Cooking at Home: Caramel Corn

This is an old friend I hadn’t visited with for some time. The subject of caramel corn came up in a recent conversation and it set me on a nostalgic trip back to when I used to cook up batches of the stuff at home. So I dug out this yellowed, stained recipe from my [...]

In My Kitchen: Tools

Not long ago, a friend emailed asking for some input on knives for his kitchen. He wasn’t happy with the last set that he’d bought and wanted to know what brand I might recommend for replacements. I suddenly felt that my “serious foodie” façade might crumble around me. I didn’t have a succinct answer, couldn’t rattle [...]

My National TV Debut

That may be a stretch. It’s not like I have a permanent gig or anything, but this is a change from the more regional snippets I’ve done for television in the past. I’ve got a small supporting role in episide 33 “The Inventors,” part of the second season of Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie, which airs on many [...]

Wine Pairing, Made Simple

I’m trying to keep an open mind about this….. I got a press release this morning about a new line of wines called Wines That Love™.  It sounds a bit odd at first, but read that as “Wines That Love [fill in the blank].” And you can fill in that blank with Pizza, Roasted Chicken, [...]

A Food Life List

At the culinary professional conference I attended in New Orleans a few weeks ago, one of the most engaging and inspiring workshops I attended was called “Framing the Farmer: A Food Life List, Ten Food Experiences Before I Die.” The farmer in question was the eloquent, insightful, soulful Mas Masumoto-author of Epitaph for a Peach: [...]

I Scream, You Scream

Ok, it wasn’t really ice cream. It was amazing, rich, dense, creamy gelato that drew me downtown one early evening last week.
My friend Maria Coassin, who opened Gelatiamo in 1996 (my how the time flies!) was celebrating a recent remodel of her small, bright space at the bustling corner of Third and Union in Seattle. As [...]