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Battle of the Spinach Balls

Gray smudges of cloud moved back in on Saturday, shedding brief raindrops, but for a change I didn’t mind. I reveled instead in a lush landscape that filled the near distance. Everywhere was green. Green new leaves with crisp new veining. Rich green grass that overtook the moss while we weren’t looking. Our back yard […]

Grilled Lamb Kebabs with Homemade Greek Pitas

My son the meatatarian and I often connect over a good skewer of lamb which is grilled over hot coals until barely red in the middle. In Greece they might call this souvlaki, but in Turkey, where my skewers came from, all grilled meat like this is called kebab. Soaked in oil and spices for […]

Catcher in the Rye Bread

I was trying to shut out the buzz at the table when I realized my dad was talking to me. Just to humor him I listened to his dumb old story about going to a deli about a hundred years ago. They probably had cool things like cars with big fins and transistor radios and […]

Woodfired Eccles Cakes

Eccles Cakes (really more of a pastry to us Americans) are savory treats filled with currants that are delicately spiced with nutmeg and allspice. Once you’ve had one, you’re hooked! The flavor combination is the quintessential accompaniment to tea for many an Englishman and Englishwoman. Sprung from the unlikely industrial town of Eccles, west of […]

Sandwich Spectacular: Paesano’s and Sesame Seeded Sandwich Rolls

The guy in the light blue tee shirt darted around Paesano’s with the quick assurance of a fellow who had things to do. Slipping from behind the sandwich window he wiped his hands, pirouetted on the shiny tiles, landed at the edge of our table and raised his pad. He held his pen in the […]

Hot and Smoky Red Beans and rice

I’ve never been to New Orleans, but my first Seattle roommate was a recent transplant who plunged me headfirst into its culture. With rabid enthusiasm he’d leap out of his chair, yank the needle off whatever album was playing at the time, and plop another record in its place.

‘You’ve never heard The Wild Tchoupitoulas?’ […]

Old World Alpine Loaves

Southeast of Grenoble the D1091 climbs quickly into the forest of Rioupéroux, on the western slopes of the French Alps. Called alternately the Route de l’Oisans or the Route des Alpes, the road is a notorious feature of the Tour du France and – as any avid cyclist will tell you – a real bugger […]

Seattle Smoked Country Style Ribs

One sweet side effect of Seattle’s indistinct seasons is that there’s never a wrong time to barbecue. An old-timer brought it home to me some years ago:

Smokey Joe portable kettle barbecue

‘You’re doing what?’ I asked incredulously.

‘I’m gonna barbecue me up some re-ibs’. His accent was fake but the big […]

Roman Style Sandwich Rolls

The rain cleaned the cobbles in the night, giving way to a fresh mist which hung lightly over the slow-moving Tiber. A man with the only gas-powered leaf blower we’d ever seen in Italy blew damp leaves down the stairway beside the Ponte Mazzini, rousing the sleeping gypsies who live under the bridge. As we […]

Peri Peri Chicken

If I didn’t know for sure, I’d have said that the English cousins were fading. In the wan light of the massively scaffolded hulk of Victoria Station, being retrofitted high above the comings and goings of the kingdom’s masses, I thought I saw them – just for a second – struggle to keep their young […]

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Etiam pulvinar consectetur dolor sed malesuada. Ut convallis euismod dolor nec pretium. Nunc ut tristique massa.

Nam sodales mi vitae dolor ullamcorper et vulputate enim accumsan. Morbi orci magna, tincidunt vitae molestie nec, molestie at mi. Nulla nulla lorem, suscipit in posuere in, interdum non magna.