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This is a general feasting ground for all my food writing and probably the most active section. Food memories, restaurant reviews, cocktails, or kitchen escapades will be stored away in this cupboard.
RIPE Up My Alley (07.13.12)
When I finally secured my copy of this gorgeously heavy cookbook (RIPE is in its FIFTH printing, people!), I knew it would be a struggle to say something unique about it -- something that hasn't already been said elsewhere. Here goes: I like this book when it's closed. No, seriously, check out this view...
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The Art of Brown Sugar Biscuit Dispensery (4.29.12)
There's an art to dispensing brown sugar biscuits from Mayfield Bakery.
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Jacques Pepin Talks Picky Eating, Foie Gras, and Paula Deen (4.26.12)
Claudine was used to all those fancy restaurants by the time she was six or seven, and on one visit, Jacques -- imitating Claudine's long-suffering tones -- says she asked, "Can we go to Burger King?"
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Author! Author? (1.27.12)
Overthinking at what precise point in the process a writer becomes an author.
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We Wish You a Merry Cheesemas (12.14.11)
Sing along with some oldies but stinkies: O, Come All Ye Mongers, God Rest Ye Merry, Cheesemonger, Silent Cheese, Here We Come A-Mongering, and Oh, Christmas Cheese, Oh Christmas Cheese.
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The New Butter Soup: English Cheddar Chowder (12.11.11)
...to save up the required amount of butter would have necessitated protracted butter hoarding in my Corey Haim and Alexander Winter-papered closet. I shudder to think how THAT would have ended.
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Blurb Your Enthusiasm (12.07.11)
Obviously, we all like to be validated, but having to ask for it so nakedly and then give a deadline by which that validation needs to be delivered feels embarrassing, needy, desperate, and presumptuous.
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A Big Stack of Book: Suffering Succotash (12.01.11)
Every writer needs this beauty shot. The printed-out hard copy of the manuscript means you can pull out your kitchen scale and say, "18 months of blood weighs 2 pounds, 11 ounces."
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Page Fright (10.17.11)
I was keyed up and irritable and completely convinced that I could make everything work if I just TRIED HARDER AND LONGER. I was also pretty convinced I could make everything work if I just THREW MY LAPTOP OUT THE WINDOW.
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Camp Picky Eating, Part II (08.08.11)
Like, you know that it's SUPPOSED meatloaf, which is happy, because you LIKE meatloaf, but you also know it's NOT SUPPOSED to be riddled with big-ass chunks of carrot and be weeping some sort of cloudy liquid on the plate. Also, "weeping" reminds you of something that happens to wounds, which means you are now comparing the suspiciously cloudy liquid on the plate to pus and that's just not good for anyone involved.
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Camp Picky Eating (07.19.11)
I knew there would be scores of fashionable teen girls in their jewel-toned Patagonia pullovers and their classic and preppy Timberland boots with bright red laces. And then there'd be me -- tromping around in my dork boots.
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Getting Baked (02.26.10)
Bake sales secretly scare me, quite frankly. Sitcoms are always showing put-upon moms being told at 9PM at night that little Hubert signed her up to bake 12 dozen cupcakes -- frosted in the school colors, of course -- for the next morning's bake sale.
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These Aren't My Mother's Cookie Cutters (12.09.09)
I considered dinner but couldn't see anything in my mess of a fridge, not even daylight. I read the recipe again. I cleaned out my fridge, after which I completely lost my appetite for any dinner. Finally, I went to the store. I got eggs, butter, and after checking the pantry, sugar.
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EPICurean FAIL: The Great American Food and Music Festival, Part II (06.24.09)
Speaking of that Zingerman's line, when I got back with our S'Mores, Rachel had moved two inches. I explained that the Charles Chocolates people had a computer meltdown and could take only cash. I suggested I finish my S'More, which was AWESOME, and then go suss out where to get the money back from my wristband. See, at this point, we were pretty certain we'd simply get our our BLTs and quit the joint. Oh, what naïveté.
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EPICurean FAIL: The Great American Food and Music Festival (06.15.09)
The more things went wrong, the more we giggled.
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Organ Grinder (04.17.09)
Since this is mainly a food blog that will occasionally morph into a pregnancy blog these days, you might all be waiting breathlessly for my placenta plans.
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7 Days of Mariquita Madness (03.11.09)
In a rash experiment, I picked up my Mariquita Mystery Box last Thursday, knowing full well that I was going out of a town exactly one week later.
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You've Got Ale (11.21.08)
Friends don't let friends live without Post Road Pumpkin Ale.
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The Search for the Great Pumpkin Ale (10.12.08)
For the record, we've also tried: Cambridge Brewing Company's Great Pumpkin, Dogfish Head Punkin, Pumpkinhead Ale, and Smuttynose Pumpkin. None of them hold a candle to Post Road.
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Crusty Shirt a la Mode (10.06.08)
Thoughts on pie, death, cheese, and how to wear them all at once.
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Let's Go Fly a Kite! (09.01.08)
It was the picnic I had been looking forward to since I conceived it four weeks after Mark left for the summer. As soon as he got back, we'd go to the beach. Fog or shine, we'd go to the beach. We'd walk a long way down to the bluffs and away from the hoi polloi. We'd picnic on Mark's first taste of Boccalone and a bottle of very special French rosé we bought at Kermit Lynch six months ago. We'd gaze at the water and digest our food. Then we'd fly a kite. That was the carefully laid plan.
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Take My Starbucks, Please! (07.21.08)
If ANY Starbucks needs to close in SF, it's the one at Fulton and Masonic, and you may well ask why. No, it's not because of the sometimes-surly staff or the lack of outlets for the choke of freelancers wasting time at Fark and AICN. It's not even because of the "save the earth" flyers drifting in every time The 43 trundles by. Nope, it's because of the dumb-ass double-parkers.
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On the Crab: Deadliest Catch (07.15.08)
This season has held us in particular thrall, and I'm not just talking about Phil hocking up a pulmonary embolism, either. A few months ago, we were in the practice of blaring CNN on 24-7. (Mostly because Mark kept insisting that each primary was, "The One -- The One that Will Decide It All." Yes, well, we got over that fairly quickly.) However, one night the crawl caught my eye, "Alaskan...fishing...vessel sinks...in...Bering...Sea...off...Dutch...Harbor."
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Boston Bound (06.28.08)
Bringing the stretchy pants.
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The Popsicle Hierarchy (06.16.08)
Orange was fine and inoffensive, but it was also the red-headed stepchild of the cherry-grape-orange box. It was the flavor left in the bottom of the box when all others had been consumed. It was also the flavor voted "most likely to piss you off if you got it by accident" by the Popsicle senior class.
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Fulminating on Fishberry Jam (04.16.08)
I think caviar requires you to be fancy on the inside and, aside from loving period dramas and escargot, I'm just not that kind of fancy.
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Naked Lunch (03.24.08)
And we're not talking about 9 1/2 Weeks naked, where the food and sex thing is with someone you actually know. We're talking about going up with an empty plate and chopsticks and saying, "Hm, that yellowtail on his upper thigh looks pretty good."
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Local Cure for the Local Cold (03.10.08)
Mitchell's, Ton Kiang, Marshall Farms Honey, Zuni Cafe Cookbook, Absinthe Verte, and Piccino.
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Bed of Pain and Sweat (03.07.08)
What's really awesome is coughing so hard I break a sweat. It's like getting a full body workout with special concentration on my abs. Screw Pilates, I'll just hack up a few alveoli and BAM! I'm bikini ready!
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All-Time Top TV Chefs (02.23.08)
...the most endearing thing about Gordon Ramsay is that when he screams, "You fat useless sack of yankee-dankee doo-doo" or "It's a fucking carrot, you DONUT!" or even "It looks like regurgitated DOG SHIT" you can see the love in his eyes.
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Mo' BevMo (02.21.08)
Imagine our horror! Our consternation! Our pearl-clutching! When we were told by BevMo on [redacted] that not only did they have a pathetic offering of Fever-Tree, but they were selling off what they had AND NOT REORDERING!
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Diet Fever (02.13.08)
Diet tonic water? Been there, expectorated that. Seriously? If you care that much about the calories, why are you drinking alcohol in the first place? Anyway, I sallied forth to taste Fever-Tree light with every intention of despising it, and yet...
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I Love Kermit Lynch (02.06.08)
I love your wines because if you say they're good, I know they're good. I know I'm going to enjoy them. At any price.
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Making V-Day Reservations When You're Crabby (01.29.08)
Happy ending: Serpentine
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Bottled Sunshine: Limoncello (01.13.08)
I'm running an adult lemonade stand. But instead of a folding table squared off on a sun-soaked street corner, it's in my freezer. And to the usual ingredients of citrus, sugar, and water, I've added 151-proof Everclear. That's right my friends, I've started making my own limoncello, and it's a beautiful, beautiful thing.
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The Worm Turns: Absinthe Verte (12.21.07)
Quite frankly, if the Jabberwocky had a signature drink, Absinthe Verte would be it.
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Breast Confusion (12.13.07)
Mathra brought the bird home and, after sufficient thaw-time in the fridge, I put the beast in the sink and slit the plastic shroud. I don't know how long it took me to notice that there was something wrong. I think it was when I wanted to start washing out the cavity and couldn't find it. I also couldn't find the legs and wings. I called my mother in a panic. Me: "Where are the legs and wings? I can't find the legs and wings!" Mom: "Who is this?"
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Return to Alemany Farm (12.09.07)
Winter in San Francisco also means being splashed with greens -- emerald, bottle, and forest. When other parts of the country are dead or white, this city feels as alive as spring. Alemany Farm, a bit more dry and sere in August, is fresh and juicy in December.
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Stuffed Mushroom Slappetizer (11.20.07)
Make your own holiday slappetizers and impress all your friends. Right after you slap each and every one of them. It will be legen-(wait for it)-dary.
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Let Them Eat Birthday Cake (11.15.07)
Damn! I haven't had a birthday cake made for me since I was old enough to know that it's not exactly cool to stick your hands in it and pull out two fists of cake and frosting. (For the record, when I saw Jeanne's cake, I nearly reverted to my old ways.)
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Cooking with Jacques (10.28.07)
Jacques Pepin. Me. Kitchen. Cooking. Drool.
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Cafe Gratitude? Crappy Attitude! (09.18.07)
However, after reading about Sam's friend, Enidd, I'd like to put in a large order for "I Am Disgusted" with a side of "I Am Eternally Never Going There Again." (UPDATE: Response from Cafe Gratitude)
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Squashing Hopes and Dreams (09.02.07)
Tossed with fettuccine, the pasta sauce -- dotted with delicate green and yellow cubes of squash -- had a soft and fat sweetness, which, having been invited in by the summer squash, didn't need to be faked with sugar.
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Farmer Keckler (08.20.07)
Living in a city apartment with no garden or even window boxes to speak of, the closest I get to growing things is when I forget about the sour cream in my fridge.
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High Pies and Misdemeanors (07.31.07)
My pie is bleeding. People, it's stuff like this that makes me whine annoyingly, "Whyyyyyy can't I baaaaaaake?" And no one likes a whiner. On the other hand, my husband tried to reason, "It's just that your fruit is TOO good, and it's got all this great liquid." And compliment, "It's got its own coulis built right in!" And burp, "So, can I have another piece or are you too mad?"
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Kitchen Love: It All Began With a God Named Thor (06.02.07)
It's been going on about two weeks now, so I feel it's time to come clean and be up front with you all. I'm having an affair. With my kitchen.
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Fish and Quips (04.21.07)
What could be more comforting than got fried eggs, bangers, bacon, fried bread (FRIED BREAD!), grilled tomatoes, and mushrooms? I'm pretty sure it's what they serve in Heaven, where cholesterol and heart disease are no longer a worry.
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Virginia is for Eaters (04.18.07)
As he tells it, your hands and fingers sustain tiny cuts from hungrily slaving over the sharp shells, and the sting you get from the spicy seasoning working its way into your tender skin is a sweet and necessary pain, as much a part of the blue crab experience as the crab itself.
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I Was a Child Alcoholic (Hold the Alcohol) (03.29.07)
I seem to remember times when my older sister and I mixed water with drops of every possible food coloring in order to produce murky brown water that we passed off as "whisky" or "bourbon" and drank it out of shot glasses. It tasted sort of musty, because of all that food coloring, but that just made it all the more authentic. (In our minds.)
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Seduced By Cows? (03.24.07)
Note to the brand managers: I want my cows fat, well-fed, and in a pasture. Not wearing jeans and NOT trying to seduce me from a box of ice cream sandwiches.
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Vegetarian By Kitchen (03.08.07)
Because vegetables rarely set off the so-sensitive-it-should-be-writing-bad-poetry smoke alarm, they seem to be the thing to make and still enjoy in their heated state. This isn't fair. I love my meat, I need my meat, but my kitchen has gone PETA on me and decided I shall not have my meat.
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Iron Chef: Battle Cranberry (11.13.06)
Well, kids, Iron Chef America's Battle Cranberry went down in history last night with Team Rachael-Mario reducing Team Giada-Bobby to mere, uh, stains on the floor, knives, and cutting boards of Kitchen Stadium.
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Ooo, Ooo, 'Wichcraft Woman (11.03.06)
A Chow-instigated trip to the new San Francisco 'wichcraft in the shiny new Westfield Mall on Market yields delicious results.
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The Great Pumpkin (10.06.06)
It's the most wonderful time of the year. The nights become stretched, the days brief, the addicting smell of new pencils is in the air, and pumpkin ale is once again lining the stores with orange.
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It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (09.25.06)
To whip up a brilliant Dark and Stormy, the ginger beer has to sting, burn, and fire up the back of your throat. You have to feel it in your nose and down your gullet.
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Serving Seconds: Check Please! Bay Area (07.28.06)
Up to now, I've only criticized television as the viewer, but now I get to see how it's all put together -- from makeup to pick-up. The control room -- where I spend most of my day -- is like fedging Mission Control at NASA! Buttons, buttons, so many buttons.
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Picnic Fare: Hard Boiled Eggs (07.24.06)
I'm here to tell you that hard boiled eggs are the ideal picnic item.
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Amazonian Food? (07.17.06)
Well, given how Amazon is about to take over the world with books, media, drugs, and Calphalon, I guess it was inevitable that they would add food to that list.
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(Coco)Nutcracker: Mitchell's Ice Cream (07.09.06)
Buko is so in bed with the coconut, it tastes like the heady smell of a well-oiled beach.
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Corn Fed (07.05.06)
I forgot how great steamed corn can be. The kernels retain that deliciously firm pop-snap that roasting and grilling tends to soften.
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What Cheesemongers Eat When They Think No One's Looking (05.26.06)
That's the big thing in Minnesota: hot dish upon hot dish is brought to new neighbors until their kitchen looks like Flanders Fields except, instead of poppies, it's rows and rows of blue Corningware flowers.
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Conspicuous Consumption (04.13.06)
Be they Donald Duck or Donald Trump, five thousand dollars is too damn much to pay for a burger. A BURGER PEOPLE!
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Cheese, Cheese Me (04.06.06)
With the nettles wrapped around a thick disk of firm, whole-milk cheese, the deep, woodsy taste of braised artichokes shines through the soft and full St. Pat paste.
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Lipsmacking Links (03.23.06)
Make your own wine, a hungry Brit on a bike, rent a goat and get some cheese, and eat fruit off the streets of L.A.
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Blood Simple (03.20.06)
Not necessarily a chips and dips kind of salsa, but the kind you use as the base for grilled meats and fish. The kind of salsa that chefs list on their menu to keep from saying "mess of vegetables and fruits."
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Seek Out the Trader Joe's (03.09.06)
In honor of the New York store opening, my Top 10 Trader Joe's Favorites.
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Earl of Sandwich (03.02.06)
I secretly want to be Dagwood Bumpstead. Seriously -- he sleeps on the couch, he's got those crazy-ass bangs that stand up seemingly without product or any other help, and he makes the most juicily extravagant sandwiches...
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Do the Doon (02.24.06)
Aside from one or two "meh" reds and a Chenin Blanc that balked mightily when I made the mistake of serving it with Meyer lemon-simmered baby artichokes, I haven't met a Bonny Doon wine that I didn't want to immediately run out and buy a case of.
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New Pod-tatoes (02.15.06)
"Ikea: just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen/Ikea: selling furniture for college kids and divorced men/Everyone has a home/But if you don't have a home you can buy one there!"...They got even more nervous when I started in with some weird out-of-breath and slightly asthmatic giggling as I got to the line about Allen wrenches.
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Fancy Food Fatigue (02.14.06)
Microwaveable donuts, all-weather chocolate, vanilla salt, tea powder, the smallest gin and tonic in the world, and aromatherapied kabobs...it's basically Foodie Disneyland without the scary costumes. Wait, is that a giant Mr. Peanut? No pregnant woman could go to this thing, and I don't just mean because she'd have delivered her baby before she could take a pee. Friends, I need Alka Seltzer because I can't believe I ate and drank the whoooole thing!
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Qi and Sympathy (02.09.06)
...but where whisky can sometimes give off that unmistakable Band-Aid aroma, under all that intriguing smoke and clubby leather, Qi was touched only by vanilla and exotic fruits. I liked it a lot, and I'm really surprised by that. I went over there thinking, "Well, I like tea. And I do like alcohol, but putting the two together sounds too much what little old ladies do with their sherry and tea in England."
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Smokey, Perfect, or Dirty: The Martini (02.07.06)
"...So, I ordered my martini "very dry" at The Hill. I took a sip. I couldn't bring myself to swallow. I gasped for air. Mathra got me a glass of ice water. I dumped my martini in the glass of ice water. Mathra finished the excessively diluted martini. I ordered a beer." Plus: Pefection Peashoots, Melanie Griffith beans, and Cooking Without a Replicator.
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It's PEOPLE, Hufu is PEOPLE! (01.22.06)
No really. It is. "These native dumplings filled with hufu (or human flesh), sago and yam are prized for their taste as well as their ability to make you fierce and brave in tribal combat." I don't know whether to be intrigued...as a chef? Or repulsed...as a human.
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We Wish You a Merry Cheesemas (12.22.05)
I just posted this today over at Bay Area Bites, but I can't resist posting it here as well. Why can't I resist? Because I can't get these damn songs out of my head and I want to inflict them on as much of the world as possible!
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Mad for Marshmallows, Hot for Chocolate (12.20.05)
Almost two years ago now, I wrote about these enormous gourmet marshmallows that Mathra gave me for Christmas, but I seem to have never posted a picture. Unbelievable! Anyway, here's one to feast your eyes on.
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Songs of Cheeses (12.19.05)
Some songs I made up at work yesterday: Cheeses love you this I know/For the Mongers tell you so/Hefty drums to store below/Some are sharp and some are strong/Yes, Cheeses love you/The Mongers tell you so/
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Sausage Links (12.13.05)
Due to a sudden death in my immediate family, I've had to take leave from several of my projects, and Grub Report has been yet another thing that I just couldn't handle in the past month.
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Currant Affairs (11.07.05)
For the first time in a long time I found myself shopping at the Ferry Building Farmers Market. Usually I'm working on Saturdays and can't get away to dip into the tempting stands before the market closes
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How to Eat Like Auntie Mame (11.01.05)
Oh, this is just PATHETIC! I mean, letting poor Grub Report flounder with no updates for, um, way too long? What kind of parent am I? Seriously, Head Cheese berated me at Ye Olde Stanke Cheeseshoppe the other day
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It's My Churn! (09.13.05)
I lied to you my sweet eaters. I told you my next flavor was going to be coconut and, well, it just didn't happen. But if you care to pull up a napkin, I happen to have a very tasty excuse.
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Truffle Pig (09.11.05)
One of the Herculean tasks that faced me as our move back to San Francisco drew near (by the way, a few friends, who shall remain nameless, tend to laugh when I call our trip to San Diego and back A Move
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Cracking the Crust Conundrum (09.05.05)
Well folks, I did it. I set out to achieve a goal. I slaved, I kneaded, I sweated, and I swore until finally, I made the perfect pizza crust. And, as much as I may dislike him personally, I have to admit that it's all due to Todd English.
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Dinner at Eight (08.17.05)
One of the first things I did after making our summer move to San Diego was throw a dinner party. Not impressed? But see, this was a big deal for me because it's nigh impossible to do in a San Francisco apartment
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You Miss Some, You Eat Some (08.15.05)
Sadly, being stuck as I am in San Diego this summer, I missed out on the SF Food Bloggers Picnic. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight nine, ten, eleven, twelve...and they all had fun, at the Food Bloggers Picnic!
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Churn About is Fair Play (08.11.05)
In addition to my pizza crust quest, I'm also continuing my intriguing exploration of homemade ice cream this summer. Well. It's intriguing to me and to the people at Mathra's work, who keep asking what my flavor of the week will be.
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A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread, and NOXIOUS SMOKE (08.04.05)
You know, when I wrote about the little pesto problem, I didn't think I'd be writing so soon about yet another kitchen katastrophe, but here it is. Last week, I was all "Oooh, my pizza's pretty good," and "Oooh, my ice cream's better!" Well, you wanna know what? My bread sucks.
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Pizza My Heart (08.02.05)
My Friday Night Pizza quest continues. I should mention that my first pizza night down here happened to coincide with the season two premiere of Battlestar Galactica and now it's become A Thing for me
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There Is a Season, Churn, Churn, Churn (07.27.05)
I've been addicted to most ice cream treats at some point or another -- Drumsticks, Klondike bars, soft-serve cones dipped in caramel (a magical feat I still would love to learn the trick behind), your basic ice cream sandwiches, Chipwiches, Dove Bars...
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Pizza My Soul (07.22.05)
Yes -- I'm still questing to make the perfect pizza. It was midway through making an avocado aïoli this afternoon when I realized that my quest is more about reproducing Figs pizzas than about making the perfect pizza.
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Pizza! Pizza! (07.20.05)
Okay, so again it's been a long time since I posted, but I got lost in my kitchen and only just found my way out. I'm serious! We're living in San Diego for the summer and this kitchen is so big it
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In the Pink (06.19.05)
Bay Area Bites Update: Man, did I have fun with Slanted Door's new make-at-home-dinners or what? Long time readers and friends over at Television Without Pity might have an inkling of how much I simply adore Bonny Doon.
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Chocolate Molten Lava Revisited (05.26.05)
Unpredictability. This is why baking infuriates the Hellman's out of me. Remember how deliciously well my first foray into Molten Chocolate Cake turned out? And how that was the practice run before I
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Burger Time (05.23.05)
So, when I say "medium-rare" at one of the top San Francisco restaurants, clearly I mean "well-done." No, no, Absinthe -- obviously you know better with your $10.50 Niman Ranch burger
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Eat this Book! (05.21.05)
Small Bites: Enterprise is sadly, mercifully over, and I had a bit of a rant about "chick wines" and panned the highly-rated Moroccan restaurant Aziza over at KQED. Yesterday, Dr. Mathra and I went
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Chocolate Molten Lava (05.11.05)
When my mother and father-in-law went to Paris last November, they brought us back French goodies. You're looking at what I can do with two of them. Authentic brioche tins and 1 kilo of Valrhona chocolate
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Sleeping Foodie (04.11.05)
As you may have noticed from the great yawning chasms between posts, I haven't been in the Food Mood lately. I mean, I've been writing about it over at KQED's Bay Area Bites, but I haven't been doing
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Gettin' Down in the Dagoba System (04.09.05)
Since we're currently stuck with a container of wimp-ass coffee until we get our next Blue Bottle hit, I was NOT looking forward to my daily cuppa this morning. However, as luck would have it we were
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Squab Alley (03.20.05)
Work has made it difficult for me to do much cooking myself, and I'm sad about that. Hopefully, things will change soon. Anyway, we still manage to go out to eat quite a bit and recently, we went back
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What's for Suppenküche? (03.06.05)
Man, it's been such a long time since I upated -- what? Over two months? That's just sad. What have I been up to? Well, work, mainly, but the less said about that the better. Also, Enterprise got cancelled
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Cauliflower and Crabs (12.12.04)
Although I'm not overly easy to please in the vegetable department, I have always liked raw cauliflower. After drooling over tales of roasted cauliflower from my good friend at work, I started craving
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Chowing Down (12.03.04)
Wow. Not so much on the updating, am I? Okay, this is what's happened in the past month: San Francisco got fallish, Dr. Mathra and I turned thirty-one, I loaded Rob Base and "It Takes Two" on my new iPod
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Bringing Home the Boeuf (10.27.04)
No, I haven't thrown myself into the Bay or jumped off the Mission San Juan Batista or even dressed up like a Renaissance painting, but thanks for asking. Seriously, I do appreciate all the worried an
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Chef Evil Dr. Mathra (08.29.04)
I've got another piece on MSNBC.com up -- this one is me dissing Food Network chefs in the guise of finding "The Next Martha Stewart." I think this is a good time to mention that I am not the only
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Eating Summer (08.22.04)
Maybe it's a visceral reaction to Sandra Lee's Cheez-Whiz pasta sauce or her light beer and reconstituted limeade tailgate cocktails, but I've been in a flurry of food lately. Good food, that is.
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Island Living (08.20.04)
While in Friday Harbor, we got the chance to try out a lot of the local offerings that went beyond the favorite restaurants. On Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market, which was really quite perfect
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Notes from a Small Island: Guess Who's Cooking for Dinner? (CREDIT)
Part of my holiday was used to test some recipes on our party of friends. With the help of Pam's emergency Cuisinart, I whipped up a menu that included the following dishes developed by yours truly
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Keckler and the Giant Peach (08.05.04)
Over the last two successive meals, I've had the exact same thing: sliced peaches, a few dashes of fig-balsamic vinegar, and chèvre crumbled over the lot. We had it for dinner, and by bedtime I was
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Notes from a Small Island: Duck Soup Inn (CREDIT)
Duck Soup Inn is a precious restaurant tucked away behind a small pond and kept cool by giant pines. In certain times of the year, dripping wisteria provides added shade and scent. Every time I visit
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Notes from a Small Island: Lavender Fields Forever (CREDIT)
My darling Dr. Mathra insisted I spend a few quality hours at the new day spa out at the island's lavender farms. Pelindaba Lavender Farm started up a few years ago and now has two stores -- at the farm
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Notes from a Small Island (CREDIT)
With due respect to Bill Bryson, of course. We've been here five full days and we've been intensely relaxing. And eating. And clambering over rocks, sticking our fingers in tidepools and examining
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As High as What on the Fourth of Ju-When? (06.28.04)
I mentioned a few updates ago that I looked high and low for some special corn from Brentwood at the Saturday Farmers Market but came to grief when I didn't find a single ear. I got a few emails from
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The Slanted Door (06.22.04)
Trying out the Imperial Rolls is how I test a Vietnamese restaurant. It's sort of like how I judge an ice cream line by their vanilla. Judging purely by this specimen, I knew this place was going to
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Figs in a Blanket (06.20.04)
Since I didn't start my Saturday shift until ten, I didn't get to take my break until one-thirty when most of the farmers at the market were starting to pack up their stuff. I spent some time looking
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Bring Me Some Figgy Pudding! (06.17.04)
You know, it seems like just yesterday that I was talking about full-flavored figs and lamenting that we still had a few months to go before we tasted them at full succulence. Oh, the folly of a hasty
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Tea for Kecklers (05.12.04)
I Lovejoy's very, very much. Okay, now that I got that lame joke out of my system, let me be more coherent. Lovejoy's is this tiny tea shop in Noe Valley I'd been hearing about since we moved out here
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Cheesus Christ Superstar (04.13.04)
Last night I was one of the chosen. I was among the divine. I was perched on the right hand of glory. And, no, I didn't just sit through The Passion of Mel Gibson's Hands, I went to a wine and cheese
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Monty Python and The Holy Gruyère (04.08.04)
I know this doesn't scan, but I HAVE TO GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD! I'm a mongerjack and I'm OK I cheese all night and I cheese all day She's a
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My Life in Cheese (04.05.04)
I have cheese under my nails. I noticed it yesterday when I should have been answering my customer's request of "soft, but not too soft, but not exactly hard, either," and "sharp, but not too sharp
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I Am the Cheese (03.11.04)
The title "Chocolatier" is great and fancy-Frenchy sounding and all, but as a cheesemonger, I get to, well, monger! And that cracks me up. I'm also blithely convinced that if you put "cheese" before a
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Califorina Springing (02.29.04)
Yes, it's February. Yes, it's spring. Yes, it's California. The Jamaican restaurant down the street that has been conspicuously closed since we moved here is now taking great care to hose off its red
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We Like Tasty Bites, Yes We Do. We Like Tasty Bites, How 'Bout You? (02.11.04)
You think you like Tasty Bites? No, no. You really don't. WE like Tasty Bites. Liking Tasty Bites means knowing that the mylar-esque packaging is really the best way to preserve the perfect and delicious
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The Drunkard's Guide to Casablanca (02.01.04)
Friday night I had the best night out in San Francisco that didn't involve food. Dr. Mathra and I met Gytha Ogg, her husband and friends, and Belchimaera in Oakland to see Casablanca at the Paramount
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More San Francisco Treats (01.31.04)
Quick update because I've been getting loads of very nice email from people wondering if I'm dead from a perforated something. The reading went well. Very, very well, in fact. In addition to some
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Dweezil and Lisa: No, really -- don't stay. Please go! (01.18.04)
Okay, I admit it -- I was slamming this show before it even premiered. I mean, what do two musicians know about cooking? It would be one thing if they did a take-off on Rachel Ray's $40 a Day as they
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Veggin' Out (01.04.04)
The morning after I posted my last entry it hailed in San Francisco. Not quite the stuff, Ma Nature, but I appreciate the effort. After I did a whole piece on meat -- leaving beef out, my mother duly
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Levels of Difficulty (12.16.03)
Hey, check out my Star Trek Cookbook recipe audit over on Television Without Pity -- it's tranyatastic! Also, those new cheddar Triscuits are EV-IL! I ate a whole box and now my tongue feels funny.
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Autumn's Leavings (12.04.03)
I want to thank California. After the bizarre and screwed-up gubernatorial election, you might and should ask, "Why?" I'm going to tell you why. See, I was under some strange impression that it wouldn't
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It's Like Dear Abby, But with Food! (11.15.03)
I have been honored by Sars to be her inaugural expert in her brand, spankin' new "Ask the Experts" series in the Vine. So starting next Tuesday I will be spreading my genius frosting across the cake
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A Lady Who Lunches (11.11.03)
Oh, me. People, I am full of love today! I'm turning thirty in seven days, my delicious friends Ace and Sep are coming up to San Francisco for a Food-a-Thon and quite possibly a Bake-Off, I'm busy editing
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Meat (11.02.03)
"Where's your meat?" That what Nessa asked when I described my dinner of oven-roasted fingerling potatoes and freshly-shucked sweet corn with with rosemary and garlic. Very simply? She was not impressed
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First Night (09.20.03)
Our first official night out in San Francisco was nothing short of complete magic. My Mac is slightly busted, but when Mathra brought it into the store in Palo Alto, they gave him ten bucks for participating
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New England Has the Foliage But I'm Not Comin' Back (08.20.03)
Moving on out to a de-luxe apartment on the faaaaaault! We've got two wide-eyed cats in a cat carrier with multiple wings, gables, and cupolas, it's morning outside, and we're wearing sunscreen.
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SlimCadon't (08.08.03)
Avocado. If you have a good one, it will be firm to the touch. But not too firm. It will yield to the little pressure of your fingers. But not be too yielding. Don't you hate it when chefs talk that way?
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Humble Pie (08.06.03)
Now, with all these awards and degrees and OBEs (Order of the Biscuit Empire) coming in, I wouldn't want you to think I've completely forgotten who I am. Where I came from. And what it was like before
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Defragging the Fridge (07.30.03)
Since Mathra is working in New Jersey for the summer and coming home only on weekends, it's just me and the cats keeping each other company. But that's okay, we've settled into a nice routine. They wake me up at 6 AM because they are clearly being starved to death.
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Food I Have Known: Cambridge Chronicles, Part the Second (07.28.03)
After my last entry, I thought about all the libations that went along with all those tasty bites. After all, it was in England that I made a lot of firsts, seconds, thirds and final calls in my quick
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Food I Have Known: Cambridge Chronicles (07.21.03)
Tonight I am filled with nostalgia. I'm listening to Jimmy Dorsey sing "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square," I've got a glass of Pimm's and lemonade (Sprite or 7-Up to us unkempt Americans) sweating on a coaster
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I Remember Mama (04.28.03)
In Grub Report news, this site's been nominated for a Diarist Award! I'm not exactly sure what that means but since several sites I respect and frequent have won a few, I'm honored to be classed among
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Bread and Jam for Kecklers (04.14.03)
My older sister and I instituted "Afternoon Tea" in our household when we were about eight and eleven. It was brought on by an obsession with the Frances books. We had all the books, Bread and Jam for Frances
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Le Vomit Comet (02.25.03)
Oh, the French. It's all doo-bluh crehm, doo-bluh con-so-may, and doo-bluh vay-say with them. Well, perhaps not the last, but I remember it from seventh grade French. "Puis-j'aller au W.C." was so much
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Christmas Eve for Kecklers (12.21.02)
Every family has their special traditions at Christmas. Ones they are loathe to part with no matter what the reason for change -- college, marriage, children, whatever. In my house we had two: a very
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Keckler Christmas Cookies (12.20.02)
Every year a rigid ritual -- dictated by my mother -- had to be followed. Days before the event, my mother made up several batches of sugar cookie dough, wrapped them in wax paper hunks, and stuck the
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Food I Have Known: Ann Arbor (11.05.02)
Mongolian Barbeque Fire and Ice, bite this! Throughout my senior year, me and my six roommates used to starve ourselves on hung-over Sunday afternoons to prep our bellies for the gorging. All you can
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Burn, Baby, Burn (10.31.02)
"I got this one when I was trying to remove my quiche Lorraine from the oven. It was my first test of pâte brisée at home and I guess I was a little anxious." "See this? That's from a particularly act
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Ah. Autumn. Ah. Artichokes! (10.28.02)
It's finally time to say "Ta!" to tank tops, "Smell ya later, sandals," and "Hello, nubbly goodness!" to sweaters. There's something that gets in my blood when this time of year rolls around. I've go
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How to Eat Like a Keckler (09.30.02)
Did anyone ever read How to Eat Like a Child by Delia Ephron? The part that describes how to build a volcano and forest out of a plate of vegetables and mashed potatoes rather than eating them was all
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Getting to the Heart of the Matter: Spinach-Artichoke Dip (09.29.02)
Succotash. Isn't that just the ugliest-sounding word? Growing up, I was a very picky eater. I turned my nose up at meat I'd never heard of, Malt-o-Meal and any other kind of "hot cereal," scalloped potatoes
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Don't Cry for Me Vidalia (09.29.02)
Bodily functions fascinate me. Not all. Just a select few. Although I love them and happily add them in great mounds to any recipe that calls for them, onions wreak major havoc on my ocular implants.
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Lotta Lobster (08.17.02)
Three pounds of lobster. That's essentially what we just consumed. Okay, probably not the whole three pounds -- I'm sure the shell counts for like 2 oz of the entire beast. But man, I'm fantastically
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Stephanie Vander Weide Lucianovic