Blog Title: an open cupboard

tinkering with tubers: sweet potatoes done different

I don’t often post my husband A’s recipes here, not because I don’t like them. On the contrary, A is a very creative cook who fearlessly combines spices, sauces, and ingredients like mixed media. Yemenite spice mix with Thai hot sauce and local butter? No problem. If it complements his main ingredient, A uses it. The read more..

weirdo cookies

Sometimes I find myself itching to bake something. It usually happens over the weekend, thank the gods. When else would I have time to search the web for a good recipe for whatever I’m hankering for, prepare the ingredients (is there a law of nature which states that butter softens more slowly when you’re dying read more..

slow food nation

I attended the Taste Pavilion at Slow Food Nation last Sunday evening. This was the first Slow Food sponsored celebration of American traditionally produced foods. The food was enjoyable, the lines were not. At $65 a pop, was it worth navigating the crowds? Read more about it at Well Fed on the Town…  

oakland: food mecca

OK, maybe not, but there is plenty of good, even great food to be found in my particular neck of the SF Bay Area woods. (If I ever massacre a cliché like that again, please shoot me.) Check out my update on Oakland eateries over at Well Fed on the Town.

yomuledet (birthday)

Today’s my day. Here’s a clip of Israeli musician Berry Sakharof and Infected Mushroom singing Berry’s song “Yomuledet” (birthday). English translation below. (The frackin’ embedded YouTube thingy doesn’t seem to work with my template. Here’s a link to the video clip instead.) Birthday Today’s your birthday Look here’s a secret, old and new Slice the bread Touch something a little perfect It’s read more..

oh fer auld lang syne!

I’m not really a competitive person. No, really, I’m not. I hate competitive sports. Kids would always pick me last for softball because I tended to daydream. I’d sit on the warm grass in the outfield and daydream, often wishing I had a book to read. I yawn at the thought of watching grown men read more..

za’atar

On a recent bright Saturday morning at the Ferry Plaza farmers’ market, I was pleasantly surprised to find large bouquets of za’atar. Star Route Farms grows the herb and sells large bunches of it at the market. Za’atar is more commonly known as an herby spice mix spiked with sesame seeds. The mix is named after read more..

commuter train

There’s nothing so annoying as missing your train. Usually this means waiting for the next one, which in many US cities is no small feat. The schedule is erratic, the trains infrequent. You could wait twenty minutes for the next train. Twenty minutes too late for a meeting? Too bad. The train arteries themselves are haphazard, read more..

farmer brown

Photo by DJ Wallstrom from the Farmer Brown website I am a sucker for American Southern and Soul foods. Give me fried chicken with hot sauce any time, day or night, breakfast, lunch or dinner. Black eyed peas and rice, cornbread, collard greens with smoky ham hock. I love it all. Just thinking about crispy read more..

jewish ravioli: cheese kreplach

Gevalt. My shoulders hurt, my back hurts. My triceps are no longer on speaking terms with me, and they’re whispering mutiny to the biceps. Yesterday, I made my own dumplings out of hand-rolled dough without the use of a pasta machine. Now I know what it must have felt like to be a housewife in read more..