Five Years after Katrina- Hungry Town and Red Beans and Rice
Reading Tom Fitzmorris’s Hungry Town, and making Red Beans and Rice 5 years after Katrina’s wake flooded New Orleans
read moreThe Joy of Baking- Part 2 (a Great Almond Pound Cake Recipe)
This cake- an almond pound cake- is a wonderful, but not often seen variation on the classic.
read moreThe Joy of Baking-Part 1 (and Ganache Cookie Recipe)
Baking teaches patience, and that I must follow a process to achieve a specific result. And while there is an instant gratification component to it, no matter how much I perfect my baking skills, there are still variables which I can’t always control.
read moreLunch at The Enchantment Resort- an enchanting experience indeed
A sumptuous late lunch at the aptly named The Enchantment Resort in Sedona, Arizona and recipe for Slow Braised Short Ribs.
read moreCreate a Cool Cocktail for Your Party- My Best Sangria
This tasty Sangria is an addictive cool drink for the summer heat
read moreDinner at The Phoenician and Jean-Georges Tuna Tartare Recipe
A progressive dinner at The Phoenician in Phoenix, Arizona and and the recipe for Jean Georges Vongerichten’s mouth watering Tuna Tartare served at the J & G Steakhouse there.
read moreTapas and Paella for a Milestone Birthday Party
Tapas with Paella – great menu for a special occasion party.
read moreWelcome to Phoenix
Everyone needs a little getaway every once in a while. A change of scenery, even for a few days, does wonders to rejuvenate the spirits, so off I went to Phoenix (only an hour and 15 minute plane ride away) last week for a little R &R. In discussing the trip afterwards with my Uncle, he said Phoenix feels like the Los Angeles of 40 years ago, and that describes it perfectly. While it’s spread over a very large area, there’s a slower, more relaxed pace- no traffic jammed streets, or parking lots masquerading as freeways. “Is this typical for rush hour? ” I incredulously asked our tour guide as she took through the downtown area at around 4:45 or so in the afternoon. Her response-the citizens there have readily adopted public transit with the launching of the Metro light rail system unveiled only a year and a half ago. The response by locals greatly exceeded expectations- the Metro carried as many riders in their first month, as they were projected to carry in their first year, our tour guide told us. Are you listening L.A.? Anglo American, Native American (there are over 21 federally recognized tribes) and Mexican cultures coexist peacefully mostly (that’s despite some controversial political issues you may have heard about recently), and it’s reflected in the life of the city. I stayed at a couple of Phoenix’s best resorts. When I told my cousin Adele I’d be staying at The Phoenician, she asked excitedly “You’re staying at the Phoenician?” Yep (didn’t I just say that…)- and yes, Adele would be all excited about the Phoenician. She’s the type who loves being in the water and lying around the pool, and The Phoenician has quite a spectacular network of pools. I’m not that type, so I fell in love with the other great resort -The Arizona Biltmore. When I walked into my room at Ocatilla at The Arizona Biltmore (the little resort within the resort), I just felt like crying with joy. The Frank Lloyd Wright inspired decor, the Mission style furnishings upholstered in rust colored leather, that little vignette of a truffle filled chocolate box (complete with the imprint of the blocks used to build the Biltmore), fresh fruit on a rectangular glass platter, and a folded linen napkin on the glass topped, iron legged round coffee table- well, I was ready to exhale, if you know what I mean. I haven’t seen a chocolate box since the days right after my graduation from pastry school when I was ambitious, and made a few of them. BTW, the truffles were yummy, too, although there was so much great food on the trip, I didn’t even get to them until I returned home. Check back over the next couple of weeks. I’ll be sharing more about the Biltmore, and some of the great restaurants I dined at (sort of a eating tour of Phoenix- isn’t that a great way to get to know a city?), along with a couple other great places worth a mention. Okay-this is my not so good shot of the chocolate and fruit vignette in my room at Ocatilla, but trust me, it was a beautiful thing. There'll be more about the Biltmore in later posts. The beautiful little desk area in...
read more1-2-3-4 Cake
The basic recipe for 1-2-3-4 cake is 1 cup of butter, 2 cups of sugar, 3 cups of flour and 4 eggs, with enough milk to make the batter pourable. Repeat this basic formula like a mantra, committing it to your memory, and you will never be at a loss for a cake recipe at the spur of the moment.
read moreA different perspective on the Gulf disaster-an interview with Poppy Tooker
I was very fortunate today, to be able to have a conversation with Poppy Tooker, head of Slow Food New Orleans, host of the PBS television show Eat it to Save It and the newly launched Louisiana Eats radio show on WWNO, the National Public Radio station in New Orleans, and avid fisherwoman whose own fishing camp on the Gulf coast is now, sadly, surrounded by oil. It was an especially timely interview, as just a couple of days ago P&J Oysters, a 134 year old family owned business announced that they would be shutting down their oyster shucking division, as there are not enough Gulf oysters to shuck. An aside here, as a child I remember my parents shopping for jars of P&J Oysters along Jefferson Avenue, the shopping outpost of expatriate New Orleanians in Los Angeles. Oysters always made an appearance in our turkey dressing at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and my family’s ground beef and oyster dressing remains my favorite to this day. One year, my mother for some reason, was unable to get P&J Oysters, and used California oysters instead. Upon tasting she promptly declared these California oysters “nasty”, and said they “ruined her dressing.” Poppy said she could not say definitively at this time, what the future of P&J would be. “They are ruminating about importing oysters, wondering if there will be an immediate future as a boutique oyster supplier.” What do you mean by that, I asked. “Importing oysters from the East and West Coasts”, she responded. Poppy offered perspectives that may differ from those of many of us in other parts of the country who join her in the outrage we feel over the BP Gulf oil spill. Her energy level rose as she talked of “overzealous people who say this is the last time we should be eating animals from the Gulf, or that we should be eating a vegan diet," referring to comments on a story posted at www.Grist.org. “All of our shrimpers use the bycatch (including crabs, squid)-things that we eat, and they use very sophisticated technology and bycatch reduction devices.” “In most cases, these businesses are multi-generational family businesses. Some of the oyster beds have been maintained for over 100 years.” She told me the story of an oyster man named Wilbert Collins. “This man went to work as a deck hand when he was very young. His father took over the business from his grandfather, and he took it over from his father, and now his sons…” her voice trailed off. “He has a sixth grade education. What will he do? And like he says, ‘this will be tied up in the courts ‘til I’m dead.’" When I asked her what she had to say to people across the country, she passionately urged people to buy and eat wild Gulf seafood, if it’s available. “You’re helping a family put a meal on their table. You’re helping them make a payment on boats they had to retool after Katrina. She also had a different perspective to offer when I asked about the controversy brewing regarding the moratorium President Obama has enacted on deep water drilling. “It’ll be the final blow if it goes on for 6 months. It would be one thing if we knew they were phasing...
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