From the monthly archives:

October 2009

Sugar High Friday: Toasted Edition, the Roundup!

October 30, 2009

It always takes me a while to get over the end of summer’s abundance; I spend a good part of September missing peak tomatoes and fretting about corn’s impending end. But once October comes around, I’m fully ready for fall, which brings pleasure of a different sort.
Once I’ve left summer behind, I’m ready for [...]

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On the Occasional Chicken Dinner

October 27, 2009

I’ve been thinking a lot about Jonathan Safran Foer’s article in the New York Times Magazine’s recent Food Issue about why he stopped eating meat. If you haven’t read the article, take a look. Safran Foer tells the story of his long-time struggle with vegetarianism and the ways in which fatherhood helped him strengthen [...]

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Eating with Grandpa

October 23, 2009

My grandfather loved to eat. He and my grandmother went to restaurants about three times a week as far back as I can remember. For them it was never about trying the newest place or getting a coveted table at a popular joint; it was about old haunts. They had their usual spots [...]

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Soup of Fresh Shelling Beans and Sorrel

October 19, 2009

Is it Monday? I’m pretty sure it’s Monday. The last two weeks have been a blur of sniffles, tissues, and gallons (I mean it) of chai. I came down with a cold just around the start of the month. Chalk it up to a late recovery from August’s crunch time at work. I took a [...]

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Sugar High Friday Reminder: Get Toasting!

October 15, 2009

Just reminding anyone who’s interested that the deadline for Sugar High Friday should bake, photograph, post, and email their toasted recipes to me by MIDNIGHT MONDAY, OCTOBER 26th. I’ll do the round-up at the end of that week, so if you want in, get baking! I know I’ve already baked up a pretty delicious [...]

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For What Ails You

October 15, 2009

What you see there is what’s left of my breakfast (some baguette with ricotta, avocado, and sea salt — crostini, anyone?), my lifeline (tissues), and my constant companion (a steaming cup of chai). I’m down for the count right now and need some serious R&R. Hopefully I’ll be better and back in a few [...]

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Rebecca’s Red Velvet Birthday Cake

October 12, 2009

What cake to bake for the girl who bakes birthday cakes?
Back in September, we had our friend Rebecca over for dinner right around her 25th birthday, so I decided to make her a birthday cake for dessert. Problem is, Rebecca’s basically known for her cakes and cupcakes. She makes them all the time, [...]

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Crostini of All Sorts

October 5, 2009

During a recent stop at the bookstore on my street, Idle Time Books (which, btw, had a cameo in A Few Good Men), I was thumbing through cookbook author Deborah Madison’s latest book, What We Eat When We Eat Alone, which she co-wrote with her artist-partner Patrick McFarlin. WWEWWEA (liberally abbreviating the long title [...]

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