Chef Juan Pablo Chavez did what many of us only dream of. He ditched his corporate job to become a chef and pursue his passion for food.I’m standing in his well-stocked kitchen in upper-Manhattan. Chef Juan Pablo is a solidly-built, animated man with a broad smile. He is slicing vegetables precisely with a swift, smooth motion and preparing them for blanching. He is assembling Chicken Mole Verde,
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Fabulous Fifties German Chocolate Cake
He walks through the door of the boxy pale-blue Levitt ranch house at exactly 6:25 p.m. He hangs his Fedora on the hat stand, sheds his gray flannel suit jacket and slips into a soft, tan cardigan sweater.“Honey, I’m home,” He intones.She smoothes her auburn hair, straightens her pearl choker, and pushes through the green swing-door from the kitchen into the dining room carrying a cocktail shaker
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Dining in the Raw
One-thousand years from now, archeologists digging on the island of Manhattan will debate the reasons why a group of sophisticated, urban city-dwellers chose to reject traditional kitchen technology and abandoned the use of the four-burner stove.My friend “Lee Sloan” is a Grande Dame of food and wine on the New York circuit. In days of yore, she developed marketing and public relations strategies
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Food with Personality
From astrological signs to dating services to corporate team building exercises, we love to label personalities and deduce the psychological “type” of those around us.We favor an endless supply of “tags” to classify character – cheerful, aloof, moody, mercurial, passive, and aggressive. Some years ago, I took the classic Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test, which neatly packaged me as ISFJ – which,
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Watermelon Cake and Thoughts of Summer
Summer vacation started yesterday.I thought our teacher Mrs. Hall would never let us go.When school had finally ended, my little brother Fred and I raced each other down to the creek. We tossed our books on the riverbank and waded barefoot in the stream. We splashed each other until we fell over laughing, soaking wet. Then, we lay on the bank so the hot afternoon sun would dry our clothes. Dad
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Sushi and Serenity
If it’s Sunday, it must be sushi. I’ve been planning this culinary meditation all week, and it is essential to my future well-being. The past seven days have been a tough haul. Too many people, too many issues at the office. Harassment from fellow commuters on the Long Island Railroad. And, seven days of Chocolate Malted Milk Cake for breakfast has given me a severe sugar rush.It’s time for
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I Think, Therefore I Eat
Freya and Paul, who host the witty and irreverent Writing at the Kitchen Table, have very graciously nominated “Culinary Types” for a “Thinking Blogger Award!” A healthy helping of Monty Python seasoned with a dash of Shakespearean drama, Freya and Paul make me laugh and think about the culinary milestones and misadventures that we all share.Frankly, I’m extremely flattered by their nomination,
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