I cook because I love to eat. I garden because I love to cook.
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 …
One problem with a big garden is that when one type of vegetable is ripe, you are swamped with it. I know, I know, if all our problems were only this big and serious. Cue the violins. When I experience this garden overflow, I share …
Children don’t always eat their vegetables. With my son it was no problem; he would sit silently in the back seat of the car during long trips, for example, munching an entire feed bag full of raw vegetables. My daughter Ariana…well, not so much. I …
No matter the quality, children don’t always appreciate the foods their parents eat. That was certainly the case with my brothers and me, and some of the foods our father cooked. It was especially true of tea smoked chicken. As wisps of smoke from burning …
Summer demands simple food, and grilled vegetables fit the bill. I sometimes look at the prepared foods in the big glass case at a supermarket or pork store or deli and see piles of sad, limp grilled vegetables. They don’t look at all appetizing and …
