Okra Pilau
Thursday evening the doorbell rang. Our visitors were two boys who live in the apartment building next door. Their basketball had sailed over the fence dividing our properties, landing in our yard. This is not an infrequent occurrence. These are nice kids–well-behaved and remarkably polite. I retrieved the ball, then led the…
Spicy Lamb Burgers
Saturday night, in a surpassing gesture toward adulthood, I decided to update my operating system. You know, install all those niggling updates it’s constantly pestering me about: tightening up the operating system….honing safety and security….something about email…plus improving all those programs I’ve never opened, like GarageBand. I set the update…
Potato Parsley Cakes
Before getting to the recipe, this: On June 24th, Popmatters.com published my review of Kim Addonizio’s Bukowski In A Sundress. She read it, was really pleased, and said so on Twitter, which thrilled me. It’s a fantastic book, and I suggest you run to your nearest Indie bookstore and buy…
Friday Food Quote
Self-explanantory and, we hope, a weekly event. Today, thinking of our friends across the pond, we bring you the very English Elizabeth David. From Summer Cooking: A chicken slow-roasted in the morning, left to cool, and eaten cold at lunch time can be a true treat. Kept until the next day…
Vietnamese Beef Salad
Shopping list: port coffee scallions sugar green tea okra garlic limes tomatillos black beans from bulk bin lemongrass!!! A few days ago I found myself staring at my shopping list, bemused. Okra? Tomatillos? Port? Lemongrass? When did I become a person urgently in need of lemongrass? Not so long ago…
Potato Gratin with Summer Squash
When people think of assistive animals, dogs invariably come to mind. And while it’s true that service felines are few, we who are owned by cats know better. Lucy, for instance, helps John dress every morning. Those of you not cohabitating with wheelchair users likely have devoted little thought to…
Mussels in Vermouth
Many food blogs avoid discussing news. It’s easier to avoid politically fraught issues (oh, I can see the Facebook posts now….) and just leap to the recipe. Leaping was never my forte. Over at the Huffington Post, there’s a partial list of the dead. The single most shocking thing about these people–apart…
Plum Liqueur
So, plum liqueur. I know, we just made cherry bounce. Why more booze? What gives? Do we have a problem? Well, yes. We have many problems. Who doesn’t? But this is a food blog, and we’re discussing the steeping of fruits in alcohol, not our various woes. Why so many?…
Grilled Peppers
Lulu scorns the barbaric habit of turning peppers over a gas flame to blister the skins and holding them beneath running water to rub the skins off. Richard Olney, Lulu’s Provençal Table Since discovering roasted peppers–and realizing how easy it is to prepare them–I’ve gotten addicted. Sometimes I just roast…
Cherry Bounce
As Memorial Day draws nigh, I may be the only American blogger who isn’t discussing grilling, dining al fresco, or nattering on about the joys of summertime eating. Not that there’s anything wrong with grilling or the foods of summer. But if you’re hankering for yet another rib recipe, or…
