Food, Photography and Bon Mots
What is the world’s largest edible bean? Look that question up on the Internet and you are in for a trip down the rabbit hole. There is a Guinness record for the World’s Tallest Bean plant. (46.3 feet/2003.) There is a record for “The…
Koolsla? Koolsla is Dutch for what most Americans call coleslaw–cabbage salad. Dutch settlers in New York introduced koolsla to the American table in the 17th and 18th centuries. This Mango Slaw recipe, with its sweet lime dressing, is a delight. It works with barbecue or as…
Here’s a little history… People have been enjoying asparagus for a very long time. Archaeologists excavated evidence of 3000-year-old asparagus on pottery at the Pyramid of Sakkara in Egypt. Apparently, Nefertiti loved the stuff and had the little stalks offered up to the…
A couple of swells… Are you trying to place that expression? It’s from the classic 1948 MGM musical Easter Parade. It was the highest grossing MGM movie in the 1940s–a real crowd please, apparently. Here is the link: Astaire and Garland: A Couple of Swells. Aah.…
When I was twenty-two and had my own kitchen for the first time, I knew absolutely nothing about cooking. Nothing. So…I bought my first cookbook–a used copy of the 1963 edition of The New Good Housekeeping Cookbook. The book’s provenance is interesting. The name Sugar Bardy…
I’m a gadget girl. I have drawers and drawers (and drawers!) of cooking tools–some whose function I no longer remember. So, like most of the rest of the cooks in America right now, I’ve been doing some pandemic kitchen cleaning and organizing. I’ve put off…
This is a beautiful salad inspired by Hetty McKinnon’s recipe for Pickled Beetroot With Puy Lentils, Baby Spinach and Cheddar in her wonderful cookbook Community. You have a lot of colorful choices within the beet (Beta vulgaris) family, too. You can make this salad as…
Who doesn’t need a good condiment now and then? That is particularly true now. Those creative dishes we are all making with pantry staples can get a wee bit boring. This over-the-top lime-flavored cucumber dish rocks. If you are a lime juice devotee…
Memories. This coronavirus crisis has given me a lot of time to explore my food (and other) memories. I imagine you have done a lot of that, too. On a lazy afternoon recently, I asked myself where I would most like to revisit (and dine)…
Need a little pick-me-up? This stunning beet salad will make you smile to the very last bite. The slightly-sweet vinaigrette dressing is so good that you will want to experiment with it on other dishes, too. Another bonus, you can easily make this salad your…
