I cook because I love to eat. I garden because I love to cook.
In my youth I can’t say that I was a fan of mushrooms. I would never eat them outright. If someone insisted on a pizza with mushrooms, I would reluctantly manage, although pizza-topping mushrooms back then were mostly wet, slimy, canned things, with little to …
It was early spring and snow still blanketed the ground, melting a little during the warmer daylight hours and freezing again when the sun sank below the horizon. I had a craving for Chicken with Hoisin Sauce, a Chinese stir fry I made on repeat …
The first thing I learned to cook when I was young was pizza; every Wednesday, two pizzas for the family. The second thing I learned to cook was Rock Sugar Chicken, a Chinese stewed chicken with bamboo shoots and shitake mushrooms, the sauce saturating a …
When we visit my parents in Philadelphia, we always go out to our favorite Chinese restaurant, Lee How Fook. We’ve been dining there literally for decades. They immediately bring a pot of hot tea for the table, and for my mother, without asking, a pot …
This summer amid the pandemic, my college-age daughter was stranded at home like many of her generation. An internship was not in the cards, so she kept busy with a small, online, used clothing business she created. Likewise, her friend from Brooklyn wanted to get …
Sometimes a simple salad will suffice. And this one, with its crunchy vegetables, sweet, nutty dressing, and firm-textured tofu, is good any day of the week. I usually make this salad within a day of visiting an Asian grocery store, where I can get perfectly …
My very favorite food in the whole wide world is shell-on, salt baked shrimp from the Chinese restaurant Lee How Fook in Philadelphia, where my family has been dining for decades. It is light, crisp, crunchy, and salty, with a slight peppery tang, perfect with …
Kids are not easy, even when they’re no longer kids. My children, currently 19 and 21, are home from college because of the coronavirus pandemic. At times they have reverted to their former selves circa ages 6 and 8. They bicker and fight with each …
Of all of the characteristics that make a morsel of food desirable, crispy bits reign supreme. I love the texture and flavor they bring to my dishes. Diners search it out in all kinds of foods, from the curliest, folded over potato chip in the …
In my junior and senior years in college, I was a member of a couple of different cooking groups. About four or five different people, each cooking one night a week. It provided a meal much healthier than the college cafeteria, saved time and money, …
