I love my wok. I really love it. I’ve just never actually used it. Until today, it resided, still in its box, in the hall closet. Sam and I would roll in, stuffed, happy, and inspired after a visit to Chinatown. “We really need to season that wok,” one of us would say. “Is it […]

I came to a screeching halt in front of the seafood counter. The fishmonger at my local Whole Foods carefully tipped out the last of his ravishingly pink treasure behind the sign that said “Native Maine shrimp. $3.99/pound” and stood back to admire his handiwork. Our conversation—equal parts, “They’ll all be gone by 2 o’clock […]

I’m pigged out, which is not the same as pigging out. I’m bored with beef. I do not want to see any more turkey for a while, although a fragrant bowl of homemade turkey stock, thick with orzo or tiny pasta stars, does not count. A juicy roast chicken will always have its place, but still. […]

I stared at my haul in consternation. Yesterday evening, when the predicted snowstorm pulled into town right on schedule, I made a provision run and scored two splendid lamb shanks (a long slow braise is just the thing for a snow day), along with a few other goodies. But what I had completely forgotten about […]

You see them, boxed and piled high at New Orleans supermarkets, bakeries, corner stores, and filling stations: Your typical king cake—a ring of brioche dough splotched with extraordinarily lurid icing, the kind that parks you on a jagged sugar high for days. But in some households, you’ll see something far less common, a galette des […]

A rich and rewarding life doesn’t just happen. You need to surround yourself with interesting people, have a sense of occasion, and know how to make your own fun. My schooling in this began when I was very young. One mentor I always think of this time of year is Aunt Eloise—in truth, a longtime friend […]

I don’t think I’ve ever met a condiment I didn’t like. I love to get them as presents under the Christmas tree—I feel like a world traveler without getting out of my pajamas—and I love giving them—Branston pickle to a homesick Englishman, a big beautiful jar of preserved lemons or mostarda as a hostess gift, Ocracoke […]

The smell of nuts, smoke, and char is in the air, and steam rolls across me like incense at High Mass. I could be in northern Italy, where the chestnut vendors shake their hot pans over a wood fire and shout “Caldaaaaaroste!” when they see you coming. Or not. I’m actually on Fifth Avenue, surrounded […]

Our heritage turkey from Bill Niman’s BN Ranch was really expensive. And it was not nearly as chesty as your typical supermarket bird, the aptly named Broad-Breasted White. Sleeker and more streamlined (nice gams!), it reminded me of that great Spencer Tracy line from the picture Pat and Mike: “Not much meat on her, but […]

My grandmother was relaxed about canning; it was something she did all her life. Her daughter, my mother—not so much. To her, standing over a hot stove stirring boiling jam was the last thing she wanted to do, ever. My father, who adored homemade relishes, pickles, jellies—I believe I got my condiment gene from him—saw […]