I miss the days when our food was safe to eat. What is going on!? Last year it was packaged spinach, now it’s tomatoes. It’s said that salmonella, the big wave that’s rocking the boat, is caused by fecal matter. Fecal matter! In layman’s terms: poop. Now that just gives a crappy meal a whole [...]

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Many of you may think I’m talking about the scandalous former mayor of Washington, DC, Marion Barry, but I am not. I’m talking about the succulent Pacific Northwestern fruit, the marionberry.
The marionberry was introduced in 1956 at my alma mater, Oregon State University, and developed in Marion County. While they grow throughout the Pacific Northwest, [...]

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Lemon curd is a quintessentially English treat. It reminds me of tea at Harrod’s in London when I was in the 5th grade. It’s delicious slathered over scones with cream or baked in a fruit tart. I especially love it when it makes you pucker.
The following recipe, from the cookbook Once Upon A Tart, [...]

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Legend has it that during World War II American soldiers in Rome would bring their Italian friends eggs and bacon and ask them to make a pasta dish, thus becoming pasta alla carbonara. Another legend claims that carbonara, a derivative of the word carbon in Italian, was made for charcoal workers. Who really knows how [...]

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You can’t have tapas without having a good sausage or two, and the two that top my list are cantipalitos and morcilla.
Cantipalitos are little red sausages with smoked paprika - an essential ingredient in Spanish cooking - and garlic (among a few other things). They are smoky sweet with a nice garlic tang, and are [...]

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Nothing tops off a Summer Solstice dinner more perfectly than an apple tart. My friend’s mother, Val, made a simply divine one the other night, and I am still daydreaming about its goodness. I’m talking the-skies-opened-up-and-the-angels-sang good.
Although tarts seem like a relatively simple dessert, it’s the crust wherein lies the excruciating challenge. And to me, [...]

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I have a deep love for cheese. Actually, it borders on an addiction, but (so far) I am able to live my life normally.
Does flying to Argentina for cheese count as normal?
A couple of years ago Barnaby I went to Argentina to visit friends. Really, it was to visit friends, the cheese (and wine, meat, [...]

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It’s spring and I woke up with a sore throat. You shouldn’t be able to get sick in warm months. That’s what winter is for. We suffer the cold weather and the spreading of germs, then the sun comes out and we get a reprieve from carrying tissues and sucking on lozenges. Wouldn’t it be [...]

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The sun has finally decided to show itself here in Seattle, which means the barbecue has once again been hauled out of the garage and has settled back into its usual spot on the patio. At last. What better way to wrap up a nice sunny afternoon than to throw something tasty down on the [...]

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I was reminiscing today about one of my favorite destinations in Tokyo. Mecca for the culinary connoisseur. Nirvana for the “kitsch-en” collector. A place where the Yen in my purse would start to shake and quiver the minute I was within spitting distance. Kappabashi market.
Marked by a giant statue of a chef’s head, Kappabashi [...]

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