I cook because I love to eat. I garden because I love to cook.
About a dozen years ago I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Italy with my family. We spent two incredible weeks there, one with my parents and brothers’ families at a rental in Umbria, the other, just my wife, kids, and I, driving throughout …
I am not a huge believer in making a big deal out of celebrating one’s birthday, at least when you are an adult. I don’t think it warrants a party every year or a day off of work (but then again, my birthday is in …
I read a lot of cooking magazines, so I see the waxing and waning of trends and fads in restaurants and kitchens. Mostly I ignore them. In one ear, out the other, although maybe they leave a tiny impression in a far off corner of …
There are lots of factors that influence and inspire me when I cook and develop a recipe, but it’s rarely a name. Maybe I enjoyed a dish in a restaurant that I want to re-create at home. Or perhaps I saw a picture in a …
I grew up in Philadelphia where the reining sandwiches are cheesesteaks and hoagies. However, there is another Philadelphia sandwich that gets far less attention – roast pork. Comparable in design to a cheesesteak or hoagie, thin sliced pork is stuffed into a long, crusty Italian …
Every Wednesday, starting in middle school, I made pizza. After school, I opened a package of yeast, got out the flour, and kneaded dough. While it was proofing, I simmered a can of tomato puree with garlic, oregano, basil, and sugar. I grated mozzarella, assembled …
I didn’t grow up eating much Italian food. As a kid, I was under the false impression that Italian restaurants only served spaghetti and meatballs; in my mind, nothing else was available. Then I grew up and moved to Long Island. Italian food is the …
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 …
Anyone can make a good antipasto. You don’t even have to know how to cook. Just visit a pork store. When I moved to Long Island, I had no idea what a pork store was, pork not being a major part of my diet. But …
I try to eat salads for lunch at least four times a week. It’s tough. No, literally, tough; it’s a lot of chewing. I sometimes feel like a cow chewing its cud and I can get sick of them pretty quickly. The only way to …
