On The Virtues of One and Keeping the Pastisio Fires Burning

The New York Times International Cookbook ‘by’ Craig Claiborne is among my small gathering of long-time book companions. I put the quote marks there because I’m not sure I see Craig anywhere in the book, aside from a preface where he lists a zillion names and gives thanks to a large city.
This is a [...]

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Wherefore Art Thou, Book of my Dreams?

Have you ever really wanted a book of some sort so much that you started to fantasize about owning it? I don’t mean like owning it part-time, taking it out of the library then returning it. I mean like a book you just have to own.
I have, and it’s strange, because I don’t really want [...]

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A Man With a Big Stove: Mario Batali, Meet Barnes & Noble.

A few months ago I saw a bakers rack stuck in the middle of the cookbook section of my local Barnes & Noble. I got confused for a minute. It was like having a TJ Maxx Moment, if you know what I mean. Now the stuff on the rack, the ‘cookware’ to use the correct [...]

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Payard’s ‘Chocolate Epiphany’

I had an epiphany this morning.
As I sat at the red light in light traffic in my car after dropping off the kids at school, I realized I’d forgotten to throw on a coat.
And in that exact moment, as the radio blasted Steppenwolf’s ‘Born to Be Wild’ loud enough to be heard by anyone close [...]

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The Fireside Cook Book by James Beard – 60th Anniversary Edition

It startled me to see The Fireside Cook Book peering out from the bookstore shelf. The biggest surprise was how very new the book looked. The editions I’ve seen have been battered and worn, food-speckled, and with the non-shiny essence of the year 1949 – the date when The Fireside Cook Book was published for [...]

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Things to Put in Boxes Under Trees

Holiday gift-giving. Three little words.
How often two little words of response come to mind!
It’s funny how gifts (meant to be things of grace) can become more like things of measurement.
And when measuring begins, in comes arithmetic.
Arithmetic:
‘Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with,’ the Mock Turtle replied, ‘and the different branches of Arithmetic – Ambition, [...]

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Review: Cooking Light Complete Cookbook

Books and Media by Katerina la Vermintz
Cooking Light Complete Cookbook- A Fresh New Way to Cook
This is a large book, a colorful book, newly released this April. To my surprise it is also a ring-bound book, just like the old Betty Crocker bibles – which gives it an initial air of practicality without pretension. [...]

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