Is Thanksgiving Over Yet? – FB2B, part 40

Finally, after having digested my post-Thanksgiving binge of Food Network programming, I can once again face my stack of holiday food magazines and think about planning some new meals. Having seen an overwhelming number of suggestions and preparations for holiday leftovers, the one that really stood out wasn’t the “101 ways to make last night’s mashed potatoes appetizing again.”

It was, instead, a segment that appeared on Thanksgiving weekend Friday on The Today Show. Tyler Florence was demonstrating to Lester Holt how to make stuffed French Toast using challah and leftover cranberry sauce from a can. Stuffed French Toast is one of those things that I love to get when I eat brunch out someplace, but which I’ve never gotten around to trying to make at home.

A Season of Thanks & Giving – FB2B, part 39

On Thursday of last week, most of us gathered around tables loaded with treats and feasts. As part of our national tradition, a moment of thanks is usually given, perhaps with heads bowed in prayer, maybe with the youngest member of the assembly lisping sweetly through “The Lord’s Prayer.”

The Thanks part of my holiday this year was spent with an abbreviated version of my family. It has been a good while since we’ve had a more Norman Rockwell/mythical American form of this meal. I enjoyed it but it also brought to mind the fact that I’d read recently about how many folks aren’t even getting all the benefits that they could to feed their own families.

There are still lots of people in this country who depend upon assistance in order to nourish themselves every day. This isn’t to get super-preachy to everyone, but just to highlight that, in this season where we give Thanks for what we have, hands are reaching out to ask us to remember the Giving part by helping donate to those who have even less.

One of the things I enjoy about living in New York is that there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer. Somehow, though, I’d never really put that energy into food-related projects. It’s not even that it is difficult to find ways to help out, as my church lists the days that the local food pantry needs folks and a volunteer newsletter I get each month always has several sessions at local soup kitchens.

Hey Punkin’ – FB2B, part 38

Ah, it’s that time of year again. The magazines are filled with recipes for turkey with trimmings, side dishes galore, and pies, pies, pies. There’s hints for watching one’s waistline while not offending that aunt who brought over her favorite casserole, tips for trying to make those family favorites into lo-cal treats, and the inevitable pseudo-science articles about the sure-fire way to cook a turkey without giving everyone food poisoning.

I have a confession to make, however. There is one thing I just can’t stand about this holiday: Pumpkin Pie. This is a bit odd for two reasons: a. I love sweets and have been known to eat pies and b. I like pumpkin. I just don’t like the concoction that is usually presented at every standard Thanksgiving buffet. It’s just too cloying, too gelatinous, too something.

I can’t really put my finger on it, but each year I have the same problem of how to refuse to eat someone’s culinary contribution to the feast. So, my quest has been to look for recipes that present an alternative point of view to the pie. For years, I’ve searched out other options.

What's in the Fridge? – FB2B, post 35

I knew from the first minute I woke up this morning that it was raining outside. I could hear the sloshy sound of cars traveling on the streets, water spitting out from under their wheels. What a great excuse to lie around in bed all day.

Then, my stomach started to grumble a little. Obviously, it had other ideas for what I should be doing at that moment. I threw back my fluffy duvet and rolled myself out of bed, literally. I knew that I really had too much to do today to waste all of it sleeping.

Stumbling to the kitchen, still a bit bleary-eyed, I opened the fridge. Hmm, let’s see, there’s ham, cheese, milk, butter, eggs, and I know I have bread in the freezer. Inspired by something that was on the company cafeteria’s menu last week, I realized I had on hand the ingredients to make Croque Monsieur.

Although bit unorthodox for breakfast, this is one of my favorite all-time, top-5 sandwiches. Toast (how could one go wrong with that?), ham, melted cheese, and béchamel, then lightly grilled. Add an Orangina, and one could almost feel as though it was lunchtime in Paris.

Truth is, I don’t really like Mayonnaise – FB2B, part 30

Mayonnaise is one of those food items that I have a dislike/hate relationship with. Over the years, I’ve hoped it would change but it hasn’t. The smell of a knife having been used to spread mayo and left in the kitchen sink makes my stomach turn. I can’t stand the way it makes bread all spongy or the sight of oozy white stuff in tuna or chicken salad*. Mayo on fries, don’t even get me started on how repulsive that is to me.

That’s probably a bit surprising as I like other gooey white food products: yogurt, sour cream, crème fraîche, double cream (mmmm…w/ scones please). Mayonnaise and I have just never hit it off. For some reason, though, this summer, when the tomatoes were at their peak, I decided I wanted to see if I could change that. I decided that maybe if I made my own mayonnaise, I might actually like it.

As you may have read on the previous blog, I went a bit tomato crazy in August. It’s just so hard not to, with such gorgeous specimens available. And the flavors are amazing. I decided that the showcase for this, using only Greenmarket produce, would be a BLT. Again, baring my soul to you, dear readers, I have to confess, I’ve never liked BLTs.

It’s Tomato Time – FB2B, part 29

In the cycle of the seasons, the end of summer usually brings with it a plethora of tomatoes. A really fresh, ripe tomato that’s been raised outdoors (not in a greenhouse) smells just like a warm, lazy August day with sunshine, a blue cloudless sky, and the sound of bugs droning in the background.

If you can get the chance to pick one jus as it is ready, straight from the vine, you are one of the lucky ones. Hold it up to your nose and inhale (yes, this is legal). To me, this is its quintessential fragrance: the mellowness of the red with a bit of a sharp tang from the green. It is the contrast between the smooth roundness of the tomato and the prickly parts of the stalk from which sprung the vine on which it grew.

Some of these memories come from the years when my mother decided to cordon off part of our backyard so that she could grow vegetables (fortunately, it wasn’t any part of the yard where we used to kick soccer balls between used car tires). I can’t remember for how long she did this, but it has left me with a life-long appreciation for freshly-picked produce and the ability to know what a real tomato should taste like. I have been forever spoiled.

Ah…Crabs…mmm…yum – FB2B, Post 26

Just to break up the flow of my usual posts, and because I recently got back from spending time in Virginia with my family (always a source of inspiring, if unusual, thoughts), I was wondering if I should do something clever for this post like write an Ode to Old Bay^® Seasoning. Then, I thought about it and decided that that might just be a little bit too weird so I’ve coming up with this haiku instead:

Container yellow, blue, and red
Hiding savory spice blend
To eat with sweet white crabmeat

While this brief spurt of creative inspiration might seem odd, devotion to this spice mix is very great in some parts of the country. My brother was even planning to pick up some of it to bring it back to London so that he’s not left empty-handed in case he or his wife gets a craving for a taste of home.

Growing up in a mid-Atlantic seaboard state, it was a staple found in everyone’s cupboard, or so it seemed. It was just natural to find it there (but then, so did was seeing a can for bacon drippings stored in the fridge, as well). Surprisingly, I don’t have any in my New York kitchen.  Up here, I don’t think I would ever find a use for it, but then, I might be too crab-specific about its flavor and point of reference. I’m a bit of snob about crab and skeptical anytime I see “Maryland Crab Cakes” on a menu. I want to meet the crab. I want to hear it say “Bal-mer.” If not, it’s poseur crab to me. It will be shunned.

One of Old Bay^®’s chief uses, naturally, given the title is with Chesapeake Bay crabs – sprinkled on top during the cooking process and served on the side when eating the steamed goodies. Despite the over-fishing of the species (some of which I personally blame on the new, wide-spread popularity of soft-shell crabs, but that, for the record, is a personal bias) and the consequent higher prices for those that are being caught, my family has managed to keep up its annual tradition of reunion/crab feast during the summer months.

Let’s have S’more Fun – FB2B, part 25

In case you missed it, this past Thursday, August 10^th, was National S’mores Day. If you type this string into Google™, you will come up with quite a few references to this tasty, gooey treat as well as some stories about its origins. I will leave all of that, and the link above, to those of you who may wish to explore the history of s’mores in more detail.

For those of you not familiar with this item, it is a crunchy, crumbly confection made with graham crackers, chocolate (a Hershey_®’s plain milk chocolate candy bar, to be specific), and marshmallows (toasted, not singed in my book). Its construction is a careful process with the hot marshmallow melting the chocolate and the whole thing held together by the graham crackers on top and bottom.

I ♥ Cheap Eats – FB2B, part 23

Once a year, the local city magazines in most metropolitan areas do an issue about the least expensive places to get a good, quality meal. I always find them to be great reads. They are also a means to discover the range and variety of what a town has to offer in the way of ethnic and creative cuisine.

This week’s (July 31-August 7) issue of New York Magazine, which arrived in my mailbox last week, is their annual “Cheap Eats” review. In it, they look at places to get a meal for under $25.00. From the outside, that might not sound like anything close to a possibility price-wise in a city like New York, what with the highest of the high-end dining establishments located here like Per Se, Masa, Alain Ducasse, etc.

Because, however, this is a large, diverse community, with many different incomes, there is a plenty of room for producing interesting and tasty meals that don’t make too large of a dent in one’s checkbook or require sacrificing rent for a night out on the town. The profiles of these restaurants are usually filled with interesting tidbits, and I often find some leads on places to mentally add to my “to be tried” list or am reminded of places that I’d eaten at once upon a time to which I really should return.

This year, I was thrilled and pleasantly surprised to see quite a few of my stand-by, Go To restaurants featured. If you can get your hands on the issue, the food photography is mouth-watering, at least to my eyes, or maybe I was just really, really hungry at the time I was reading the magazine. As with anything else in New York opinions as to what should have made the list will vary, and this is not something to be tackled on an empty stomach! The magazine provides their evaluation criteria in the article. Here are some of my thoughts on their choices (rankings ran from 1-101):

Shake Shack (#17)

Ranked among the 4 Star restaurants and snagging the number 1 slot in the burger category, I have no argument with this one. I would have liked to see it a bit higher, but think that maybe it was demoted a little for its infamous line. As with many popular NYC attractions (Shakespeare in the Park, movie night at Bryant Park, anything at Central Park) faithful patrons have devised all sorts of elaborate strategies for how to avoid waiting in what seems like an interminable queue just for an addictive Shack Burger, fries, and the frozen custard flavor of the day. There’s now even a camera installed so that hungry devotees can check online to schedule their arrival so as to avoid the crowds.

Thanks very much to them for having their 2006 opening day preview on my birthday this year. It was so worth it, and I even have the card to prove that I was there among the early-birds.

Otto Enoteca Pizzeria (#24)

I visited this ristorante a few months ago and wrote a review about the food and drink that we had on that excursion. I still haven’t managed to make it back to try the pizza, but it is on my list of things to do when I can round up some folks who’d like to try it with me.

Via Emilia (#41)

My heart skipped a beat and I started to hyperventilate when I thought that this Northern Italian gem had been lost forever. The part of the block on Park Avenue South where it was located has been cleared to make way for some new building – my money is on the usual condos. Turns out, they managed to relocate about a few blocks away and while I haven’t had a chance to visit their new digs yet, I’m just waiting for the first cold snap so that I can indulge in their luscious tortellini con panna or ravoli di zucca and maybe wash it all down w/ some Lambrusco. Although the owner is from Modena, it wraps me in warm memories of my years in Bologna and the food is nearly as good as being there in person.

Rickshaw Dumpling Bar (#71)

When the line at Shake Shack is really just too long and my patience too short, this other neighborhood joint is my backup dining destination for the Madison Square Park area. Dumplings are a great meal in my book. These come in all sorts of interesting flavors (the standard Pork, Peking Duck, and Chicken & Lemongrass are among some of the options) with matching dipping sauces (like plum and peanut). Paired with a side salad or soup, they make a wonderful, inexpensive, filling lunch break. While their chocolate ones got lots of press, I wasn’t really a fan.

Sip Sak (#78)

Meze are another sure-fire way to tame an appetite. I had eaten Turkish food when I lived in London, but had to wait several years until it followed me back here to the States. It was worth the wait. A drink with friends at the rooftop café at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, followed by a group dinner sharing the meze sampler plus a few other dishes at Beyoglu (the original uptown restaurant by the same owner as Sip Sak), and Saturday night out in Manhattan comes in at the bargain price of about $35.00 per person (depending upon how much one drank at the Met).

Republic (#97)

On one side of Union Square, is this delicious noodle bar with all sorts of flavorful, Asian-spiced menu choices. Although inside the restaurant, the long communal tables and deafening acoustics make it difficult to have intimate conversations, the noodles more than make up for it. Besides, when your bowls arrive, you’ll be too busy slurping up the long beauties to talk to your companions anyway. A meal and some locally-grown organic veggies bought at the Greenmarket will make up for everything else you put into your body during the workweek.

Buon appetito!

Pesto Pronto – FB2B, part 22

Happy Anniversary to the Greenmarkets! As both the New York Times and New York Magazine highlight they turn 30 years old this week. In a way, it is hard to imagine the city without these culinary resources, they’ve become something of an institution. Specials and the latest seasonal produce are highlighted on blogs, and new arrivals are heralded in the Dining In section of the Times on Wednesdays. The market has even published its own cookbook.

In fact, the markets are such a part of New York life that one of them even played a role in the healing our wounds after 09/11, when it had to leave Downtown Manhattan (along with many of the firms whose employees shopped there during lunchtime). The re-opening of the market that had been at the base of the towers was greeted as a return to something close to normal life and a sign of the city’s resiliency (along with the re-opening of Century 21!).

The market’s own booth at the Union Square market patiently handles queries from anxious foodies asking when the newest arrivals will be there and when whatever is next in season is anticipated. This week’s New York Magazine has a detailed map of the square and all the vendors who are usually there on Saturdays, but my favorite thing to do is just to walk around and take in what is for sale.

Vive La France! - FB2B, part 21

The Weather Channel says that it’s currently 92 degrees Fahrenheit outside (about 30 degrees Centigrade). That’s hot enough to do nothing but just sit around inside watching television and drinking cool liquids. But, to do that today would be something close to culinary sacrilege.

New York summers and street fairs go together like, well, just about anything you can think of to combine. To the uninitiated, these may sound like great fun: food, crafts, vendors, etc. all in a few city blocks. To those who get to live with them, they are experienced with the same measure of ennui and tolerance of the many themed parades that close down Fifth Avenue several times a year. They shut down bus routes, cause detours, change well-laid plans, and cause mounds of frustration.

There is, however, one special fair that takes place each year on a Sunday in mid-July that draws out the folks who most likely don’t usually brave these spectacles. The Alliance Française in New York holds its Bastille Day celebration in Midtown Manhattan, taking over three blocks on 60^th Street. Local proprietors, restaurants and many things French are featured.

The end of the season – FB2B, part 20

*Sniff* I can’t believe it’s here already. The end of the season has come and I completely missed them. I’m not talking about baseball. I don’t mean hockey. I’m not even referring to the World Cup. No, the season I am talking about is short, sweet and red. It is enticing, sometimes decadent, and very, very delicious.

The last of the farmers’ market strawberries have come and gone. Each year, as with asparagus, there is the fervor among the food set, especially those who try to eat as seasonally as possible, to hunt out and obtain, for as many weeks as is feasible, locally-grown, tangy-sweet, juicy strawberries.

I know that this might seem strange as you think, “What is this about? I see strawberries all the time. They are in my local grocery store year-round.” Those specimens you see in the plastic containers during the winter are a far cry from the ones to which I am referring. They could almost not even be the same fruit.

Salad Days - FB2B, part 18

It’s hot. It’s bloody hot, but at least it’s dry. After lots of rain this week, it’s now really hot outside, just in time for a holiday weekend. Better yet, I feel as though my apartment traps heat so there’s no real escape.

This is the time of year when it is just excruciating to cook. Anything that causes the temperature to rise inside is to be avoided. Greens wilt. Appetites dwindle. Nothing seems appealing.

On the other hand, this is also the time of year when really great produce is available and loads of wonderful fresh fruit is coming into season. I took advantage of the nice weather to check out the newest edition to the farmers’ markets in town.

Nina Planck, who used to run the Greenmarkets in New York City, has set up two markets. One of them is on a thin triangle of land on Lafayette Street between Spring Street and Kenmare Street. This is the one that I visited today.  The newsletter they sent around said that some of the showings would be lighter as the heavy rain this week caused damage to some of the crops. Nina’s folks came up from Virginia to lend a hand this weekend. Next time, I’m going to try the other market on 6^th Avenue between Bleecker Street and Houston Street.

Although, as the photos show, there were some nice veggies available, I didn’t find what I really wanted there, so I ended up at my usual – the Union Square Greenmarket. Unfortunately, it was later in the afternoon, my having been distracted by the England-Portugal World Cup match, so many places were closing up. I did pick up some salad greens and my first fresh local raspberries of the season.

More Toasts - FB2B, part 17

Bruschetta tipica
Peperonata con mozzarella e pesto
Gorgonzola con miele

A few folks have given me feedback and their opinions about my last post. Most haven't posted them to the blog so I'll summarize. As I suspected, one half of the couple in my family who favors what I'll term as "pasty bread" - so light as not to really be classified as Toast, per se - wrote back about her preference. We did agree about the whole jam and butter thing, though.

Two folks were on the side to try to convince me to buy a toaster oven. While I will acknowledge a greater degree of flexibility for making cheesy, melty things than with a toaster, I think I'll just stick with the oven in that regard. Toaster ovens were actually banned, along with hot plates, from my university because they are a fire hazard due to the open heating element.

Someone did actually set off a dorm smoke alarm when I was there - not me, just for the record - so I don't really have a great memory of these appliances. Besides, in my wee NYC apartment kitchen we have room for only one major, counter-occupying device and the microwave trumps the toaster oven. So, the toaster is what we're sticking with for the moment.

A Toast – FB2B, part 16

I know I’ve been a bit remiss in keeping up with this blog lately. Rather that give some drawn-out excuse about it, I’ll just be brief and blunt. My job is in transition and I just haven’t had the time or creative energy to put into writing. Of course, that doesn’t mean that I’ve stopped thinking about food or great things I could write about, I just didn’t make that leap to actually doing anything about it.

Which brings me to today’s topic: Shopping for a new toaster. You know how it is, appliances start to die, they don’t work as well, the handle flies off every time it pops up when the toast is done. O.K., maybe that last one hasn’t happened to you, but it’s been going on in my kitchen for a few months.

After the first time it happened, I jammed the plastic part onto the metal lever and that seemed to work for a while (sort of like taping things together), but the flying plastic aerobatic act started again this past week. It’s not the most appealing thing to face in the early morning. Dealing with random, unexpected, airborne objects at 6:30 a.m., when I’m trying to fix my breakfast, sort of puts a taint on the whole day.

It is possible for me to live without this kitchen accessory. I didn’t have one when I lived in Italy and fared pretty well, but I have to make a confession: I love toast. I love to bite into that crisp, crunchy (usually buttery w/ a hit of sweet jam slathered on it) interior, saving the dark brown, super crunchy exterior for the next taste.

Proper Toast is not something that’s barely changed color or texture, as some in my family might tell you. These are also the folks who will eat the first patch of wan, limp pancakes, so I guess I shouldn’t be too harsh on them. That means I can get the ones that come out when the griddle is hot and ready to make nice golden brown ones.

Toast and I go way back. Peanut Butter Toast in high school. Cinnamon-sugar toast as a child – a special weekend treat. Tunafish salad on toasted whole wheat on a really rainy day. The British staple, cheese on toast. Yes, you might say that we have a bit of a history.

When I worked in financial services in London, I had the craziest hours, often not returning back to the group house I lived in until after the off-license in our neighborhood had closed for the evening (basically post-11:00 p.m.). If I saw those shop lights dimmed, that was not a good sign. I was usually completely drained by that time so the fact that we always had bread and butter in the house (this was England, after all), meant that I could at least fix myself a slice of toast prior to conking out for the evening, only to begin my draining routine again several hours later.

I can’t say I lost any weight on my “toast at midnight-ish” diet, but my love affair for a slice of bread cooked to a high temperature, changing it from flabby to firm, has remained. For me, a weekend morning isn’t the same without a slice of great, farmer’s market bread, toasted a golden brown, with a light coat of great butter and a thin layer of organic, locally-produced fruit spread smeared on it.

Anyway, so the point was that I decided that I can’t take it any more after the plastic part decided to execute a maneuver worthy of Cirque du Soleil the other day. So, I went on line to the usual places to go explore getting another toaster. I looked at high and lower end housewares stores and all the usual places one might go when looking for appliances.

Like any consumer, I didn’t want to commit to the first thing that I saw. How expensive could an ordinary toaster be???? Well, as I found out, I could easily have spent several hundred dollars on one if I wanted to, all this for a TOASTER, something to make warmed-up, crispy bread. I started suffering from sticker shock. Why so much for a simple machine?

I’m not asking for much. I just want it to be able to hold bread, have a pop-up/eject bottom so that I don’t have to wait until smoke comes out and the fire alarm goes off to know that maybe it’s starting to burn. I also want it to handle bagels as well. Oh, and it should have a removable crumb tray for those rare times, I’ll actually think about cleaning out the toaster.

It doesn’t need to make designs on the bread, have flowers, cook eggs at the same time, or color coordinate with my home décor. I just want it to make toast. So, disheartened by my research on line, I decided that I didn’t have the energy to pursue this any more. I thought it best to wait until the toaster really did conk out for good to replace it. In the meantime, I’ll just work on my early a.m. reflexes and hope that the plastic part doesn’t head towards my face.

Crazy Travel Habits - FB2B, part 15

I think we all have them - those quirky things that we do each time we travel. Mine, not surprisingly, have to do with food and eating. It's part of the way that I like to learn about local culture and customs when I'm in a new place.

I love checking out local markets, foodshops and kitchenware stores. I always seem to discover new things as well as old favorites along the way. Anything can trigger the need to indulge this habit - a sound, a smell, a sight, a site. Once it hits, there's no turning back.

I just returned, literally late last night, from a week in Christchurch, New Zealand. I haven't done the work to figure it out on a globe yet, but I think I really went about half-way around the world. Why do that to get away from the office, emails, phone calls, everything? Well, there's only one reason aside from work that I would take one taxi, one airport shuttle, and three planes to get anywhere - Family.

Easter Brunch - FB2B, part 12

Next Sunday is the Easter holiday for the Christian calendar. Traditionally it’s a season of new clothes and shoes, big hats, tulips along Park Avenue in New York, and baskets filled with candy. In our family, as to be expected, there are also a few other memories of the season.

While visiting family in the Midwest a couple of months ago, I’m not quite sure how the topic got started, but my sisters and I talked about the subject of Easter Sundays gone by and the presents from the Easter Bunny. Again, this link between food and holidays is very strong, as we discussed those malted milk ball eggs (cleverly disguised as gumballs), green plastic Easter grass stuck to the bottom of the jelly beans, and why we never seem to get the candy we really like (Pez® = good; marshmallow anything = bad).

This year’s Easter Brunch Menu can be a good start to putting all the awful candy memories to rest. As with the other recipes I’ve posted, part of this can be prepared in advance (even the night before), to save time the day of the event.

Kitchen Witch Tips – FB2B, part 11

For those who read to the bottom of my recipe posts, you’ll have noticed that I’ve been adding a “Kitchen Witch Tips” section to them. I thought I’d take a little breather from recipes and stories and explain what this (hopefully) practical addition to my blog is supposed to mean.

Wikipedia® defines the Kitchen Witch as:

A kitchen witch is a practitioner of magic who uses the tools at hand to work his or her spells and create their rituals. For example, using a kitchen carving knife for an athame, a cast iron pot for a cauldron, etc. Common kitchen herbs frequently have magical uses as well.

This is the definition that is a more mystical one. I can’t deny that good cooking does have some type of “power” over one’s senses, as depicted in many a film, such as Babette’s Feast and Big Night. Haven’t you ever left a great film just craving what you saw displayed on screen? Don’t certain smells “conjure up” memories from deep within ourselves?

However, the second paragraph of the description of the term is more what I had in mind when I created the concept for my blog:

Some kitchens have a kitchen witch doll, which is said to prevent burnt pots, keep meals hot and flavorful, and to weave the family together. The kitchen witch doll is often placed over the stove, near the kitchen entrance, or sometimes over a seating area in the kitchen.

Obviously, for those who have read my blog from the beginning, we didn’t have one of these in our home kitchen, otherwise I might not have burned the chocolate I was trying to melt [see “Some of My Cooking Experiences – FB2B, part 3”]. Some kitchen supply stores used to sell stuffed dolls in the shape of witches with broomsticks. I remember being with my mother and asking her about them. She explained to me the legend along the lines of the second description.

“Kitchen Witch Tips” in this blog are designed to be little tidbits or helpers to make your food more flavorful or the process of getting everything to the table a bit smoother. I hope you enjoy them and find them a welcome addition to your culinary knowledge. Feel free to write in with any additional suggestions that might be useful as well.

Buon appetito!

Le Menu - FB2B, part 10

More than a couple of people to whom I’ve spoken about this blog have said that what they would really like to know about is putting a menu together as well as the time it takes to have it all get to the table and still be able to enjoy their guests’ company. Timing seems to be a particularly big theme.

The previous three posts can be used to pull together an easy, friendly lunch, brunch, or supper. So, here’s how I organized it when I hosted a luncheon for several friends about a month ago using all these recipes.

Playing with Fire – FB2B, part 9

We are now in the period of Lent, a season of reflection and preparation for one of the most important holy days in the Christian calendar. I won’t go into the Bible history and theology of it. Rather, I want to break it down to one of the traditions many observers still practice – giving something up. Giving up something you like or enjoy doing for Lent is supposed to emulate Christ’s sacrifices while being in the desert for 40 days.

As young children, we were supposed to think long and hard about that special item or pastime that would suitably be considered worthy of denying ourselves for that period in order to make us more in tune with our religious beliefs. Even now, I’ve had whole, complex conversations with co-workers as to what I’ve given up in the past, oh what to do this year, how challenging it can be, etc. There are always the quippy answers like homework or chores (for children), NASCAR racing (not hard at all for me), or Catholicism (not really considered funny unless one is already an agnostic).

Sometimes, there is a certain strategy involved in practicing this form of self-sacrifice. What about the time I gave up meat and ended up on a business trip to the furthest reaches of the Midwest where they couldn’t understand why I wanted to know if there were dishes without bacon or any meat-type product in them? One sibling gave up family gossip one year. I’m still surprised she made it all the way, but at the end, she had no idea what was going on among the rest of the group.

Leftovers, Yum! – FB2B, part 8

Some of the best inspiration can come from foraging in your own refrigerator or cupboards or freezer. Leftovers, fresh or pre-cooked, can, with a few tweaks, be the basis of the next day’s breakfast, lunch or dinner.  For a variation on the Fork Tacos recipe posted previously, here's a way to use up the remaining items, or, the dish could start out this way, depending upon your choice. Again, this is a dish that you could prepare with your child/ren, having them help count the layers as they are added to total the number 7.

It is also a good party dish as it can go a long way and, served in a glass baking dish, it adds lots of color to a spread. The key to this dish as well as the recipe given earlier is the flexibility that they provide, for family dinner, or even for entertaining. Both meals are relatively easy to prepare ahead so that you can enjoy your guests' company without having to constantly be in the kitchen.

Serve this with scrambled eggs, and voilà! It is the centerpiece of a hearty Mexican-themed brunch. If doing this variation, softened flour tortillas instead of chips are recommended as accompaniments. You can also create breakfast burritos from the same ingredients.

Chin Chin, FB2B – part 7

So, my undergraduate alumni chapter is trying to revitalize here in the Big Apple. They are trying out various events to see if they can lure us out of our usual social circles to meet other people with whom we all share a common tie. The biggest draw has been [as is typical of a Southern school] Beer and Football. As we are a small school, and as the college football season is but a blip in the year, the alumni board needed to come up with other ideas to draw us together.

This month, they organized a wine tasting at Otto Enoteca Pizzeria, part of the Mario Batali-Joe Bastianich (Lidia’s son) restaurant group. Being on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent and the beginning of the period of sacrifice and reflection, I thought that that was an interesting choice in days. It turned out that the dark smudge on my forehead (I never can seem to get the priest who makes a nice, neat cross.) somehow became a talking point a few times during the evening. I even managed not to get any black flecks in my glass!

Here’s how we started out – with a Chardonnay.

Peas – FB2B, part 6

Food isn’t just about stuffing one’s face. It is about drawing energy and sustenance as well. Many folks have very vivid recollections about eating various dishes and their time and place. As I’ve already mentioned, quite a few of my family memories growing up also have links to specific food items. The vegetable that is the title of this post is one of those.

Kids. Notoriously fussy eaters. My parents didn’t normally let us get away with being picky. We were of the eat-it-or-you-can-go-to-bed-hungry generation. I noticed that, later on, with my younger siblings and my cousin, who was even younger than all of us, they started to cave and even made separate kinds of potatoes to suit them. I think that we’d drained them by the time the younger crowd came around.

You’ll have to ask my mother about “The Great Pea Stand-off of 1976.” The three oldest of us decided that we weren’t going to eat the hard, overcooked peas that were in our heated up, previously frozen dinner – not that we were really enamored of them in any form, mind you. So the “You’ll go to bed now and eat them for every meal until you finish them” card was played by my parents. It was their right and was also probably straight from the Parents 101 Handbook. Just as with every inalienable right and free will, it was also ours not to eat them. Thus, my folks got to find out just how stubborn our gene pool really is.

Happy New Year!!! – FB2B, part 5

Winter Melon Soup

Huh? Wasn’t that, like, a month or so ago? It might seem a bit late to say that, but one of the more interesting things about living in a multi-cultural city is learning that holidays that have the same name can be at a different time in the year for everyone, depending upon the calendar one follows. While for those who have cars, it can lead to endless confusion as to which side of the street to park on so as not to get towed, it also means, getting to discover new traditions and ….best of all…new food items! (I’m not so sure, however, that, as someone pointed out, it means that you also continually get to push back when you start your resolutions.)

Fried Whole Crabs

The celebrations for Chinese New Year last for 15 days: from the first new moon of the year, to the following full moon. According to my wall calendar, that means that The Year of the Dog started on 29 January and the New Year’s period will end tomorrow, 13 February. There are several great websites that you can find that talk about the different traditions and the symbols of the holiday, but I don’t want to waste any more time before sharing with you the food that some friends and I ate on Friday night in Chinatown in New York City. I brought along my new digital camera so this is a test to see if I can actually use it.

Shrimp in Mayonnaise Sauce w/ Broccoli and Fried Walnuts

I have a friend who is fantastic at hosting big dinners at great restaurants in town. This was her annual Chinese New Year’s get-together. The group is a great mix of everyone Chinese and non- to celebrate, enjoy each other’s company, catch up on each other’s lives, and share some wonderful dishes. I have to say that this year, unlike last, my horoscope was much better so I’m in a great mood for the Year of the Dog. Here’s looking forward to seeing everyone in the Year of the Pig!

Noodles for Long Life

Some of My Cooking Experiences – FB2B, part 3

I can’t even remember the first time I cooked or baked. It has just always seemed like a part of life, almost as natural as breathing. From baking cookies with my mom and younger siblings in the afternoon after school to making pancakes on weekend mornings to throwing dinner parties post-college in my first real apartment, I have just always turned to the warmth of the kitchen for inspiration and fulfillment.

One of my first eating memories is of the pink birthday cake my mother made for me when I was four years old. I’m not sure why she went along with it. Pink was my absolute favorite color as a child. The frosted cake sort of resembled one of those fluffy marshmallow things sold in pairs at gas station convenience stores. I thought it was bee-yoo-ti-ful and very special. I loved it!

There’s a certain fearlessness that I’ve always had, no matter how much of a mess I make, and, believe me, there have been a few. I can’t explain how great of a feeling, the amazing sense of accomplishment, it is to be able to make something I’ve eaten at a restaurant or to master some new skill at the stove. Of course, that doesn’t mean that I’ve always been exactly successful in the kitchen, but I have been willing to try.

My mother, to this day, will bring up how I burned chocolate when I was trying to melt it for some Girl Scout cooking project. The smell was pretty awful, as anyone who has ever done this can tell you. I don’t recommend doing it ever. The reason it had burned was that I had neglected to use a double-boiler and it burned right into the bottom of the sunshine yellow saucepan I was using. Mind you, this was 20-odd years ago, but I still get to hear about it occasionally as though it is another badge – “Kitchen Fiascos” – that I should have earned towards my First Class Scout patch.

Another culinary disaster of mine, which my family is also all too pleased to recall, was the time I over-seasoned a stir-fried rice dish I made when baby-sitting my siblings. To this day, my youngest sister reminds me of “The Ginger Incident” as she likes to call it. She blames me for her dislike of this flavor. “Don’t let her make ginger chicken for you!” is her rallying cry. I swear, if I’m not careful, I can see her lobbying to put that on my tombstone. Just to let her know, if she’s reading this: If you do do that, I will haunt you forever with the scent of ginger trailing behind me.

The Backstory – FB2B, part 2

Perhaps it is best to begin at the beginning before going too far along. Now that I’ve written a bit about food and its impact on my life, maybe it is time to explain why the career shift is so important and why this is such a big deal to do. Why move from Banking to Blogging? Well, for the past several-odd years, I have been working in financial services in New York City. Originally, I began my working life in the field of international relations. A few years after I completed my Master’s Degree, I moved into the world of banking. It will probably not be a surprise to discover that I have worked on the marketing side of the business. I liked the writing, running events, and developing of ideas into strategies.

Having been in New York City when the terrorist attacks occurred in 2001, it is hard for them not to have had an impact on my life. The ability of food to bring together friends and family in a nourishing setting is only a small sliver of the power that cooks and chefs possess. In the aftermath of so much loss and destruction, food also provided the ability to heal and to feed people’s souls. I, myself, hosted several friends who were stranded in the city that night, heating up the handmade lasagna bolognese that I’d made for a party later that week for dinner. In talking to someone who counseled victims of that trauma, she said that this need to create, whether by cooking or other means, acts as a direct counterpoint and provides a sort of balancing factor to the devastation that took place.

So perhaps the move isn’t such a dramatic one, given the major changes that have taken place in my world over the past few years. (Shortly after the attacks, I lost my job as well and was unemployed for quite a while after that.) Cooking has been at the core of who I am for most of my life. I’ve lived in a couple of states and four countries and have traveled to many others. In each locale, I’ve found that the food-culture link is an essential element to my understanding and appreciation of the places I’ve been. I’ve also taken with me a stable of recipes to share with the friends I have met and made there, knowing that food is a basic human need and a fundamental level on which we are all connected. Besides, I have found few individuals who are strong enough to resist the power of a batch of homemade brownies!