I cook because I love to eat. I garden because I love to cook.
There are some vegetables I don’t grow in my garden. It’s not for lack of trying or because I won’t eat the result. Rather, I just can’t get them to grow. I try for a few years. Nothing. Modify my technique. Failure. Finally, I give …
I talk to my high school Biology and Environmental Science students all the time about food, cooking, and my garden. I mean not all the time; we do have other work to do. But sometimes it does overlap with the course material. For example, I …
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 …
My favorite restaurant in Huntington, New York, where I live, closed about 10 years ago. The Cooke’s Inn was a quirky place, run by an imaginative owner. Juanita Cooke was a retired 6th grade teacher who lined the walls of the restaurant with children’s books. …
There are coleslaw lovers in this world, and coleslaw haters. It seems there are very few people in between. The lovers don’t understand why, when served as a supplement to your sandwich, you get only a tiny portion. Three or four forkfuls. A tease. It’s …
Sometimes the main course is easy, but a side dish eludes you. Sometimes you need to concoct an accompaniment to the main meal, but it’s got to be quick. Sometimes you need simple and easy. Sometimes you want the side dish to be healthy. Sometimes …
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 …
