Isn't it self explanatory?
This month's Let's Lunch theme is Kummerspeck, a German word that means "grief bacon," the extra layer of fat one accrues from emotional overeating. This is a condition I'm familiar with, particularly this time of year. If I'm completely honest, in times of deep trouble, what I often crave most is a bag of potato… Continue reading The toast truck will serve soft-ripened goat cheese
March. Neither lion nor lamb. It's a fickle fish this year, darting in one direction, then another, to the surface, then back under the weeds. Cold clear days, warm foggy mornings, sweet springing afternoons, hail, snow, rain, mud, ice. One day, a week ago, we had all the windows in the house open. Today, we're… Continue reading Goat cheese panna cotta with mango foam
Well, here we are, November. You and I don't get along so well. I resent you for stealing my summer warmth. You blithely turn the sun off at 4.15 pm. You freeze the water in the goat's water buckets every night. You slither your brittle, windy fingers through the walls in this old house. What's… Continue reading Pain au levain
Scary. I loved this month's Let's Lunch theme the instant I read it. I just knew there would be a zillion fun possibilities. Muaaah ha ha!!! Cue creepy music. This was going to be such fun! Problem was, I couldn't think of anything scary that I actually wanted to eat. Ghosts made from homemade marshmallows?… Continue reading Polyphemus’ Ambrosial Roasted Tomato Soup
I keep finding this post difficult to write. I've gone about it ten different ways and it always comes back to this: I miss my grandfather and writing about him makes me terribly sad that he is gone. But writing this also makes me happy, because I got to sort through pictures and memories of… Continue reading Harry’s Matzo brei
Two days ago, the temperature reached into the 60s and, though we'd been granted the easiest winter in memory, we somehow all felt that an early spring was due us. Humans are like that. What little snow we had from the single late-season storm a week ago was practically melted. Then it rained. Froze. Iced.… Continue reading Roasted asparagus and sage salad (or, Making our own spring green)
Kishke. There's nothing elegant or pretty about it. It's a homely dish of humble origins. Strictly peasant food, made from whatever was left over to throw into a bowl (meat or vegetables or both), combine with a filler (flour, barley, bread crumbs, or matzoh meal), color with paprika, and spice mildly with salt, pepper, and… Continue reading Jewish Vegetarian Kishke
It's all about the tool: the flat, wire grater my grandmother Martha used to grate the potatoes and onions for her potato kugel. There's just no making it right without that tool. Sure, you can make a fine kugel with your standard potato grater, or even with a food processor. If you make it that… Continue reading Martha’s Potato Kugel
Your definition of "tea" largely depends on where you were raised, and perhaps how much BBC television you watched as a child. For some, tea is a steaming mug of English Breakfast with milk and sugar sipped in a coffee house while tapping on a laptop keyboard. For others, it's a delicate cup of matcha… Continue reading Rich tea in October
