Do I like bacon? Yes.
Do I LOVE bacon? Not really.
Do I find it physically painful for throw away food? Absolutely.
Do I love a new cookbook? You betcha.
What about magazines? Sure thing.
When needed, do I take Metro-North Railroad? On occasion.
Do I then complain about my bum falling asleep due to the uncomfortable seats? Every time.
What do almost all of these questions have in common? They led to me the making of bacon jam.

Not being the type of person that is absolutely ga-ga for all things bacon, bacon jam is not the sort of preserve that I would normally make. But as with virtually any food, there is a story behind it– here’s mine.
I had gotten the new book, The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook, a little while ago. (It’s very charming, by the way.) I enjoyed thumbing through it, trying to decide which recipe to try first. Fast-forward a few [...]

Here’s a post that I never thought that I would write. Mayonnaise. The name alone used to send shivers up my spine, and now? Now the shivers stop at my waist.
Several years ago, I decided that I had had enough of my food taboos. I had never been an overly picky eater, but there were certain foods that were off limits: raw tomatoes (cooked were fine), nuts (especially walnuts), lamb (too gamey) to name a few. Frankly, it was exhausting. Systematically, I began to force myself to eat all of the foods that I once detested. Before long, the foods that I once reviled, I loved. It really was as easy as that. I believe that disliking certain foods is simply a matter of ones palate being unfamiliar with those flavors. Once I had eaten enough ripe, juicy tomatoes, I began to appreciate the grassy flavor, and detected the sweet [...]

As the weather got progressively stickier along the Eastern sea board, I began to count down the days until our annual trip to California.  There may be heat in the sunshine state, and thick smog hanging over the San Fernando Valley, but there is one thing there is not– swampy humidity.  I can handle a little bit of dry heat any day!
When we touched down in Los Angeles about one week ago, I already was dreaming about the food destinations we would visit.  The Santa Monica Farmer’s Market, with its numerous vendors hocking summer stone fruit, and perfect heirloom tomatoes, Susan Feniger’s newest restaurant, Street, a culinary homage to street foods around the globe, and who can ignore, one of my favorite old standbys, Philipe’s, for a classic French dip.

Philipe’s is the supposed originator of the French dip sandwich– a traditional roasted meat sandwich where the bread is dipped in [...]

It all started with some leftover New England (split down the middle) hot dog buns from a weenie roast last week. Or maybe it was our first CSA pick-up and a small bunch of of almost chartreuse, baby dill. Correction– it could have been the radishes, straight from the ground in our small vegetable garden. But what about the green garlic that I bought at the farmers market, so bright, and simply hinting at the pungency to come? It could have been that. Or maybe at was a mixture of all of those things that led to one delicious fish sandwich.

Remember the tomato fiasco of 2009? Those tomatoes would just not ripen. Well, Brian and I are trying again; but this time we’re putting the vegetables in the ground. We have peas, arugula, some tomatoes (keep your finger crossed), and radish. [...]

A commenter from last week had this to say, “Let’s see a substitute for the egg-McMuffin (but we all know nothing beats the real thing!).” It seems that many people have a soft spot for that ubiquitous breakfast sandwich, the McMuffin. I can’t say that it was a part of my childhood, never having even tasted the bizarre egg patty until just a few years ago.
But I can understand the mystique. There is just something so pleasing about having your first meal of the day being hand-held, self-contained, and probably given to you by a person wearing a paper hat behind a plexiglass window. An entire meal, nestled cozily in a muffin or biscuit, waiting to be gobbled up by morning time diners– now that’s good eatin’. But here in New York City, a city bustling with pedestrians, subways, and a sea of yellow taxi cabs, [...]

Hello?Hello, is anyone out there?Oh, there you are, tanned shoulders, sun-kissed locks, glaring right back at me through your monitor screen.I know.I have been remiss.But you know how it is dear reader; sometimes life just gets in the way.But I am back.
Well, after returning from my second wedding in California this summer, I think I can say that wedding season has officially ended. At least for me. Veils have been worn neatly covering tight chignons. Saris have been donned in a stunning array of jewel tones, making me feel like a child gazing hungrily at a giant lollipop. I have eaten my fare share of mediocre satay sticks dribbling peanut sauce on the ground, careful to avoid getting gobs on my summer dress. I have carried pomanders dutifully. I cut a rug, several in fact. Some would even say that I [...]

When I was young there were two sandwiches which I absolutely could not stand– egg salad and tuna fish. Although their lumpy appearances definitely did not appeal, it was above all their lingering odors that were so detestable to the sensitivity of my young nose.
I would head out to the kitchen, teeth brushed, shoelaces tied, and shirt tucked in (because yes, I was one of those never-play-in-the-mud, proper children), to pour myself a bowl of cereal. Before I even arrived in the kitchen, the sulfuric smell of my mother mashing a half dozen eggs, mixed with coarsely chopped dill pickles for her egg salad, would hit me like a ton of bricks . A proper, though never meek child, I would fuss about the smell making me gag first thing in the morning. Pleasant.
Then there was school lunchtime. I would pull out my peanut butter and [...]

Well, I’m back from California. But I suppose that I should have told you that I was going upon leaving. The first of two trips back this summer, aaahh, it is wedding season! Bring on the bouquets; bring on the bridesmaids; and bring on the catered food. Northern California was actually cold when we arrived, balmy and breezy, with a thick layer of marine fog in the morning. Cold though it may have been, the inclement weather did not keep the farmers from harvesting every sort of stellar local produce possible and bringing it to market
California was inspiring. I guess you cannot take the state out of a girl who was born and raised there. There were pies to be made at my parent’s house, with a mixture of stone fruit, and boysenberries so plump they looked like the belly of Santa Claus. [...]

I am not the best about eating my own leftovers. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the foods that I prepare, because I do. I suppose it is eating the same items that I prepared, two meals in a row that gets me. Let’s face it– it can be a bit boring. But refashioning one meal in order to make it into an entirely new beast? I am all over that . Case in point, the Meatball Hero.
There are sandwiches of all sorts: paninni, open-faced, subs, croque-monsieurs, cheesesteaks. Many of these sandwiches mentioned are quite substantial; I can’t imagine gulping down a cheesesteak, cheese, onions, and all, right before say, doing a 12k run. In California I guess you could say we eat a bit lighter, we can’t just dash down to the corner deli and order a sub– a roast turkey [...]

I love a good sandwich; but I am also picky about them. The bread has to be excellent, toppings carefully selected, and any of my long-time readers know how finicky I am about ratios. But when the sandwich has each of those things going for it, it can be a thing of beauty. And I am not alone in thinking this, Nancy Silverton in her fabulous book, Nancy Silverton’s Sandwich Book echoes these sentiments, and gave me an outstanding midday meal.
A sandwich to be savored, with care placed in both the ingredients, and the composition, this sandwich of Soft-Scrambled Eggs, Long-Cooked Broccoli, and Feta Cheese was perfect. Nestled on grilled sourdough bread, the crowning achievement to this lunchtime meal was of course, the long cooked broccoli. Now I have eaten plenty of broccoli in my day. In fact, it was my favorite vegetable as a child. But I had never [...]