Serendipity can happen in the kitchen, with a surprising but happy-making combination of flavors, or it can happen elsewhere, with a surprising but happy-making combination of people. With Crackerman, I got both. Crackerman, aka Stefan Uch, has Michelin star chef creds and a gorgeous wife, Theresa. Together, they make Crackerman crackers. He is also the…
A la Recherche du Poivrons Perdu
Yesterday involved several deadlines, punctuated by numerous interruptions and emergencies, all of which fritzed me out and put me a couple hours behind. I’m sure this never happens to you. The good news was at least I wouldn’t have to scramble for dinner. I had the makings of a Mexican-themed meal — some black beans…
Killer Joe
Harvard Women’s Health Watch says moderate coffee consumption can improve cognitive function and improve endurance performance. It’s rich in antioxidants, too. I like antioxidants, I like cognition and endurance. I also like coffee. I try not to drink it, though. I try really, really hard. I limit myself to a cup a week and won’t…
Ghent — On Board for Vegetarian Day
On Board for Vegetarian Day Can you legislate a meatless life? The folks in Ghent are trying. According to a United Nations report, livestock is to blame for nearly a fifth of greenhouse gas emissions. The mayor of Ghent has taken this to heart and has launched Veggiedag, in which civil servants and school children will…
Mother’s Day — Say It With Lentils
She’s probably cooked you upwards of 20,000 meals, so do you think giving mom a wilted bunch of daisies is going to cut it on Mother’s Day? Show her the love. Show her the lunch. Make it yourself. When you’re entertaining, especially when the guest is your mother, timing matters. You don’t want to be…
Roadwalker Gumbo
Once upon a time, there was a Pulizer Prize-winning author, a woman who drank Jack Daniels, shot ducks and wore diamonds with equal nonchalance. Her name is Shirley Ann Grau and she was my magical guide around New Orleans a few years back. “I’m quite a dull, conventional person,” she warned. This was a lie….
Lagniappe
While the gumbo promised in my last post is simmering, here’s some lagniappe, the Creole term for a little something extra, no charge. Walking past New Orleans’ Jackson Square Friday morning, I saw this boy wearing a suit and Mardi Gras mask. Why? Who knows, but he was as utterly at ease in his outfit…
Earth Month Special: Stone Soup
Jesus, it is said, made wine from water and fashioned loaves and fishes from thin air. The rest of us must acquire foodstuff by more conventional means. But being Earth Month and all, I’m hoping miracles are on the menu. I did not wake up on Earth Day feeling the presence of miracles, I woke…
Talking With Your Mouth Full
The Common Threads kids worked pasta dough by hand, raising clouds of flour. They cranked the dough through the pasta maker, catching waves of fresh-cut fettucini emerging from the other end. They grated a blizzard of Parmesan as the sauce Bolognaise simmered. and would have kept going had they not worked a significant block of…
The Gift of Food
For my father, it was a ding dong. Vegan and fancified with a swoosh of mulberry coulis, it was actually far beyond your packaged ding dong but it was deeply chocolate cake with a creamy center and a vivid, Proustian reminder of the pleasure of childhood. It was a gift of sorts, for eating…
