FAST FINDS
Tranquil and Frenetic
Imagine yourself on a donkey, climbing a precarious rocky cliff on a Grecian isle, watching chips of rock and pebble fall to the cerulean seas below. You’re nervous yet exhilarated, torn between watching each step of the donkey’s four hooves on the narrow path and gazing…
Read MoreWith a Cherry On Top
It’s officially time to say so long to summer. How did the season go by so quickly? It’s hard to believe that it is time to say goodbye to stone fruits and berries, scorching farmer’s markets and rhubarb, flip flops and sunshine. And cherries. How…
Read MoreIt Gives Me Great Joy
Seventy-five posts ago, I quietly launched Kitchen Confidante. I announced it to friends and family as my “new baby,” and just as any parent would, I nurtured it with love. It is an extension of me, and I am proud of it. And like my…
Read MoreSalsa Partner
I know you’re hoping that I take up video blogging so I can show you some spicy salsa dancing, but I don’t want to be responsible for any breathing or choking problems from people laughing too hard. So, if you saw the title of this…
Read MoreSummer Whites
I spent part of my Labor Day weekend reorganizing my closet. However, I was not prepared to store my summer whites — I don’t subscribe to the antiquated idea of not wearing white after Labor Day. Most style experts will tell you that nowadays, it is…
Read MoreWhich Came First?
The recipe or the ingredient? When I have a concept, it’s usually very clear where I found my inspiration. Sometimes, it’s a recipe that I have or come across. Sometimes, it’s an ingredient. But once in a while, it’s not very clear. Sometimes, it’s just…
Read MoreLighten Up
Like many consumers, all it takes is for the media to circulate words such as outbreak, recall and salmonella to influence me to look at food with a suspicious eye. With the recent salmonella outbreak in over half a billion eggs recalled from farms in…
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A Taste of Two Cities
Ten years ago, on a chilly late August evening, my husband and I were in a car, suitcases and a cat in tow, zipping across the Golden Gate Bridge. Moments earlier, our plane had touched down at SFO, and we were weary yet excited. We…
Read MoreSF Chefs 2010: The Future of Food Media
Apart from the gustatorial explorations at SF Chefs 2010, there were, as I mentioned in my last post, a myriad of demonstrations and industry seminars. You could learn everything from butchering a whole pig to the art of hospitality and fine service. I was given…
Read MoreSF Chefs 2010
If you live outside the Bay Area and you’ve been following this blog, you may think that San Francisco foodies spend a lot of time at tastings and fabulous food and wine events. Well, for the month of August, that is quite possible. The truth…
Read MoreTrust the Gaucho | Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce
The Argentines know beef. You just have to trust centuries of gaucho experience. Long before I had a passion for cooking, and even before I understood completely the culinary adventure my parents had taken us on as children on family vacations around the globe, I…
Read MoreTaste of the Nation Napa Valley
In cities all across the country, there is a unique collaboration underway to end childhood hunger. Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation brings together the nation’s culinary leaders and an army of dedicated volunteers to create spectacular benefits highlighting local top chefs, wineries, and…
Read MoreAcquaintance
When you are introduced to someone for the first time, that initial encounter can generate a very strong first impression. Whether you are meeting them blindly or through someone else, it is ultimately your judgement, your senses, that create that estimation. Spend a little time…
Read MoreAlready Perfect
I am forever tinkering with recipes. There are recipes that beg to be improvised, others that stand to be improved, and of course, those that are being developed. But once in a while, you come across a recipe that is already perfect. You know it…
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