Category Archives: Cookbooks

REFINING AND DEFINING: CULINARY REVELATIONS

I’m writing this with the tune of David Bowie’s “ch-ch-ch-ch changes. Turn and face the strange,” running through my brain. This past year has been nothing but changes. Changes in what we’re cooking in the kitchen, changes in what kitchen we’re cooking in, changes in where we are working, and changes made to our lifestyle in general. If you’d told me a year ago — yesterday — that this is where we’d be now, I would have laughed my head off. If you’d told me that we would be happier, and better off for turning our lives upside down, I would not have believed you.

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LEMONS: TWISTED AND SQUEEZED

lemons

At what point in the English language did lemons become a metaphor for life? Eggs in my opinion make more sense. My life has become scrambled, or things are going over-easy. Maybe life has become deviled or hard boiled? We’ll go with lemons though.

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NEW ORLEANS: DELECTABLE BITES OF THE FRENCH QUARTER IN FOUR DAYS

neworleansstreetartandmusicCafe du Monde is as touristy as it gets and a stones throw from the Mississippi River. Gator on a stick is offered at the French Market. The Old Legends Park was the best place to grab a beignet and a cup of coffee while listening to a jazz quartet.

New Orlean’s French Quarter — a walk-able feast for eyes, ears and taste buds — is the real deal. Gritty, sweaty, and as down-to-earth as a city might get.

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FRESH FROGS: WE BOUGHT THE DUCK

asianmarketfrogs

A particular aspect of living at the Jersey Shore is the abundance of food markets. Within a twenty mile radius we have our choice of mega-grocery stores, multiple “health” food shops, farmers markets, specialized boutique marts, and some of my favorite haunts—ethnocentric markets.

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PIEROGI CONTEMPLATION

While many food writers are publishing recipes deep in cultural roots, others are taking the tried-and-true to new levels with a creative, almost impertinent approach. Such is the composition of Casey Barber’s new cookbook Pierogi Love.

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