Tasty Halloween cupcakes I called Devil's Food and the Flames. The chocolate cake was flavored with dark chocolate chili bar and decorated with chopped Hot Tamales candies. Continue reading

A little treat for the book group, coming over to discuss Coraline and screen the movie. Who doesn't like a little something sweet with their creepy stories? Continue reading

Some days, you just need a little chocolate tart to lift your spirits. Add a cup of good coffee at a quiet table and the afternoon improves instantly. Continue reading

Hmmmm. A fundraiser for a local food growers group featuring dishes cooked by local chefs using locally grown, raised and produced food. Sign. Me. Up. The occasion was the 14th annual Harvest Supper for Berkshire Grown, an organization supporting and promoting local agriculture as vital to the Western Massachusetts area. I'm happy to say that a lot of people attended the event and, while it felt a little crowded at times, it was fun and the food was outstanding - a tribute to both chefs and producers. Some twenty-one restaurants and caterers participated and put together a tasting menu that... Continue reading

Today was a beautiful day in western Massachusetts, perfect for an outdoor beer tasting. After a pleasant lunch with friends, we all went over to AugtoBeerFest, an annual event put on by Kelly's Package Store, in Dalton, and promoted as a fundraiser for a local community organization. It didn't hurt that the event was held on a farm, so the setting was nice; a food truck was on hand with a selection of hot sandwiches. I didn't count them, but according to the program there were more than 175 beers being sampled. I'm no beer expert, but I like to... Continue reading

This little gift made it all the way home with me from Munich. It traveled in my carry-on bag. I thought about it from time to time as we made our way home, but I didn't open it. I wanted to hang on as long as possible to this little reminder of a pleasant business trip to a city I had never before visited. The package may have looked a little worse for wear by the time I got it home, and the photos do nothing to help that, but I had a pretty good idea there was chocolate inside... Continue reading

As I consider a business trip to Germany later this year, I'm reminded of my first trip to Munich, last year, during which I enjoyed a cheesy noodle dish that quickly jumped to the top spot in that food group in my book. I could happily eat Käsespätzle - noodles with cheese and carmelized onions - once a week. The secret is in the combination of cheeses and the onions on top. (Recipes abound.) But I reached a point in that trip when I felt a little over served in the cheese noodle department and had to join a co-worker... Continue reading

Not a lot of "Go Places" this week, but I did run up to a local farmers' market this morning. I'm lucky to live in a place where fruit and vegetable markets and farmstands are popular and plentiful. As I picked out sweet corn and some warm, ripe tomatoes for dinner, I enjoyed the beautiful colors of the many fruits and vegetables fresh from the farm, and took a few photos. Growing up in the Chicago area, our fruits and veggies came from the local Jewel food store. Yep. My father did have a pretty impressive garden for a few... Continue reading

Itchy for a road trip, we loaded the puppy and her paraphernalia into the truck and set out last Sunday for Rockport, Mass. We did a little research ahead of time and knew we wanted to have lunch at Roy Moore Lobster Co., on Bearskin Neck, but that's pretty much where our plans began and ended. Once in Rockport, on this perfect summer Sunday, we looked for a place to park. And looked. And looked. And ... you get the idea. We finally headed back to the park-and-ride we had passed on the way into town, figuring we would just... Continue reading

On a visit to San Francisco back in January, I joined a colleague for brunch, more or less, at Samovar in Yerba Buena Gardens before diving into a long day at the Moscone Center. To escape the chill outside and bolster my spirits, I ordered a pot of tea and, on recommendation, decided to try the Jook. Rarely is a meal so simply, perfectly exactly what I need at the moment it is served. The impact of that bowl of silky, creamy rice is difficult to describe, but I swear to you I can still smell and taste it. It... Continue reading

I finally got around to ordering Millennium Cookbook: Extraordinary Vegetarian Cuisine this morning. After two amazing visits to Millennium, I often wish I lived just up the street from the San Francisco restaurant instead of on the other side of the country. A vegan co-worker introduced me to Millenium last year on our annual trip to an industry trade show at Moscone Center. While I'm not a strict vegetarian, I do eat meatless much of the time. The food at Millennium, influenced as they say in the restaurant mission statement by the flavors and styles of many cultures, is creative,... Continue reading

My brother and his family rolled into town for a visit last week, packing their appetites, a cooler full of cheeses that he had smoked and an assortment of beers and ales. These are my kind of people. These are my people! I don't see them much since we moved to New England, so this visit was special. It's not hard to guess what a bunch of food-loving midwesterners want to eat most when they get this close to the Atlantic. We spent a little time online looking for a family friendly seafood place in Rhode Island, as Newport and... Continue reading

After many months of planning, eating out of the microwave and walking around the refrigerator in the living room, we are fully moved in to our new kitchen. Whew! Not an experience I want to have again any time soon, but not altogether horrible. We did eat out more than normal... I unpacked a lot of boxes while moving back to the kitchen. Many of them had been sealed up since we packed them back over a year ago and several states away. It was like my birthday and Christmas in one as I uncovered favorite platters, treasured cookbooks, and... Continue reading

I love it when an ordinary Saturday, busy with all the necessary forays for groceries, sink and faucet for the new kitchen, birdseed, etc., turns into an adventure in a newly discovered gourmet provisions store and a kitchen picnic. Just last Saturday, we had finished up at the Kohler showroom and were making our way to a favorite lunch spot when we passed a little grocery store we had somehow missed on earlier trips. We wandered the narrow aisles, picking things up, reading labels, putting (a few) things back, until we both had arms full of goodies. We made a... Continue reading

There was a treat table at work yesterday. Here's where it started for me. All I'll say about where it went from there is this: There's no chocolate in this heart-shaped filled donut, but there was plenty on that table... Continue reading

Some days, the one thing better than going places and eating things is staying home and cooking a favorite meal or experimenting with a new recipe. This feeling always seems to hit me in the first crisp days of late summer and early autumn, and this year is no exception. But even though I've cooked in kitchens large and small, old and new over the years, the kitchen I have now just isn't working for me. So it looks like we're in for a season of go places and eat things - and remembering kitchens and meals past - as... Continue reading

So, I've been a fan of cookies on the menu for some time now. I first took notice of just how perfect dessert cookies were after lunch years ago at Michael's on 55th St. in Manhattan. They served a plate of bite-sized cookies that satisfied just about every little sweet craving. I hope it's still on the menu there. After my first visit to Michael's, I started paying attention to dessert menus, looking for a plate of cookies. It is not as widespread an item as I'd like it to be. I was excited to find a cookie plate in... Continue reading

After our second move in six months – from house to new state and temporary condo to new house – things are finally getting back to normal. Sort of. Well, of course there will be some kitchen reno, but more about that later. So, feeling a little more settled than we have in recent months, we ventured out this weekend for a little celebration dinner. Our destination: Lee, Mass., with a late reservation at Chez Nous, where a husband and wife team serve French bistro food and delightful desserts. On the last Saturday of the summer season, we arrived onto... Continue reading

A rainy day dampened our enthusiasm for a drive to the ocean yesterday, but it was the hubby's birthday so I resisted the urge to go back to bed, and considered our options. Antiques shopping in quaint small towns is not really his thing, but a nice meal out is something we both enjoy. The answer: lunch at Gramercy Bistro and a wander through MASS MoCA, which share a campus in North Adams, Mass. Despite nearly constant precipitation, our ride through the Berkshires wrapped us in watery splendor - the hills reduced to overlapping shades of gray-green, lush, and sanctified... Continue reading

I was checking out the offerings served up this morning on my Zite Personalized Magazine app for the iPad and found this lovely article about Bologna, Italy in the New York Times. It had me pushing aside a few years worth of mental clutter to uncover the Wayback Machine. In I hopped and soon I was transported back a few years and several centuries, ambling along covered walkways, making my way to Piazza Maggiore, where I sat, sipping wine in the spreading shade of a springtime afternoon. There are photos, somewhere, in a box that is in storage at the... Continue reading

I know I said I was going to tell you about vegan restaurants in Munich, but that will have to wait a little longer. Tonight hubby and I enjoyed a delicious meal on the covered porch at Alta Restaurant and Wine Bar in Lenox, Mass., and I just had to tell you about it. This was not our first visit to Alta. We have been for lunch and were pleased with the food and the experience. On my first visit I had a sandwich called The Autumn, which consisted of house roasted turkey, grilled butternut squash, caramelized onion, cheddar cheese,... Continue reading

Connecting with a city and its people takes a little extra effort when traveling on business, but the rewards can be rich. My trip last week to Munich is a case in point, with days spent at a trade fair and my evenings free. But as long as I could find the energy, I was willing to go places and eat things. My colleagues and I arrived in Munich mid-morning on Sunday and as soon as we had checked into our hotel and eaten a little lunch to boost our energy levels, we were climbing aboard Munich's fantastic public transit... Continue reading

After a quiet burger lunch today at The Lantern Bar and Grill, hubby and I did a little window shopping on North Street in Pittsfield, Mass., stopping to check out all the lovely things at the Museum Facsimiles Outlet Store. After getting our fill of posters, cards and other delights, we resumed our walk and, crossing to the next corner, caught sight of the lovely sign outside Mary's Carrot Cake. We were drawn like moths to a flame. Who doesn't want a little something sweet after a meal? Oh, I know they're out there, but c'mon! The three customers already... Continue reading

Here's a post I wrote at the beginning of the year that got lost on my desktop. Time for a little cleanup there, I guess. Happy as a clam? We went with friends to a local seafood restaurant for dinner on New Year’s Eve. As I studied the menu, which included lobster and oysters and New England clam chowder, it struck me that I don’t know beans about fish and seafood. Growing up in Illinois, the fish we ate most often was breaded cod in stick form and tuna from a can. As an adult, I ordered shrimp and calamari... Continue reading