Biscuits and vegetarian gravy, with apologies
I’m a breakfast purist. Even if, like yesterday, I’m not up and out of bed until noon, I’m having breakfast for my first meal of the day. No cold pizza or soggy leftover bullshit. Breakfast is way too good to miss out on. I also have strict ideas about what breakfast should be. For example, … Continue reading
Beefy forearms and emulsions
I don’t know about you, but I almost don’t eat a sandwich without a nice layer of mayo between the bread and whatever is in the middle. (Unless what’s in the middle is peanut butter, because that would be gross.) Now mayonnaise is terribly easy to buy in the store, and I’m even pretty satisfied … Continue reading
On snacking
When I lived in Boston, most of my paycheck went to rent my drafty, crooked-floored apartment, and the rest went to food. And alcohol, if I’m being truthful. I didn’t have a car, so I only bought as many groceries as I could carry. That meant there was no room (or money) for me to … Continue reading
My own private food desert
Let me be clear that the title of this article is meant to be an exaggeration — by car, I live a very comfortable two or three minutes from a well-stocked grocery store with plenty of produce and a somewhat self-involved organic food section. (I’m down with organic foods, but this place is set up … Continue reading
How not to eat at AWP 2012
This week I’m flying to the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference in Chicago (a conference for writers, teachers, and book nerds of all varieties). It’s the first year I don’t have to sit at a table and force flyers into writers’ unwilling hands or present a paper that I’m only 20% sure … Continue reading
Up in my grill
The panini is the worst thing to happen to the sandwich since the invention of fat-free mayonnaise. Too often it’s a way to disguise a lousy sandwich on cheap bread by adding a couple of grill lines. The fillings are still lousy, the cheese barely melted, and the bread tastes flat and stale. A squished, … Continue reading
Valentine’s day: Double rainbow coconut cupcakes
I’ve never cared much about Valentine’s Day, one way or the other. I don’t moon over a romantic evening or loudly proclaim that it’s some corporate bullshit designed to play on our tender emotions in order to get us to buy diamonds and chocolate. I’d rather get worked up over something important, like getting blue-shelled … Continue reading
Oven pancakes
I’m a big fan of breakfast. I eat it early, I eat it late, and just about once a week, I even eat it for dinner. Thus I was happy to discover a few weeks ago that one of my favorite breakfast chains, The Original Pancake House, has a restaurant just down the road. Unlike … Continue reading
Finding order in kitchen chaos
Everyone has their own way of finding order. Maybe you wash your hands until they are cracked to keep from catching something. Maybe you vacuum the entire house every day. Maybe you fold your underwear and sort them by color. Maybe you organize your books by size. Each is a way to find order and … Continue reading
A supposedly successful experiment that I’ll never repeat
I love delivery. Not only does it speak to my eternal laziness, but it makes me feel connected. It’s like getting mail, only faster and thus better. And so often, the things that one can get delivered are the great guilty pleasures — pizza, cupcakes, inexpensive Chinese food. And now, apparently, Burger King. Shortly after … Continue reading
