Fulfilling A Food Fantasy...

By Marsha Fottler. In 2003, when American Kathleen Flinn was 36 and had just lost her middle-management job in London, she weighed her options and then plunked down $26,500 to enter the full-diploma course at the Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris. She’d been wanting to do it for 10 years but never had a good enough reason. Her book, “The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry,” is her diary of two years of learning...

Tapas: Little Bite, Big Flavor...

By Chef Judi Gallagher. In advance of my up-coming culinary trip to Spain where I will be cooking with local chefs and doing demonstrations in Barcelona and San Sebastian, I’ve been eating and learning all I can about tapas. Tapas originated in Spain many years ago in open-air wine bars as a little plate set atop the wine glass to keep the flies away. Over time, the barkeep would put a small treat on the plate. It could...

Power Hungry...

By Kate Bennett. Last summer I travelled, almost back to back, to two places I thought I’d never see: Liberia (on the West Coast of Africa) and Mongolia (in the heart of Inner Asia). As a non-meat eater facing long flights and middle-of-nowhere, cross-country travel once on the ground, I knew my regular backup of granola bars to stave off hunger pangs was not going to suffice. Considering what lay ahead this called...

Simple Syrup, Simply Essential...

By Herb Gardener. I squandered my mid-twenties in Bishop, California’s high desert splendor. Located on the jagged eastern escarpment of the Sierras, Bishop was then home to a modest population of indigenous Paiute Indians, rock climbers, mountain bikers, and other radical recreators. To support a trout fishing habit I tended bar. As I memorized and practiced drink recipes I learned that simple syrup is a key ingredient...

Eating Iowa...

By John Tuccillo. It’s midday and I’m hungry. What to eat? Maybe pasta salad from Pastafari or a slice of raspberry-peach pie and a lemonade slush, or Mr. Pork Chop. I can’t decide! The breakfast burrito from Farm Boys is still rattling around in my belly, but I have to eat. So many choices! No, I’m not in a food court or downtown among a bunch of restaurants. I’m on my bicycle on a state highway in Iowa in...

Kitchen Design Trends...

By Marsha Fottler. September is National Home Furnishings Month and the room getting the most attention lately is the kitchen. Even in tough economic times homeowners are renovating kitchens. We all seem to be on a mission to maximize beauty, comfort and efficiency. Nationally, kitchen renovations account for 70% of home improvement projects. The average cost of a kitchen renovation is about $45,000. Nearly everyone goes...