19 Aug 2011 7 Comments
in Observations, Recipes, Starlets, Yoga Students & Quinoa (stories) Tags: anchovies, antipasto, France, fruits de mer, Nice, octopus, offal, pizza, polpo, sardines, sea urchin, Sicily, stinky cheese, sweetbreads
You would think everyone at my house would be living a life of culinary bliss, eagerly anticipating the next plate placed before them. But it ain’t always so…
Polpo diavolo
Everything is grand when I serve breaded chicken cutlets, hamburgers or pizza. Unless I try to slip some anchovies on top. But certain dishes elicit a blank stare from the kids — even from the wife on occasion — that says: “You expect me to eat that??” More
16 Aug 2011 4 Comments
in Observations, Starlets, Yoga Students & Quinoa (stories) Tags: butter, Deliboy, japan, Japanese culture, Little Osaka, Sawtelle, tomato, Tomato Bank
Sometimes in life you stumble upon an odd confluence of food and commerce. And more often than not, the Japanese are behind it. Witness the business I noticed today on a sojourn to L.A.’s Little Osaka to pick up some fish: The Tomato Bank.
Happy customer leaving the Tomato Bank
I’m not sure I would feel confident entrusting my savings to the Tomato Bank. But maybe that’s not what kind of bank it is. More
11 Aug 2011 5 Comments
in Cooking Tips, Observations, Recipes Tags: Celestino Drago, Genoa, Hawaiian, Italian riviera, Italy, noci, pansotti, salami, Saveur, tortellini, tortelloni, walnuts
I’m often asked by dinner guests, as I serve them a meal of Sardinian seafood or Japanese sumiyaki grill or Yucatan-style Mexican, “Where do you get your ideas?”
Freshly made mezzaluna
I’ll admit it’s somewhat easier for me than the average person — having a career that gives me the time and flexibility to indulge my passion for kitchen creativity. However, I still have to come up with ideas of what I’m going to cook each evening. More
05 Aug 2011 5 Comments
in Observations, Starlets, Yoga Students & Quinoa (stories) Tags: Anniversary, Best Foods, mayonnaise, one year, Skinny Girls
On August 7, 2010, I launched Skinny Girls & Mayonnaise — exploding out the gate with eight posts on that single day. Four more came the following day. I guess you could say they’d be welling up inside of me for awhile.
It’s been a great year of cooking, philosophizing, marketing, experimenting and writing about it all. And sharing it. More
29 Jul 2011 4 Comments
in Observations, Starlets, Yoga Students & Quinoa (stories) Tags: cooking, Dar Maghreb, food, Jili, kitchen, Michael's, Ricky Ricardo, Swanson's, Tatsu
I always enjoy hearing stories of what brought people to their passions for food. My grandfather cooked on a train during the Depression. That’s all I know of that story. Although it provides a good prelude to my own.
The author at 13
My journey into food began, I suppose, as so many do: at my mother’s apron. The house always smelled good, and the kitchen was warm and inviting. More
skinny girls & mayonnaise 