Category: Food and Drink

  • Red-Blooded Australian

    It is a drear thought that if you can remember the Pudding Shop on the north side of Divan Yolu in Istanbul you must be well into middle age. “Those were the days, my friend,” the Seekers sang, “We thought they’d never end, we would be young for ever and a day.” As the Roman…

  • The Hulk in the Kitchen

    Right beneath our noses, an underground clutch of vintage appliance enthusiasts is quietly buying up all of the redeemable old stoves and classic refrigerators. To the uninitiated, it looks like a hobby, not unlike repairing and collecting classic cars. But some of the new converts to the vintage appliance game aren’t buying them because they…

  • New Pleasure from Old Recipes

    I had a German grandmother who could cook, but she lived in Michigan. During our summer and holiday visits, this silly American girl didn’t know how to appreciate her cooking. I thought meat wrapped in pancake was weird and wondered why the potato salad was pink. When I finally realized what I could have learned,…

  • Apple Dreams

    I have an apple tree in my yard. This astonishing discovery came only a short while ago. We’ve lived here for six years. This tree sits in the back corner of the yard and has never been pretty or fragrant or useful in any way. Too low for a good climb, too spindly for a…

  • My Name is Tomato

    Heirloom Tomato Names That I Fancy Green Zebra Hillbilly Mortgage Lifter Mr. Stripey Cosmonaut Volkov Isis Candy Jaune Flamme Ivory Egg Stump of the World Tappy’s Finest Wapsipinicon Peach Blondkopchen Bloody Butcher Dingwall Scotty Hank Purple Calabash

  • Fresh

    The problem with blazing through life with eyes strictly forward, is that often I forget to reconnect to people with whom I’ve shared good days. Life takes work, and sometimes there doesn’t seem to be enough time or energy to reboil old friendships. And then there’s the fear that the connection leads only to a…