Muddle & Wilde

24 Mar 2017 1 Comment

by scolgin in Beverages, Markets & Stores, The Pantry Tags: , , , , , , , ,

What sounds like the name of a pair of bumbling, ineffectual British TV detectives is actually a new project by two of the most creative, beautiful women I know — Muddle & Wilde, organic drink mixes “handcrafted in small batches.”

Laura and Moira

Rereading the grammatical structure of that previous sentence, I realized it could be interpreted that my two friends are named Muddle & Wilde. They are not. They are Moira and Laura, two mothers at the elementary school where my daughters go — and are friends with their daughters. And we are friends with Moira and Laura, and so were impressed and excited when we heard about their venture. More

The Japanese Make the Best Things

27 Jan 2017 11 Comments

by scolgin in Cooking Tips, Markets & Stores Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Sometimes I think the Italians make the best things. And then I change my mind, and decide it’s actually the Mexicans who make the best things. Other times, I’m pretty darned sure it’s the Japanese.

This is one of those times.

bynx6885

Of course, it all depends on what you are talking about. If you’re discussing cheese, for example, it’s hard to make a case that anyone does it better than the French. More

Skinny Girls Roadshow LIVE from Hawaii — Town and Country

12 Aug 2016 6 Comments

by scolgin in Eating Out, Markets & Stores, On the Road Tags: , , , , , , ,

Fifteen years ago I made a good decision, and married my favorite person. Three kids, two houses, a successful business and a couple dozen chickens later, we realized we would fortuitously be in Oahu for our anniversary — a perfecter place to celebrate we couldn’t have planned!

Waimanalo People's Open Market

Waimanalo People’s Open Market

Through more of my pre-vacation research, I zeroed in on a restaurant called “Town” that I thought would make the appropriate anniversary dinner destination. A chef named Ed Kenney was creating interesting, Italian-influenced Hawaiian cuisine with an emphasis on traditional island ingredients and strong relationships with local farms.

More

Les Lofts Saint-Joseph — Skinny Girls Roadshow LIVE from Quebec City

01 Jul 2015 11 Comments

by scolgin in Markets & Stores, On the Road Tags: , , , , , , , ,

We drove through northern Maine on high moose alert — the country was wild, wet and largely uninhabited, and roadside signs all along the route warned of moose crossings.

Flynn et Willa in our loft

Flynn et Willa in our loft

We didn’t see any moose. But we had a pleasant leisurely chat about web design and client management with the friendly officer at the border crossing as the cars piled up behind us. And then the signs were in French and the traffic lights were sideways and we were in Quebec. More

All the City’s a Market

04 Jun 2015 9 Comments

by scolgin in Markets & Stores Tags: , , , , , , , ,

It’s one of my favorite things about living in Los Angeles. On any given week, I may visit any number of ethnic markets: Japanese, Chinese, Filipino and Korean groceries; Italian delis; Russian and Polish markets; Mexican carnicerias, Oaxacan specialty shops and the Vallarta supermercado; stores dedicated to Persian, Argentine, Hawaiian, British, Spanish, Ethiopian and all other variety of global foods.

Grand Central Market stall in 1920

Grand Central Market stall in 1920

One market I used to visit periodically if I was in the neighborhood — which happened to be the farmacias, counterfeit sportswear shops and old-theaters-turned-Mexican-iglesias of Broadway in downtown — was the Grand Central Market. An open-air affair spanning the length of the block on the ground floor of a large building, the market opened in 1917 and over the course of recent decades had turned into its equivalent of any similar market in Mexico City, Mazatlan, Guadalajara or a hundred other large Mexican cities — piles of dried chiles, pinto beans, mangos and nopales, cases of stinky meat and pig’s heads, votive candles and fresh corn tortillas. More

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