Table 1 – Apple Chutney
When I spent my summers as a kid and teenager at Camp Onas in the late 1970s and early 1980s, we ate all our meals in a huge, screened in dining hall. It held about 150 of us at 18 rectangular tables surrounded by simple …
Author: Max Strieb
Emergency Substitution – Curried Corn with Zucchini and Toasted Coconut
This is a lesson in flexibility, a term that would rarely be used to describe me. I don’t mean being able to bend my body, although there’s not too much of that going on, but rather being able to react when things go badly and …
Garden Devastation – Grilled Fish with Pesto
I thought this was going to be a good year in the garden. It started off with so much promise – for the first time I had perfectly plump cabbages that did not get eaten by cabbage worms. But it was mostly downhill from there. …
Scottish Inspiration – Compound Mushroom Butter
In the fall of 2023, my wife Marci and I were lucky enough to take a trip to Scotland. It was a wonderful vacation. Because of the weather, traveling to Scotland in early November is a gamble. But for us it paid off. The week …
Summer Gimlet
My brother and I were at Grendel’s Lair, a club off South Street in Philadelphia, to see a local band. We sidled up to the bar and took a seat. We ordered and waited for the bartender to mix our drinks…two Shirley Temples. It was …
Crab Chaos – Crabcakes with Chipotle Aioli
I must have been about 7 years old when my father brought home a big bag of blue crabs from the Italian Market. A trip to the open-air fruit and vegetable stands, cheese and spice stores, fish mongers, butchers, and live animal stalls lining 9th …
For the Love of Cheese – Vegetable Flatbread with Asiago and Gruyère
Growing up, every Tuesday and Thursday we ate Bert’s Beans for dinner. Refried beans that my father actually re-fried in a skillet with probably too much oil, we would wrap them in homemade tortillas and slather on hot sauce. As the refrying process neared its …
Cabbage Education – Red Curry Cabbage with Toasted Coconut and Thai Basil
Gardening can be incredibly rewarding, but also unbelievably frustrating. Some crops are reliable, always a success from year to year. Green beans, for example, are one of the easiest vegetables to grow. I get a large harvest every summer, often more than I can use. …
It’s Been a Year – Turkey Meatloaf with Mushroom Gravy
It’s been two years since I retired from teaching and one year since I started my personal chef business. I am happy to say this second career has exceeded my expectations. I didn’t know what to expect when I opened my figurative doors last June. …
A Trip to Portugal – Clams with Garlic and Cilantro (Amêijoas á Bulhão Pato)
My wife Marci and I just returned from a lovely trip to Portugal. The weather was beautiful. We saw lots of churches, met interesting people, walked up and down miles of hills through narrow streets, had astonishing views, listened to amazing music, saw beautiful tile …
