I wasn’t really looking to get entangled with another frying pan. At the risk of appearing to blame yet another impulse purchase of mine on my mother, I probably wouldn’t have considered it, if Mom had not mentioned the big sale. But, it barely takes a nudge for me to buy another kitchen item. No willpower. The minute I laid eyes on it, there was no mistaking the magic. The brilliant
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Birthday Cupcakes
The one consistent symbol I associate with birthdays is frosted cupcakes. Mom would bake a batch that would be transported to elementary school in a foil-lined box to be shared with the entire class on my special day.Now, several decades later, I don’t have to go to school on my birthday. In fact, I can take the day off if I want to. Adulthood has its perks.So I devote a full 24-hours to me. It
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Community is Key Ingredient in Lydia’s Perfect Pantry
Her Rhode Island pantry is legendary, stocking more than 240 items. When you meet her, she is warm, generous, direct, at times uncompromising, and always keenly insightful. With all that going on, one’s inevitable first question feels a bit like a cliché – Why is food blogger Lydia Walshin so preoccupied with her Perfect Pantry?It began when she and her husband Ted moved to a cozy log cabin in
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A Guy, a Pie and a Fistful of Corn Chips
Some folks spend years perfecting a signature dish. You might even say that the signature dish is a window into a home cook’s psyche. For example, there’s my pal Mary’s hot and sassy Penne a la Vodka, or the international panache of my buddy Rocky’s Paella. And, don’t get me started on Mad Me-Shell’s slow-simmered, “I can handle anything with the greatest of ease,” Pulled Pork with Bourbon
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Peruvian Fare in Fog City
We all have our hazy moments, and our moments of intense clarity.I have often wondered why – beyond the weather -- San Francisco has been dubbed “Fog City.” Perhaps the heyday of Haight-Ashby had something to do with it. Yet every time I visit, there is that moment of intense clarity. The city sits in sharp relief against the skyline. The brilliant clang of the cable car is heard. The
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Curried Carrot Ginger Soup as Winter Cloaks the North Fork
The pace has slowed considerably. There are still signs of yuletide greenery and lights, and there is even evidence of snow, but there is a welcomed sense of solitude on the North Fork of Long Island.At Bayview Market and Farms on Route 25 a handwritten sign says “Closing Jan 4 for the Season.” The ornamental winter kale is nestled in a frosty blanket of white.Yet, inside there are still bins
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More New Year’s Mixology – The Gin and Fresca Cocktail
At the risk of convincing you that I’ve reverted to a diet of smart, sophisticated cocktails, I simply couldn’t let the old year pass away without a sip of the Gin and Fresca Cocktail. You didn’t think I would forget this one, did you, Lydia? It all began with a bit of a challenge, or perhaps a campaign, to secure the rightful place of Fresca in Lydia’s Perfect Pantry. Fresca clearly has shelf
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Happy New Year and Cheers – I’ll Take Manhattan!
My friend “Lee Sloan” is a Grand Dame of food and wine. She recently shared this story of a conversation in a fashionable New York City restaurant: “I asked a waiter at A Voce the other night if the restaurant was experiencing a downturn in customers as a result of the downturn in the economy. He said the customers were still coming but they were eating less and drinking more. God Bless America
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