Archive for the 'new food' Category
Some traditions really are just for grown-ups
January 6th, 2009by Lisa
A few weeks before Christmas, I found a recipe for caffe con correto con panna in La Cucina Italiana, one of my favorite food magazines. Basically, this translates to liquor-spiked coffee with chocolate and sweetened cream. I bought a bottle of Frangelico, which I had hitherto assumed was for people who liked drinks involving [...]
Christmas Eve, A Backwards Glance
January 6th, 2009by Lisa
I’m not sure how or why our tradition of fish on Christmas Eve began, but its roots stretch back to my childhood, when we celebrated with close friends. When it was my mother’s turn to host, she very often made a really delicious shrimp and rigatoni dish, accented with tomatoes and feta cheese. Those [...]
The Great Pumpkin
December 9th, 2008by Lisa
Halloween and Thanksgiving are long past, but today, some beast grabbed me and urged me to cut into the Galeux d’Eysines pumpkin I purchased in October. It was a gorgeous pale pink, and covered in sugar warts. It was gnarly, ugly and completely fascinating.
It was easy to cut, as far as pumpkins go but [...]
Peppers, The Prequel
November 7th, 2008By Lisa
The padrone-eating incident (now updated with pictures) was not without precedent.
One of our family staples, especially when it’s high pepper season, is dish of roasted red peppers bathed in olive oil, with capers, garlic, and anchovies.
Before you stop reading at “anchovy,” please consider this: a mysterious alchemy occurs when the peppers meet anchovies and [...]
Some Like ‘em Hot, a Pepper Conundrum
November 6th, 2008By Lisa
Most of the time, we want our kids to eat what we eat, right? And most of the time, we work really hard to get them to eat what we put on the table, right?
It’s been our general philosophy that the kids eat what we eat. End of story. In our home, this has [...]
What We Found at Home
September 9th, 2008posted by Caroline
I didn’t know what to expect when we got home from France. Usually we leave the house empty for a week or so, and a friend often thoughtfully stocks our fridge with milk and bread and eggs, maybe some fresh fruit, for our return. But this time, we were gone much longer and [...]
Unfamiliar Waters
August 25th, 2008posted by Caroline
After a week in Paris, we headed south for a week unlike any we’d ever experienced (or likely will again). To celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, my parents gathered our family on a barge that toured rivers and canals in the south of France. We were the only passengers, cared for by a [...]
Yes, We have no banana blooms…
August 19th, 2008posted by Lisa
…a story in pictures about desire lost and found.
Week 2 at the Koloa Sunshine Market, we came for the regular things: greens, radishes, mountain spinach, tomatoes, fiddlehead ferns, mountain apples, and a back breaking assortment of mangoes, papayas, pineapples, passion fruit, apple bananas. Everything was rough and beautiful as always, and Ella and [...]
What (not) to do in restaurants
August 10th, 2008posted by Lisa
We love Plantation Gardens, where we stayed last year for a week. The condo was extremely pleasant, but the real revelation were the grounds and the restaurant, which is one of the best places we’ve found to eat out on the south shore of Kauai.
The Moir gardens, which border the restaurant are [...]
Star Light, Star Bright…
August 4th, 2008posted by Lisa
Kauai is supremely different from Northern California: climate, pace, vegetation, wildlife (yes, there was dinner among the geckos, and the frogs).
And I realized this year, that one of the most valuable things about our time here is the cultural difference. It’s not simply that we all slow down and spend lots of time [...]