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Wow. WOW. WOW!

Every once in a while, a wine is everything one expects. And, rarely, it is even more. Well, last night, Paul Draper made me a very happy man. He has been making Ridge wines for more than 40 years, and I have been drinking them for about 30 of those. He knows what he is doing, Read more »

Filed under: Food, Wine | 1 Comment »

I got an e-mail recently from a friend who berated me for not writing about the excellent produce season. While I am not the biggest fan of fruits and vegetables as anything other than a supporting cast to the lead actor: meat, I love tomatoes. But not those silly ersatz tomatoes from the supermarket. I mean those glorious, sweet, juicy intensely flavored beasts that show up occasionally in farmers markets and vegetable stands. But this year, while certainly better than last year’s awfulness, was not noteworthy. We had some good, and a few excellent batches, but I haven’t had a truly great tomato in several years. What has happened?

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I have to give her credit — she knows her stuff. How to cook a potato is not something that I have worried about in a very long time, but I noticed a different technique in one of Ina’s recipes for potato salad. Instead of boiling the little buggers Read more »

Filed under: Food | No Comments »

I was bullied by another blogger into trying to make pizza in the privacy of my own kitchen. And…my lovely wife suggested it too, so I was stuck. And you know what? While it isn’t easy, it is certainly not difficult. Oh, I had a few missteps — among them a large quantity of melted mozzarella dripping onto the floor of my oven and a pizza stone that cracked in half after three uses. But the end result is that I can make a very nice pizza, with fresh ingredients I choose, without any trouble. I have no particular skill or special technique. For that you should do your research on-line or talk to someone who has done it before. In fact, it has become clear that this post is content free, other than the photo of my lunch!

Filed under: Food | 3 Comments »

We spent a few lovely days on the Eastern shore of the Chesapeake (more anon about the food) and I was struck by the radical differences in the laws governing the sale of liquor. In my fair state, liquor licenses are granted based on population: about Read more »

Filed under: Politics | 1 Comment »

Filed under: Food | 1 Comment »

So the UN wants us to replace our current protein sources with insect and other invertebrate protein. Okay, but oh, about 30 years ago, I tried, and it was a resounding failure. In my student housing lived a grad student in entomology named Doug Whitman. He was of the opinion Read more »

Filed under: Food, Politics | 4 Comments »

Harold McGee is no slouch when it comes to the science of cooking and the chemistry of food. He wrote what many consider to be the source for accessible information on the science behind cooking and food, unsurprisingly called On Food And Cooking. He also writes Read more »

Filed under: Drinks, Food | 4 Comments »

Read part 1 here.

…I saw the plan clearly. She lures people from across the street by carefully leaving open a door to her very interesting prep kitchen, and when they wander in, she immobilizes them with cheerful banter about food. When they are relaxed and unable to defend themselves, she pounces! We were being forced Read more »

Filed under: Food, Restaurants | No Comments »