I saw a cabbage in the store today. Sorry if that sounds like a bad Emily Dickinson parody. That’s just how this week’s soup got started. I began with a head of red cabbage and proceeded to free associate. It wasn’t the most direct route to a wonderful entrée, but c’est la vie. Actually das […]
When my wife and I moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles some time in the last century (yikes!), we were young(er), just engaged and still childless. We settled in the Hollywood-adjacent neighborhood of Los Feliz and soon discovered many of its culinary pleasures. Like any true exploration of LA, it was an international experience, […]
When I was a kid, my family did a fair amount of camping. It was about this time that I developed my near religious love for the great outdoors. We went up and down California with our tent and sleeping bags, hiked up mountains, swam in high altitude lakes and came to believe (mistakenly I […]
I think of myself as a logical person. I consider numerous solutions to a problem, weigh them against each other on the scale of reason, and choose the best alternative. At least I used to. As I get older (and lazier) I find myself turning my back on rational thought in favor of gut feelings, […]
Do you have siblings who overshadow you in all aspects of your life? Are they better looking, funnier, more successful, and just plain more likable than you are? Me neither. But if you asked those same questions of the tomatillo, you’d get a whole lot of head nodding. Not literally. It is, after all, a […]
My brother-in-law’s turning 50 yesterday reminded me of the beginnings of my culinary education. I was still in college then, working on degree number two and teaching myself to cook by plowing through all the recipes my mom had made when I was growing up. I made tamale pie (rechristened “tamale slop” by a crew […]
I have been wanting to cook my version of French Onion Soup for quite a while, and this week turned out to be the perfect time. Or so I thought. Now, in case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been trying to make my soups accessible to meat eaters and vegetarians alike. As a result, I’ve slipped […]
[East Meets West Pink]
The Pacific Rim Paradox
Ever felt like you’re just tapped out? You’ve been working all weekend and you don’t have the energy to throw together a meal. And since times are tough, you can’t afford to eat out either, no matter how many coupons you may have. So… it’s leftovers again, which is kind of a harsh word when […]