The title is misleading. This isn’t really bruschetta – I had no good bread on hand when I made it. As you’ll see in the picture, I made it in one large dish, instead of individual servings (that’s polenta, underneath). But it was meant to go on bread, and would have, if I weren’t too [...]
There’s a problem with growing potatoes – or any root vegetables, really. You can’t tell what they’re doing, under the dirt. You can’t even tell if they’re doing anything at all. If you’re me, you suspect it’s all for show, that the plant has no intention of producing potatoes, that it might even be laughing [...]
My office has one of these single-serving coffee machines, where you put in a coffee “pod” and out comes a mug-full of coffee. The pod and the grounds disappear into the bowels of the machine, to be thrown away later. The New York Times points out that, not surprisingly, these pods aren’t so friendly to [...]
Some folks have pointed out that I’m long overdue for a blog post, and particularly for an update on my garden. I know this is true. Perhaps the reason I’ve been putting it off is that there’s little good news to share; very little excitement for all the time and effort we put in. This [...]
Surprise: it’s July, and it’s hot outside. We got back from vacation on Monday, and the weather when we got home to DC was about the hottest, muggiest weather you can imagine. I’m sure it could technically be hotter and more humid, but I defy you to actually imagine what it feels like. DC and [...]
I have a confession: I hate beets. I can’t eat more than a few bites of them. I’ve even had nice, well-seasoned beets… but after a couple bites, the beet flavor is overwhelming, and I can’t go on. I’ve heard for some time that beet greens (literally, the green, leafy part of the beet plant) [...]
Oprah’s taking auditions for shows on her tv network, which I guess means that Oprah has a tv network now. (You see how closely I follow these things.) My aunt shared with me an audition from her friend Celia Chacon, who wants to do a cooking show. The catch: Celia is blind. What a great [...]
I tend to get pretty geeky about food politics. I know full well that most people don’t care about it as much as I do, and that plenty of people don’t even know what that means. So it’s exciting to me when I see someone – a private company, no less – trying to educate [...]
This is one of those special occasion, once-a-year brunches. Because it is amazingly delicious, and really bad for you, but the deliciousness makes it worth it. As you might expect, croissants make wonderful French toast. They are rich and tender and easy to eat. (I like to think there’s something fitting about turning French croissants [...]
Sometimes, when mediocre imitations of food are easily available, you can forget that it’s easy to make the thing yourself. But once you try the real thing, you can never look at the store-bought version the same way again. Whipped cream is one of those things. Contrary to popular belief, whipped cream doesn’t naturally come [...]