come encased in a papery husk that must be removed before they can be used. As a kid, we …
I was traumatized as a kid; scarred for life. To this day, I can only eat peanut butter and jelly on toast. I used to take a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to school for lunch on days when I wasn’t tortured with meatloaf (a …
The other day I thought we were going to pick up a pizza for dinner. But late in the day, my wife called to tell me that our friend (and her co-worker) Carl had just given her a huge hunk of fresh-caught, sushi-grade bluefin tuna …
It’s the end of August, I’m feeling lazy, and it’s too hot for serious cooking in the kitchen. As tomato season is in full swing, we will not suffer. That means we’re eating lots of delicious, healthy tomato salads. They are quick and easy to …
