We have all been brought up on stories from the "Panhandle," the northern part of Texas that is truly the shape and just as flat as the handle of an old pot iron skillet. Perhaps the most famous tale is the myth that in winter there is nothing between Amarillo and the North Pole but…
Having come so close to losing everything, I am freed now of all fear, hesitation, and timidity, and, once revived, intend to devoutly wander the earth, imbibing, smelling, sampling, loving whomever I please; touching, tasting, standing very still among the beautiful things of this world, such, for example: a sleeping dog dream-kicking in a tree-shade…
This isn't the post I thought I'd be writing this weekend. Really, in a way, this isn't a post that I thought I'd ever be writing unless I somehow managed--miraculously, amazingly, brilliantly--to concoct the cocktail of my dreams. But believe me when I say that I've found it. It's a Peanut Torito: peanut butter and…
Tonight the Great Pumpkin will rise out of the pumpkin patch. He flies through the air and brings toys to all the children of the world. -Charles Schulz (It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown) Every year when pumpkins begin appearing at the markets, I go a little crazy--a good kind of crazy. I can't really…
As we cooked our way through that stack, I discovered interesting shiftsin the way Times readers have approached food. Desserts experienced a major renaissance during the 1970s, as the writers served up ambitious cakes, extraordinarily sweet American pies, and a novel concept called the French tart. Pastry chefs then cut back on the sugar and…
We think we know the ones we love. Our husbands, our wives. We know them--we are them, sometimes; when separated at a party we find ourselves voicing their opinions, their taste in food or books, telling an anecdote that never happened to us but happened to them. We watch their tics of conversation, of driving…
Go hang yourself, you old M.D.! You shall not sneer at me. Pick up your hat and stethoscope, Go wash your mouth with laundry soap; I contemplate a joy exquisite, I'm not paying you for your visit. I did not call you to be told, My malady is a common cold.By pounding brow and swollen lip; By fever's hot and scaly grip;…
I have no recipe for you today, nor do I have a quote. It's just me ("my naked words") and pictures of food. You see, I've long been thinking that, with the return of school, teaching yet another class (my sixth!), the study of Greek and my old friend, The Dissertation, my fall blog posting…
Take care of luxuries and the necessities will take care of themselves. -Dorothy Parker Recently, there's been a lot of luxury, but I'm not quite sure the necessities have managed to iron themselves out. For the past week I've been on auto-pilot, producing not one or even two, but no less than four desserts. Yes,…
Food for pleasure, and not just nourishment, is best cooked in one's own kitchen and eaten with the feet under one's own table.-Nicolas Freeling (The Kitchen Book)While the meal I'm about to share was not prepared in my own kitchen, I think it's safe to say that Mr. Freeling would nevertheless have approved of how…
Dining with Dostoevsky 