On May Day in Berlin, I awakened to the sound of footsteps and shouting. Just outside my window, a group of black-clad “Autonome” protesters were running by on the cobblestones, noses and mouths covered with bandannas, eyes hidden by sunglasses. They, along with others, had been protesting a planned neo-Nazi march through my neighborhood of [...]
A recipe for spicy Gingery Onion Chutney. The trick with this is to start with way more onions than you think you’ll need, and cook them way longer than you think you should. The result is a pot full of dark brown, carmelized onions with a deep, rich flavor.
When I read the words “Lentil and Rice Pilaf,” my taste buds pretty much turn off of their own accord…
But this one is different. This one doesn’t taste like lentils. It tastes like an explosion of tangy lemon, garlic and chilis, tossed with sweet bell pepper, fresh parsley, and crunchy almonds. It tastes like… flavor. I love this.
We’ve developed sort of an on-going joke at my office about peanut butter. My coworkers are appalled at the idea of peanut butter mixed with, well… anything but bread, actually. I tried to explain the joys of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to someone one day, and he just stared at me like [...]
Saturday morning. I’m awakened from a dead sleep by a clanging cell phone. On the other end of the line is a friend, evidently wide awake and puzzled by my mumbled answer of “what time IS it right now?”
After dragging my reluctant brain into the correct time zone, I ascertain that it is 9:00 am, [...]
We all know “American” potato salad, right? Potatoes drowned in artery-clogging mayonnaise sauce, with perhaps the token chopped pickel tossed in for variety? I’ve never liked it much. I’ve always preferred what I know as “German” potato salad. Rather than mayonnaise, the potatoes are doused with a boiling-hot, highly-seaseoned vinaigrette – creating a delicious, different, [...]
My mom wrote me a while ago, asking if I had any ideas for making a cookie that would be semi-healthy. She’s on a diet and trying not to eat anything that mixes a lot of fat with a lot of sugar – and if I could come up with something that was no fat [...]
Sometime a few months back, I found myself standing in my kitchen with a carrot in one hand and a piece of dark chocolate in the other. I was having an unbearable chocolate craving, and I knew that if I let myself I might just eat the whole bar.
I figured the carrot would sort of [...]
So, I’ll start at the beginning. Way back in November, I flew back to California to see my family for Thanksgiving. While I was there I hopped up to San Francisco for a few days to visit a friend. And while I was in San Francisco – in the fabulous, happening, bar-and-restaurant-filled Mission District – I had my first Mexican Food Experience in an entire year.
I’ve been happily eating oatmeal for breakfast, nearly every morning, for months. I know to most people that probably sounds monotonous, not to mention conjuring up images of beige mush being slopped onto a plate, alá Oliver Twist. But bear with me a minute – oatmeal really can leave you asking “Please sir, can I [...]
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