Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Balkan countries really captured my imagination when I was teaching European history at the Waldorf School a few years ago, perhaps because I knew absolutely nothing about them, except for Greece.  Since then I’ve read some pretty horrifying books … Continue reading →

Somehow, we ended up with two enormous turkeys this year, and we’re not even cooking Thanksgiving dinner!  The first gobbler was one that I bought from a friend of mine who raised a bunch of turkeys herself on a small, … Continue reading →

At the risk of sounding like a total idiot, I’ve suddenly discovered that fancy, exotic cooking can be hard on the old pocket book.  Over the weekend and into early this week I made a couple of wonderful dishes from … Continue reading →

We are all humming with happiness around here now that the weather is cooler and the food is spicier.  On Saturday I cooked a delicious Arab-Andalusian vegetable ragout deeply flavored with paprika, along with  a golden, crisp garlic chicken dish … Continue reading →

For all you ocd  folks (formerly known in Freudian-literate circles as “anal”) reading this blog, this may be deeply disturbing to you, and I apologize ahead of time, but by unanimous consent, and as a result of outright rebellion on … Continue reading →

A million pardons for neglecting the blog for a few days, but frankly, I got distracted by a novel about a Chinese prostitute who became a famous painter, and couldn’t drag myself back to the computer. Okay, here’s a summary … Continue reading →

They lied to me!  My whole family lied to me about the corned beef and cabbage! Here’s the story:  I was sure after I served it last weekend,  that Beto and Elijah liked it as much as I did,  so … Continue reading →

I finally dredged the corned beef up out of its briney depths in the refrigerator and cooked it yesterday.  Wow!  It was delicious and evidently safe (alluding to the saltpeter issue in earlier missives) because no one got sick last … Continue reading →

I don’t usually shop at any of those markets I mention in the entry about oxtails and class differences;  when I do go to A.J.’s it’s only for fancy and exotic ingredients and to Food City for Mexican ingredients, and … Continue reading →

Yeah, yeah, I know; my last entry was long-winded and didn’t go anywhere.  So sue me. But tonight I have a treat for you: an unexpectedly good recipe from Sweden that I got from epicurious.com.*  I was doubtful that I’d … Continue reading →