– An editorial originally published in The Boston Cooking School Magazine of Culinary Science and Domestic Economics: 1913. FRUGALITY and economy are watchwords of the hour. The high cost of living has become something more than a common saying. “The struggle for existence has become so keen that on every side economy must be […]
Tin House recently published a beautiful illustrated edition of “Heart of Darkness,” a Joseph Conrad novel in the 20th century literary canon. Joseph Conrad, though long passed, is no stranger to publication, and his name has been part of literary conversation for the last 100 years, when his novel Chance thrust him into the mainstream in […]
My grandmother Dorothy was an incredible baker. She made magical sweets like popcorn cake (chocked full of M&M’s) and classic goods like molasses cookies and cookie bars and more-and-more-and cookies. I miss her. Since her death, I’ve tried to honor her by spending time focusing on my memories, listening to my father tell details about […]
This might be the year you’re sick of eating food out of a box and are trying to cook more foods from scratch with whole (or mostly whole) ingredients. Forget the box, right? Prior to the explosion of food science in the mid-20th century, home cookers prepared dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, turkey gravy, and stuffing […]
America’s food culture has morphed into a troubling maze of health claims, confusing polysyllabic ingredients, and debates about genetically modified foods, organic v. non-organic, and local v. not local. Some writers, such as Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman, have attempted to simplify food choices by encouraging readers to “keep it simple” when it comes to […]
What’s flatbread? It’s pizza without sauce. Maybe not, but that’s what it is for me. The common word is that it’s a very basic bread made from flour, water and salt. However, fresh or frozen pizza dough (not pre-baked) works just fine in my kitchen. Whenever I have pizza dough in the fridge or freezer, […]
When it comes to breakfast, I have great intentions that don’t seem to pan out. Even though I determine almost every night to eat a good-tasting, healthy breakfast the next morning, it’s quite difficult for me to make breakfast for myself. I’m a morning person, but I prefer to spend my early morning hour writing, […]
He cooks – I’m the cleaner. It works great. Well, most of the time it works just fine. Then there are other times where I decide to align my actions with my ideas and purchase food from the local co-op. The product list causes me to salivate, even when the items are new to me […]
Update on 1/20/2013: A wonderful reader named Naran sent me a kind email and told me about a possible side effect of eating large amounts of daikon – it acts as a laxative! For this reason, I suggest daikon pasta as a side dish; I’ve dropped the serving suggestion from a cup to a half-cup. […]
What is it about homemade bread that makes me feel like everything in the world is quite alright? How does it remind me of late breakfasts on Saturday morning, calloused hands rubbing flour across a forehead, the way warmth rushes in on me when I come through the front door of my home? Why do […]
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