I like all things pickled. Pickled peppers, pickled ramps, pickled... things.Sorry. I'm not feeling very eloquent today. I just read a lot of legal jargon and it fried my brain and my eyes are blurry. I can barely see this screen. I'm waiting for things to return to normal... which isn't necessarily eloquent either, but…
Last night I dreamt about rhubarb. What does that mean?I took it as a sign that I should show you how to make my favorite pie. Any dream interpreters out there can speak now or forever hold your peace.Anyone?Great! Pie it is.Once upon a time there was someone named "The Pie Lady" in my hometown.…
A few weeks ago I rendered some duck fat.And then I rendered some pig fat.And it was good.Whenever you render fat, you're left over with something we call "cracklin'." It's an automatically southern word. Don't bother putting a proper -ing on the end of it, you're wasting your time. It's cracklin'.The first time I heard…
I’m 34,000 feet in the sky again. I seem to be up here a lot. I’m hoping to have a lull again this summer before I embark on a whole new book that I’m about to write, which will require travel which means many more posts from up here. Did I tell you about the…
I have a custard addiction.And I recently discovered that custard is socially acceptable to eat at breakfast. I don't know why it took so long to find this out. I haven't had enough exposure to doughnuts I think.So I immediately made lemon curd. And after I spooned it into the jar, I licked every last…
It's entirely possible I've lost my mind. But I prefer to call it investigative blogging. It has a better ring to it.I was talking to Grandma Pellegrini the other day about Easter, and food, and food, and Easter, and she started telling me about these jello eggs she used to make."Wait, what?!?!" I replied very…
I'm 1/8 Irish.I couldn't let St. Patrick's Day go by without a nod. It is beloved by so many after all. It's a passport to drink a month's worth of beer in one day. And to wear buttons demanding to be kissed.But I can't say it's a holiday that celebrates my favorite foods.I thought about…
Chicken breasts are hard to get right. Chicken tenders though... well that's a different matter altogether. A lot of protein tastes better when it's cooked low and slow. You can still get the brown crusty outside if you play with the fire...These are perfect for you Super Bowl watchers this weekend.You know who you are.…
Grandma Pellegrini has these faintly pink glass bowls in her house. She's had them since the 1930's. She and her sister (my great-aunt) lived together in New York City when they were working girls.I like that she still has them.She served me a pudding in them that I would like to tell you about, because…