It was very kind and considerate of the organizers of the all-women BlogHer to invite celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito as a guest presenter. Most of the women here were purring his name Rrrrrroco, and I must agree, he is pretty easy on the eyes.
If you were an attendee, and can’t remember what he cooked [...]

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One of my favorite light summer dinners to make is refreshing gazpacho. This chilled soup is sure to quickly soothe an overly hot body. The recipes that I prefer are those without bread, making them lighter and healthier (especially if you’re dieting).
This recipe is from my mother’s friend, Vicki Sebastiani, founder of Viansa Winery in [...]

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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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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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Our regular readers have gotten used to a steady stream of photos and commentary on cooking, dining, and generally all things food. However, until now we’ve been pretty quiet about exactly what Foodista.com will be at launch. Though I’m not quite ready to share everything we’re cooking up, I thought I’d give you a taste…ok, [...]

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A word of introduction on how I came into possession of the the collected writings of Mr. U. Arsenic (for those of you just now tuning in, here’s the first installation of On Eating at the Bar).
A friend works at a used book store in Berkeley, he’s a buyer, occasionally they get calls to buy [...]

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You know you have a good book in your hand when time simply evaporates - poof! two hours gone just like that. This is what happened when I boarded my flight from San Francisco to Seattle and cracked the spine of Alice Waters and Chez Panisse. If you’re interested in food, and I’m assuming you [...]

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I’ve mentioned my love of cookbooks before. Admittedly, I generally do not create many meals from their pages, but I often sit for hours perusing them for inspiration and oohing and aahing over their photos. I thought I would share a list of my personal favorites. Some of which I do [...]

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In 1994, my mom’s best friend, and my “spiritual” mother, Ann Wall Frank wrote a fabulously hilarious little cookbook titled Cooking For Your Evil Twin: Devilishly Tempting Recipes for the Modern Woman.
I was looking for a chocolate chip cookie recipe the other day and remembered Ann’s swoon-inducing decadent version. This is no Tollhouse cookie, my [...]

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I love all types of books. I guess you could classify me as a voracious reader. I also tend to buy books faster than I can read them (darn you, Amazon.com 1-Click!). There is one type of book, however, that I consistently, almost obsessively, purchase and almost never read - cookbooks. I’m addicted to them: [...]

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