I cook because I love to eat. I garden because I love to cook.
My daughter doesn’t like Thanksgiving – neither the holiday nor the food. Never has. It’s not because of the people or the family gathering, but rather it’s because of her birthday, which is always during the same week as Thanksgiving. Some years, including this year, …
It is always better when food looks good, in addition to tasting good. In upscale restaurants chefs have to be artists on two fronts; each course is a meticulously prepared work of art, not just in terms of flavor combinations, but also as a fleeting, …
When I was in high school, my friend Dave and I would drive miles to 12th and Shunk, deep in the heart of South Philadelphia, just to get water ice at Italiano’s. It was the best water ice we could find. A plethora of flavors …
The extra hour gifted to us this morning by switching from daylight savings time to standard time makes it perfect to cook a big breakfast – including skillet vegetable hash topped with a fried egg. Except in my family we don’t get the extra hour, …
Maybe 21 or 22 years ago, shortly after my wife and I purchased our first home and before kids, we got a free turkey; supermarkets used to give them away a few weeks before Thanksgiving when you spent a certain amount on groceries. We didn’t …
Every once in a while, a recipe jumps out from nowhere and sticks; it becomes an instant classic in my repertoire, one I make over and over. That is the case with Chicken Piccata. Many years ago, my wife and I were at a friend’s …
The first year I grew tomatillos, it was in a garden that happened to be on a nature preserve. I had a pretty good harvest. It was in the second year that I realized there was a problem. The tomatillos from the previous summer had …
As we cross the threshold from summer to fall, I am harvesting the last of my summer vegetables before cool-weather, fall crops ripen in earnest. There are a few cucumbers and tomatoes hanging on the withering vines, and I want to savor the last of …
My family loves pesto. It was the first meal I ever cooked for my wife, although she complained my pesto didn’t contain enough garlic. (Not a bad sign for a potential relationship.) Now we eat it on grown up grilled cheese sandwiches, sautéed veggies, and …
Let’s talk about a type of food that most people wouldn’t make, let alone eat. Let’s talk about chopped liver. (Some will stop reading right now. I admire those who proceed.) I understand its lack of appeal. It’s made from an organ that many Americans …
