I cook because I love to eat. I garden because I love to cook.
Every year when we host Early Thanksgiving for our friends, Carl carves the turkey. Our old dog Lucy had a love-hate relationship with Carl. When he walked in the door, Lucy would bark incessantly and disruptively; it must have gone on for at least 15 …
Warm, ripe summer tomatoes. Sweet, crisp sugar snap peas in spring. Spicy fall arugula. Crunchy, sweet carrots as winter approaches. Herbs as a garnish to shower over a dish before it’s ready to serve. All from my garden. Fruits, leaves, roots. All delicious. But as …
My children Jacob and Ariana were home last weekend for the holidays, joined by plenty of family. When they departed, they were both weighed down with an abundant bounty. Jacob took containers of leftovers: roast chicken, butter simmered carrots, green beans with shallots, stuffed cabbage, …
I grew up in the City of Brotherly Love, and like all Philadelphians, I was weaned on cheesesteaks and hoagies. Well, actually, we didn’t eat them too often growing up, because health food, they are not. But they were enjoyed from time to time. Most …
Last year my daughter, Ariana, spent the spring semester of her junior year in college abroad. She went to Berlin. Of course being good parents of a child so far away, we had to pay a visit. The city was lovely; cultured, vibrant, and scenic, …
I don’t need to tell anyone that the heat and humidity of July and August in New York is unbearable, and getting worse in a climate changing world. The air is as hot and thick as split pea soup, hearty and warming in winter, but …
Overabundance in the garden is a problem I can deal with. To even use the word ‘problem’ is a stretch. Nonetheless, when there is too much of a given crop in the heart of its harvesting season, the gardener must find a way to use …
After my first year of college, I decided to move out of the dorm. I still lived in a college-owned house with a handful of other students, but I was free of the dorm’s noisy hallways and the cafeteria that came with it. I relished …
When it comes to chicken, I used to prefer white meat. Firm and homogenous, with no fatty blobs or errant veins, the breast is cleaner, leaner, and neater than dark meat. But over the years my point of view has changed; I have turned to …
Some foods are so simple and obvious and delicious that you want to eat them all the time. These foods make so much sense that you think to yourself, “Why didn’t I think of this?” or “Why haven’t I been cooking this all of my …
