On last week's episode of The Splendid Table podcast, actor and writer Michael Tucker spoke of his experience living as an American in Italy. Aside from the obvious challenges adapting to a foreign language and culture, he has learned an entirely different way of cooking since moving to the small town of Umbria. Something he […]

[Read more →]

On Sunday, D and I are hosting thirty-ish people for a housewarming. Our freezer is full to the top spinach-feta filo pies, tartlets and muffins, all shaped like my one tartlet pan. I'm making a meringue pavlova tomorrow, but I wanted another dessert, and I can't make any more tartlet-shaped things or my house will […]

[Read more →]

One Friday night many years ago, this dish landed on my dining room table. Being the ever-obnoxious 9-year-old that I was, I immediately spat, "what's that?""Not Derby Pie.""Not Derby Pie?""yep.""Well if it's not Derby Pie, then what is it?" and, after a moment's hesitation, "what is Derby Pie, anyway?"My mother laughed, as she often does […]

[Read more →]

I promise lots of posts this week with various recipes and pics from our housewarming, but this recipe was requested multiple times tonight with varying degrees of urgency, so it gets first attention. My mom and I first encountered this salad at a potluck. One of the guests showed up with four ziploc bags, and […]

[Read more →]

You and I know how hard it is to get a meal on the table Friday night (let alone Saturday morning) that's well-cooked but not over-cooked, tasty and colorful, and not entirely dried out after a long tenure on the blech. It's not easy! In honor of these hardships, here's a laundry list of questions […]

[Read more →]