Misfortune Cookies: Your Fate is Sealed.

Gung Hay Fat Choy, everyone.
Sort of.
Roughly translated from Chinese, Gung Hay Fat Choy means “best wishes and congratulations.” In other words, Happy Chinese New Year.
But that seems just a little too chipper for my tastes.
Sure, we’ve got Hope’s Cheerleader in the White House, which may be an excellent start, and we have finally left the [...]

Showing and Telling: The New Yorker

I have been terribly behind in my New Yorker magazine reading, or so I realized when a friend of mine who is moving house handed me a bagful of them. If it was one less thing for him to have to move, so much the better.
Like other, equally shallow people I know, I begin my [...]

2009 Fancy Food Show: Well, Fancy That.

The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade put on their 34th Winter Fancy Food Show this week, allowing for exhibitors from around the world to do precisely that– exhibit themselves. Thousands of vendors and merchants descended upon the Moscone Center in San Francisco from January 18 to January 20th for a fancy food frenzy.
I’m [...]

The Negroni: Bitter? Sweet.

There has always been a special place in my heart for the Negroni. Not always. I stayed away from them in elementary school, naturally. I don’t think I even tried my first until well into my twenties. And I’m not quite certain I liked it then.
But I liked the idea of the Negroni. It was [...]

Adios, Mr. Montalban

Ricardo Montalan, rest in peace.

It never mattered what he was hawking, whether it be Maxwell House coffee, sandwich makers on late night television, or soft, Corinthian leather. I just loved hearing the man speak.
Baby, it just got a little colder utside…

Monkey Bread: Pinch a Loaf Today

I’d never heard of Monkey Bread until a few weeks ago. The name immediately caught my attention. The image of monkeys picking at a loaf of bread as they would nits off each other’s backs came to mind. Charming, I thought. I wanted to know more about it.
Not that there’s much to know.
The etymology [...]

Nobody Does it Like Sandra Lee.

There is very little that needs to be said about this, apart from “what the hell was she thinking?” “Acorns”? They’re corn nuts, for God’s sake. And who on earth would choose to make a “harvest cake” out of angel food?
Oh yes, Sandra Lee.
Thank you, Mr.Fingerhut for alerting me to this piece of Holiday cheer.
For [...]

Escarole: Good Times Ahead.

Or perhaps that should read: “a head”.
One of my resolutions for the new year is to eat more vegetables, especially greens. Hardy leaves like chard, kale, and mustard greens are all well and good, but I’ve been going steady with escarole as of late.
I think I’m in love.
If you’re wondering why on earth I [...]