Food Favorite

Not long ago I was in North Carolina visiting a beautiful garden at the Biltmore estate. I asked the gardener if it was organic and he got very agitated. "Let me get on my soap box" he said. He then proceeded to explain that most pesticides in the US were organic and that just because...

What did you do during Summer vacation? I went to a supermarket. Actually, I seek out all kinds of markets every time I travel. I try to visit farmers markets, covered indoor markets, tailgate markets, you name it. I like seeing what's on offer, what people are buying and I usually find some great souvenirs. In France I bought rhubarb and prune jam,...

Today is National Salad Day. Would I make that up? Actually I got several emails reminding me about it. I was going to post a vegetable salad when I realized, it was also an all local dish which fits nicely with the One Local Summer event where participants make one meal a week with...

Did you know that mangoes are the most popular fruit in the world? There are more than 2,500 varieties of the fruit and when you consider where they are grown it's really no surprise. Mangoes are grown throughout Asia and Southeast Asia, India, Africa, Australia, the Caribbean, and...

Are you heartbroken that you didn't win a book earlier this week? If so, I have a consolation prize. If you live near San Francisco and would like a sneak preview pass to see No Reservations (not be confused with the Anthony Bourdain TV series), I have 20 pairs of tickets to give...

Congratulations to Sandy, Jesse, Emily, Cindy, Susan, Phaedrus, Lee, Jackie, Anonymous (with an email) and Kyle, the winners of The United States of Arugula! As of this morning a total of 10 people had correctly answered all the very tough trivia questions. All the answers to this...

The United States of Arugula is truly a great read. The subtitle on the hardcover was "how we became a gourmet nation" but on the newly released paperback it is "the sun-dried, cold-pressed, dark-roasted, extra virgin story of the American food revolution." If you ever wondered...

Remember how there used to book giveaways and contests on this site? Well come back tomorrow and there will be another one! I will be giving away 10 paperback copies of a book that was chosen as a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review. I have been passing my...

Over at SF Station is my review of the Cafe Majestic. It's a bit pricey but an elegant spot to go for intimate celebrations. F...

I know what you're probably thinking. Leftover spaghetti is NOT breakfast food. But it is for me! I get bored eating only traditional American fare like eggs, cereal, pancakes and waffles. According to my research, leftover spaghetti is not a traditional breakfast food anywhere....

You'll never forget your birthday or your social security number. As long as I live, I will never forget that Tuesday's were hot dog day in elementary school. While not a huge fan of hot dogs, the real appeal of the day was the choice of chips and ice cream. For years I stuck with...

Waitress is the perfect Summer flick. Set in a diner in the South, it revolves around the emotional lives of three waitresses. It has equal parts humor, romance, with plenty of pie and some "spontaneous poetry" thrown in for good measure. Kerri Russell stars as the main character, a waitress, who creates pies for the diner and often dreams up pies...

When a number of Chinese cookbooks aimed at home cooks crossed my desk recently I knew I wanted to write something about them. I tried several recipes and pondered questions like "what makes Chinese food authentic?" and "does authenticity matter to the home cook anyway?" My first...

Early Girl Eatery is the perfect reflection of Asheville. It's artsy, casual, classic, modern, and delicious all at once. The menu, a combination of North Carolina and vegetarian food works surprisingly well. But then again, Asheville is surrounded by farm country and what was once...

I spent a year living in Europe, and six months of that was in Italy. Having eaten a lot of Italian food, I like to think I understand it, perhaps just a little. In fact, whenever I try to recreate an Italian dish I think back to earlier versions that I've eaten. What was it that...

I'm sorry. I'm just too darned obsessed with my new iPhone to post anything original right now. I have been surfing the web however, on my new iPhone, and came across some posts you really should read.Pocket Farm has announced One Local Summer. This is very cool and I'm sorry I didn't...