Ben’s sister gave birth to a lovely little Spanish-American monkey of a boy two days ago, at least as far as we could tell from the blissed-out sound of her voice and the blurry images of an adorable wee baby face on the webcam. We’re counting the days (hours! minutes!) until we get to snuggle…

Let me indulge in some gentle proselytizing today, yes? I’ve just come home laden with plastic bags and I’m feeling chatty. Have a look at the collection of fruits and vegetables that I picked up today from my CSA drop-off point at a church here in Queens. We’ve got a bundle of sweet carrots, a…

Isn’t that the cutest little globe you ever did see? (Muir Glen tomato can standing there for size comparison.) I found it this morning at the Brooklyn Flea and have decided it is already my most favorite possession. I might snuggle with it tonight, in bed. Little globe! I think I love you. Okay! Moving…

Adam, the intrepid Amateur Gourmet, rustled up a few of us for a little discussion on food blogging the other day. If you’re interested in starting your own food blog or just want to see me talk with my hands (grandfather in grave, rolling over), have a look!

Uh… Food mill, bread knife – wha? Instead I came home with: 1. A baking sheet to replace the wonky, floppy one I never use because I hate it.2. A little peeler to simulate a mandoline (I saw Jamie Oliver do it).3. A magnetic knife rack because we have all of our knives lying on…

In a few weeks, I’ll be flying to New Orleans for IACP. I don’t have much time while there to explore, but something tells me that a few of you might have strong opinions about where to go and what to do while in New Orleans, even with limited time. Hmm? Go on, tell me.…

At the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, I was transfixed by the mountainous piles of dates I saw, lustrous, dark, and sticky. To be sure, we’d seen dates wherever we went in Israel, but the ones at that market seemed particularly glossy and fragrant, just itching to be bought. They bewitched me in the end.…

No clues from me… Leave your guess in the comments!

On our flight back from Israel, I started thinking about keeping a list of life goals. You know, drive the Ring Road, take a tango class in Buenos Aires, learn Arabic, that kind of thing. Then I saw Maggie’s lists and thought it might be nice to share mine with you. So I narrowed my…

Through some stroke of incredible good fortune (or plain dumb luck), I seem to have been blessed with a super-fancy account upgrade (free of charge!) over at Typepad. God only knows what possessed them (something about me being dedicated and -er- influential, my heavens), but before they come to their senses and take all the…