Stir-fried Rice Cakes with Pork
As lunatics in the wider world wielded guns and mailed pipe bombs, your hostess was busy dealing with crooks and idiots. It’s been that kind of few weeks. Or maybe that kind of two years. (Not indicative of above.) — Stir-Fried Rice Cakes with Pork comes, in part, from Georgia…
Pasta with chickpeas and spinach
Pasta with chickpeas and spinach came about because I could barely walk. Not the most felicitous of culinary circumstances, but there you are. One never knows where a good dish will come from. Your hostess has a bursitic knee, long treated with cortisone shots. Last week the doctor decided further…
Marble Pound Cake
The past week saw your hostess dealing with rodents in kitchen (that screaming you heard? it was me), and a near automobile accident. The other driver–who was at fault–attempted to confront me. (That screaming you heard? It was me.) This driver, who was backing out of a parking lot…
Perfect Pound Cake Variations
You are either a baker or a cook. Very few people are both. Merrill Stubbs, A New Way To Dinner I believed the above until my late forties. Then humiliation got the better of me and I taught myself to bake. Because I was in my late forties–I am fifty…
Recipe failures and other disasters
The IK has been woefully quiet of late, and not for lack of interest. It’s at times like this that I recall David Lebovitz, who writes of having a 40-post backlog. This must be a source of confidence, virtual money in the bank, as it were. (It’s also a fine way…
Recipe Failures
Hi–it’s been a while. Sorry for that. The above is a banana blossom. Either you’re totally familiar with these or you’ve never seen one in your life. Until recently, I fell into the latter camp. Banana blossoms are beautiful, so of course I wanted to try cooking with one. To…
Pasta, peas, and proscuitto
Never has writing about food felt more futile, privileged, or frankly ridiculous. Having said that, capitulate and the bad guys win. We don’t want that. Here are some ways to help: The American Civil Liberties Union Moveon.org raicestexas.org National Immigrant Justice Center/Immigrantjustice.org Amnesty International — Pasta, peas, and prosciutto began…
Chicken Salad with Vermouth and Paprika
I am married to somebody who is deeply interested in plants. This is not an interest I share. Nor do plants seem interested in me. Vita at Sissinghurst I am not. Last weekend, John wisely accepted my advice and brought a plant whisperer to our yard. The two of them…
Privacy Policy/GDPR updated
Like every other person/entity/internet product, the IK has updated its privacy page to conform to GDPR regulations. Suffice to say we never divulge, sell, or otherwise give away your information. Because we’re pretty private around here ourselves. A post on cherry brownies, much more entertaining, is in the works. Until…
Gong Bao Chicken
According to Fuchsia Dunlop, the precise origins of Gong Bao Chicken are unknown. We do know the dish is named after Ding Baozhen, who governed China’s Sichuan province during the Qing Dynasty. As Ding Baozhen was very fond of eating this dish, the chicken was cut into very small pieces to…