01 Jun 2012 11 Comments
in Observations, Starlets, Yoga Students & Quinoa (stories) Tags: barbecue, chickens, cooking, coyotes, food, hawks, Memorial Day, owls, pool
We returned Monday afternoon from the obligatory Memorial Day pool party/barbecue tired and sunbaked — a family sluggish in the hangover of four barbecues in four days, beginning with the optimistic pop of a pale ale bottle opening Friday afternoon and ending with the fizzle of a yawn 72 hours later.
It was as I was tending to my afternoon duties around the house that I first noticed an ominous sign out on the property: an explosion of white feathers down by the garden. More
18 May 2012 8 Comments
in Observations, Pork, Recipes Tags: Animal, cooking, food, Lazy Ox, pig, pig roast, Pork, pork shoulder, Spanish cuisine, Umamicatessen
Pork season is almost here!
What is pork season, you may reasonably ask?? Is it the time when the young wild piglets sprout up from the earth after a spring rain? Is it the brief window when the pig molts its old skin, and is tender and new beneath before the new skin hardens?
Henri, napping amidst the rosemary
No, no… nothing like that. It is the time when the weather grows warm, and I begin noticing the racks of baby back ribs in the grocery store. More
15 May 2012 7 Comments
in Observations Tags: America, atkins, Claim Jumper, dieting, Diets, food, Nathaniel Parker, pritikin, sushi
My wife has a revolutionary diet philosophy. She calls it, “Eat less, move more.”
Such a simple idea. But I think most Americans do not want to eat less. Or move more. After all, there is a lot of food to be eaten. And a lot of TV to be Tivoed.
Dinner at Claim Jumper, Reno, NV
I can never understand why eating until you’re stuffed is considered an American virtue. Perhaps it has its origins in surviving the Great Depression. Like, you better eat all you can while it’s in front of you, because one day it might not be. But when I eat until I’m stuffed, I don’t feel very good. I can feel my heart struggling in my chest to keep up with the digestive tract’s demands. After a meal, you should feel like taking a pleasant walk, not lying down. More
11 May 2012 7 Comments
in Recipes Tags: biscuits, buttermilk, cooking, food, grits, Paul Prudhomme, recipes, sausage, Southern cooking
The sky outside this Saturday morning is grey, threatening rain. Wood is stacked on the deck, we’re still in pajamas and have no place in particular to go as the storm closes in. It’s a biscuit kinda morning.
Buttermilk biscuits & sausage
I didn’t grow up in the South. But somewhere along the culinary line, I developed a great appreciations for things Southern — grits, barbecue, juleps and biscuits. More
08 May 2012 5 Comments
in Cooking Tips, Recipes Tags: banh trang, Cinco de Mayo, cooking, food, leftovers, nuoc mam, recipes, shrimp, spring rolls, Vietnamese cuisine
I often write about resourcefulness. It’s one of my favorite food topics — whether I’m encouraging people to turn all the wilted veggies in the fridge drawer they were about to throw out into a soup, or reflecting on how to get five or six different dishes out of a single duck.
Vietnamese spring rolls
The other night, we hosted a Mexican dinner party. Mariachi played on the iTunes, my famous margaritas were flowing, and the menu was robust. In other words, I made too much food. More
skinny girls & mayonnaise 