If one wants evidence that cooking is an alchemical process, one need look no further than this rich, savory puddle of a gratin that once was a head of savoy cabbage. Savoy is the frilly, ruffled member of the cabbage family. Its leaves are more tender than green or red cabbage, and its flavor is milder and …
Winter
It’s been a busy month for us. Our suitcases have gotten a workout. We moved and began to unpack. Two weeks later we packed our bags and headed to Vegas where Dan was attending a conference. Then we got home on Friday afternoon, hastily dumped the contents of our bags on the floor unpacked and …
It turned cold with a vengeance here last week. My heart went out to the hardy trick-or-treaters who braved the wind, rain, snow flurries, and hail last Friday night. It’s been getting dark earlier. In the subsequent days the temperatures have rebounded a bit but it’s been cloudy and overcast. Our new place has windows …
It’s happy hour, which means it is time to talk about cocktails. Today we have the Martinez. This particular cocktail is one of my standbys. The Martinez is an old drink, a predecessor to the familiar Martini, made with Old Tom gin, a style of gin popular in the 19th century that predates the London …
For much of my life, I was largely indifferent to cauliflower. It was something I might pick from a veggie tray if the carrots and cucumbers were gone. Raw, it was Bunnicula’s broccoli, sort of crunchy and faintly bitter. It was, I guess, okay. I felt similarly about steamed cauliflower. It was milder and softer. It was fine. …
It’s less than two weeks until we become homeowners. It’s exciting, but it’s the sort of thing I can’t really wrap my mind around. We’ve found people to take over our lease, we’re changing our address with utilities and service providers and magazine subscriptions, and we’ve hired movers. Our apartment has entered the phase of …