I woke up this morning to discover that the United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union. It’s a shocking result, that leaves me feeling like the whole world has gone utterly mad. Even as an American, I’ve been able to enjoy the benefits of open borders between EU countries in my travels and …
Dessert
I recently watched the first episode of the new season of Netflix’s excellent documentary series Chef’s Table. It focused on Grant Achatz, the highly acclaimed chef behind Chicago’s own Alinea, Next, The Aviary, and Roister. It was a compelling episode, in part because it is so satisfying to watch a person doing what he so clearly should be …
Spring has, at long last, sprung. The tree outside the living room window is in full leaf. The neighborhood is dotted with colorful blooms. The farmers markets have opened. On a damp, foggy Wednesday morning, I loaded up on asparagus and spring onions and French breakfast radishes and pastured eggs from some of my favorite …
I’ve been slow to get into the holiday spirit this winter. I’ve tried. I watched the charming A Very Murray Christmas on Netflix. I’ve listened to some of my favorite holiday music—Vince Guaraldi, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York,” The Pretenders’ “2000 Miles,” Joni Mitchell’s “River”—and none of it has quite …
I was hoping to bake these orange cardamom snowflake cookies last week, because they are seriously some of my favorite cookies of all time and I wanted to share them with you in time to add them to your holiday baking list. But I couldn’t. My refrigerator was out of commision for 5 long days …
We’ve reached an odd place with pumpkin-spice flavored products. It’s a flavor that’s become absurdly ubiquitous during the months of October and November. It’s not just the notorious Starbucks’ lattes, but also the Pringles and the beef jerky and the Peeps. Clearly, the flavor is popular, but it has also become, in recent years, a perennial object …