http://youtu.be/NXxiZHnw_MU So there was “New Girl” goofball Zooey Deschanel slagging Thanksgiving dinner on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” the other night. Zooey, who Kimmel said “radiates rainbows, unicorns and multi-colored Tootsie Rolls in everything she does,” isn’t a fan of turkey, stuffing or Grandma’s pumpkin pie because they are not aesthetically pleasing. Oh, really? Do tell Zooey. “Most of […]
My girl, Paige, and I judged a benefit holiday gingerbread competition yesterday at the Boston Christmas Festival at the Seaport World Trade Center. And I don’t know who was more wide-eyed when perusing the yuletide confections. My 4-year-old partner, decked for the task with her name badge and clipboard, loved all the free cookies and […]
As a history buff and food lover, chef Will Gilson’s Puritan & Company in Cambridge is my new happy place. First off, it’s located in a building that housed the Puritan Cake Company‘s bakery from the 1930s to the 1950s. So, it feeds into my need to honor the past. And Puritan’s eclectic menu pays […]
High concept desserts may make people oooh, aaah and Instagram, but it’s the old school goodies that get gobbled up with glee. Case in point: Mrs. Lamb’s Apple Cake. I dug into my faded, hand-written recipe book the other day when I needed a fourth offering for our refreshments table at the Westport Historical Society’s […]
I’m a fan of East London baker Claire Ptak, the owner of Violet, a bakery in Hackney. I’ve never eaten any of her pastry; never made a pilgrimage to her shop. But I do follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. So, you know, it’s like we’re besties. A few posts ago, Claire – a […]
The French film “Haute Cuisine” isn’t about haute cuisine at all. In fact, just the opposite. When I mentioned that little observation to the film’s real-life subject Danièle Mazet-Delpeuch — the farmhouse cook plucked from the Dordogne to serve as French President Francois Mitterrand’s personal chef — she roared with laughter. “It is certainly not,” […]
I’ve judged dozens of contests in my day. Whether it was choosing readers’ best Christmas cookies, the hunkiest bachelor or crowning that year’s “Boston Pride Idol,” it was always serious business for me. Of course, I also got a chance to be on the other side of the judges’ table as a contestant on the […]
Faced with a 3-pound bag of short-grained rice, a few half gallons of milk, 2 quarts of heavy cream and lots of leftover candied citrus peel, I got back in the rice pudding game. I admit I was a little stove-shy after last week’s rice dessert debacle (see previous blog post). But I couldn’t possibly […]
Who leaves a three-month bakery apprenticeship and just days later feels confident enough to bake for 400 people? Of course, that would be me. Full disclosure: I never baked anything at Flour Bakery + Cafe during my tenure. They don’t let the interns near the ovens except for toasting nuts, which I did many times […]
I love going to Tanglewood. It really doesn’t matter who is playing at the western Mass. summer home of the Boston Symphony — although I have a thang for violinist Joshua Bell. It’s all about the picnic on the lawn. Now, this isn’t tailgating. No one throws open the trunk of the Prius, pitches a […]