This is a shaved fennel, apple and gorgonzola salad. It's tossed with a white Balsamic vinaigrette for a piquant and refreshing dish. I'd eat it except for one problem. I hate the taste of licorice. Apparently it's a trait I share in common with my siblings. Twizzlers = the devil. As pretty as it is, as much as I want to love the idea of it and eat it... this is really food art rather than a meal for me. But in the event you don't have problems with licorice, I'm told by friends I've made this dish for that... Continue reading

If you are a regular in the food blogosphere, you likely knew Barbara. You've either read her blog, Winos and Foodies, or you've seen her comments as she visited other food blogs. You might have known her as the founder of Hay Hay It's Donna Day, or A Taste of Yellow, her annual food event to raise awareness for cancer which coincided with LiveStrong Day. You may have even known her as a photography enthusiast. If you didn't know Barbara, I envy you and I pity you. May I tell you about my friend? We began writing our blogs at... Continue reading

John Milton had a great second act. He wrote "Paradise Lost" after he went blind. He also wrote a poem that at once lamented the loss of his sight, and celebrated the wideness of the inner world he determined and discovered in the aftermath of blindness. When first informed that gluten, soy and casein needed to be expunged from my younger son's diet, my first reaction was to curl up in a tight ball and ponder how on earth to feed my child. At that time, his pickiness and fussiness regarding food were despair inducing and I was afraid that... Continue reading

Popovers are a favored weekend treat to which all the boys look forward; but in light of our younger son's recent gluten, dairy and soy-free diet, it seemed that the weekend tradition had come to an end. In recalibrating all of Baby's favorite foods, I've been challenged because soy is often used as a dairy substitute. Nowadays, finding gluten-free products is relatively easy; dairy-free substitutes abound; and soy-free is also easy - but finding something gluten, casein AND soy free is a bit more difficult. The culprit in dairy that affects Baby is casein, a protein found in most mammalian... Continue reading

Years and years ago, I made a deliberate decision to get lost. It came about after a strange "A ha!" moment of realization that until then, I'd spent most of my life in rigid self-control and structure; and thus, had likely missed a life enriched by unexpected adventure and opportunistic flights. So I began to get lost. And I was always rewarded with the new experiences and the unique things that emerged because I travelled without a compass. For the last fifteen months, I've been pretty lost, mostly without choice. So lost I had no idea how to document the... Continue reading

You want this book and you want it NOW. Continue reading

HSN's Cooks Spring Weekend Event, presented by Bon Appétit takes place March 26-27. The event will feature chefs including Wolfgang Puck, Ken Horn, and the Lee Bros. (whom I adore!). HSN gave me a $10 gift card, good for any item on HSN, which I'm giving away to a reader. Send me an email to: ablithepalate (AT) gmail (DOT) com if you want to be entered in the giveaway; a random drawing will be held April 1 (no, really). Be sure to include your name and snail mail address. Pug or Hoss will pick the winner. Continue reading

It was on the menu at a restaurant I've been frequenting recently: braised pork and pappardelle. How do you go wrong with that combination? Twice I ordered it. And twice I was disappointed. The meat was cooked well enough; but the sauce in which it was entrenched was...off. Not bad per se; just...not right. The mushroom cream sauce was the wrong flavor base for the rich, hearty pork; I wanted, and missed, the acidity of a tomato sauce, the comfort of a rustic ragù featuring carrots, onions and the like. I'm a sucker for slow cooked, braised dishes where the... Continue reading

I wish I had had time to send his chocolate chip cookies to our friend in DC, who brought this frame to Arlington National Cemetary the same day his son was born. But it was more important to us that on his son's first day of life, the two of them were together in spirit if not in letter. When we go to visit him in a few months, we'll have his cookies; and a bottle of Scotch to toast the baby he knew about before he left for war; the baby he named in hopes it would be a... Continue reading

Members of my family dream about dead people. No, really, we do. We dream about our loved ones, and in almost all cases, we dream about the fathers who have passed. They used to come to us when there was a pending death in the family; we think they came to escort those on their way out. The first time I became aware of this phenomena was ten years ago, when my grandfather was dying; in the days before he slipped away, he told my aunt that her husband had come to help him "change shirts" and to teach him... Continue reading

"April is the cruellest month..." And indeed it was because April 2010 was the beginning of a twelve week cycle of hell. Witness, stage left. The Sahara Desert. This is how I feel. This is how I write. It's not how I eat, which isn't any less enthusiastic. It's not how I cook, which isn't any less passionate. It's simply that my gustatory joy isn't matched by an ability to put words to paper, intent to writing a post, or concern to follow up. In the wake of last year's losses, all I want to do is read what others... Continue reading

I compulsively take photos of food. Not necessarily for the blog, just because. And when I do it of food I've made, I know it's not always for artistic reasons (read: narcissism). But on occasion, my ADS (Asian Documentation Syndrome) is a good leveling agent for hubris. Witness, stage right. This photo was taken a year or so ago. Not only did I never write about this particular dish, I'm not even sure what the hell it is. And if you look carefully, I don't think we even ate it. Guesses anyone? Continue reading

It's August. Their stories always happen in the fall. _______________________ When darling G. first saw J., he was with his then girlfriend. They were all at a mutual friend's party and G. noted how J. carefully leaned in to listen to his girlfriend, the attentiveness on his face, the careful way in which he held her hand, proffering his rapt attention as she spoke. That, G. decided, is what I want. _______________________ Warm chocolate chip cookies. In ten years of friendship with D., these are a mainstay. What distinguishes his cookies from other variations is the Callebaut milk chocolate. Sometimes... Continue reading

When I made the buttercream, my father was still alive. It's an Italian buttercream, made with the egg whites separated from the yolks that went into the French buttercream which decorated Lulu's birthday cake and cupcakes. There's an entire tub of it left in my mom's fridge. I made it on a Sunday morning, when I still thought Dad was coming home. He had been in the hospital since the Wednesday previous. We knew he would not be present for Lulu's birthday party that day but we expected to have him home the next day to finish out the Memorial... Continue reading

My niece Lulu turned one on June 1. Our entire family was gathered at our parents' home and when my sister asked if I would make Lulu's birthday cake, of course I could not refuse. She had a couple of requests: buttercream. And Totoro. Buttercream I could do. But... "What," I asked, "is Totoro?" She looked at me, stricken. "WHAT'S TOTORO?!" Okay, so there's an entire back story to my failure with Miyazaki movies. It's too long to go into now, but suffice it to say, it's an inexcusable reason for not having watched any of Miyazaki's movies. Totoro is... Continue reading

There it is on the shelf, nestled among the other French cookbooks. But this one is special. It was the first cookbook in what has since become a devoted library of culinaria. It was a gift to a sixteen year old girl from a French woman who - at that time - was the same age I am now: 40 (in her case, -ish). Being French, she was effortlessly chic and so, ageless. She's been gone nearly a decade, her life cut too short by the malingering neurological illness from which she suffered. I haven't opened this book to read... Continue reading

Whenever I gather a group of passionate cooks around this event, I am always amazed and inspired by what our participants choose to make. I'm also awed by the stunning food styling and compositions. Our latest entry in Cookbook Spotlight is Deborah Madison's gorgeous new book, Seasonal Fruit Desserts. Her Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone was a watershed addition to my collection of cookbooks - before this book, I'd never really considered how fantastic vegetarian cooking could actually be. Likewise, her latest book focuses on the luscious bounty of fruits straight from farms, orchards and fresh markets; but she doesn't stop... Continue reading

Deborah Madison has a new book out! Seasonal Fruit Desserts is her take on delicious sweets that begin with lush, farmer's market fresh fruits. I have a brand new copy to give away -- send an email to me at: ablithepalate (AT) gmail (DOT) com by noon PST on Friday 7, 2010 if you are interested and I'll randomly draw a name. Or I'll have Pug do it. Watch the following week as we feature the book in our latest edition of Cookbook Spotlight. I can't wait to see what my cohorts have prepared! Update: I've had several questions from... Continue reading

Some of my favorite posts were written in a state of high emotion. I've frequently used this blog as an outpost to examine life, death and love and how they revolved around food, and the visceral memories associated with a particular meal or a dish or a drink. I lost a friend recently. Someone too young to be gone. Someone who left behind so many things, so much still yet to do, and most of all, so many beloved ones.I think of her as I down a cup of tea and a few macaroons from my favorite baker. She was... Continue reading

I'm not going to even pretend the cake is pretty or aesthetically pleasing. I have a whole host of excuses ready: I didn't bring my baking/dessert toolbox with me to Florida; Mom's baking and decorating supplies are sorely lacking; there wasn't enough time; blah blah blah. I was even going to blame E4 and his lack of decorating skills, but as he didn't eat dinner, he wasn't allowed anywhere near dessert, which fact he took with strange stoicism for a 3 year old. The simple matter is, the cake was a last minute decision. And the more relevant truth is... Continue reading