Strasbourg, France — Less than 24 hours after crossing the border I had already orchestrated my first French cheese tasting: seven balls, slices and globs of artisanal animal fat arrayed on a cutting board in my Airbnb. This is a foodie country, so it is possible someone will disagree with this statement, but French cheese…
In Flanders, Belgian Endive is ‘Witloof’, or Chicory, and Everyplace!
Dilbeek, Belgium — Most of the time you encounter Belgian endive in the U.S., it is being served to you raw: added as a bitter green to a salad, or pulled apart to become edible spoons for an appetizer. It’s far more more commonly cooked in Belgium, where my AirBnB host and Flemish food instructor…
It’s Easier, Cheaper & More Fun: Why Butterflying is the New Birding
Advances in Digital Photography Have Lured Burnt-Out Birders to Leisurely Lepidoptery Karl Barry isn’t part of the growing trend of birders-turned-butterflyers, a modest but growing segment in nature tourism. Barry likes birds just fine. He just doesn’t want to get up before the sun does when he’s on vacation. Happily, watching butterflies doesn’t require an…
Oaxaca Mexican Cooking Class: Five Hours of ‘Muy Rico’ Education
In Mexico, ‘mal de puerco’ is how you say food coma, which translates to ‘the curse of the pig.’ That wasn’t quite right for the nine happily overstuffed participants in my vegetarian cooking class from Etnofood in Oaxaca City on Saturday. We shopped for, cooked and ate many things, but pig wasn’t one of them. …
The (un)Importance of Place: An Interview with Arizona Sake’s Atsuo Sakurai
HOLBROOK, AZ – In dusty Northeast Arizona, a Japanese import is behind the 8-Ball, cranking out international-award-winning sake not nearly as fast as people would like to buy it. People like the Japanese chefs in Tucson and Phoenix, diplomats at the Japanese Consulate in Los Angeles and sake connoisseurs alert to his influence in a…
Accidental Chef in the Wild West
PORTAL, AZ – As if we were all Wild West outlaws lowering our bandanas for the first time, my neighbors in tiny Portal, Arizona and I are finally seeing one another’s faces. Never having seen their mouths, I made many of them extravagant Thanksgiving and December holiday dinners, alongside my friend Zola, who’s pushing 90…
Thimbleberry Donuts with a View at Jamsen’s Fish Market and Bakery, Copper Harbor, MI
Copper Harbor, MI – As far as olfactory promises made by restaurant names go, ‘Jamsen’s Fish Market and Bakery’ sends a decidedly mixed message. And while I’ve certainly eaten smoked fish for breakfast, the thought of walking into a co-mingled fish market and pastry shop gave me pause. But I was desperate for coffee just…
Panini Press Recipes from the Road: Brunch of Leftovers
One of the only things that’s tough for me when I’m on an epic road trip is that I don’t always have the opportunity to cook. I have been in Boise, Idaho for the better part of a week at a very cute AirBnB whose only deficiency is that it has no kitchen (though it…
Southern Food Road Trip: Biscuits Lesson with Susan Spicer in New Orleans
Biscuit lessons from Chef Susan Spicer was one of the highlights of the Southern Food Road Tour.
A Polish Christmas Eve Feast (in Mexico!)
My first Wigilia in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, was one to remember.
Nun Too Believable: Doll Sisters of Indian River, MI
INDIAN RIVER – I’m not sure what I was expecting when I stopped to walk through the Hall of Sisters, a collection nun dolls on exhibit in this tiny Michigan town, but there was a lot to disconcert. Several hundred dolls, most nuns but some priests too, are really a sideshow to a massive six-story…
King Cake Recipe: Last Piece!
Bakers throughout Louisiana are breathing a sigh of relief, hiding their King Cake recipes away till next year.
Some Thoughts on Blogging & ADHD
One of the pleasurable things about writing – and fine arts like painting and ceramics – is that you have tangible evidence of your work at its height, unlike cooking, where once the meal is eaten there is no way to go back and truly taste it. To know with certainty that was the silkiest…
Tourist Chocolate
Unloved by locals in Costa Rica and Mexico, dark chocolate is a bittersweet business in pandemic times.
Traveling Between Meals 