THE ADVENTURES OF A WAYWARD CHEF

Yeah! Andrea from the great food blog HighLowFoodDrink (which seriously makes miss New York City!) has submitted a great story about how she won her man over with food! And now Andrea has won her very own copy of Forking Fantastic!
Free food and free beer – that’s how my husband and I met when he [...]

Ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes once masturbated in the Agora; when rebuked for doing so, he replied, “If only it was as easy to soothe my hunger by rubbing my belly.”
Fuck Martha Stewart Living and to hell with the recession! Forking Fantastic, by Zora O’Neill and Tamara Reynolds, is the new de rigueur guide to [...]

I awoke to the smell of toasted bagels. Plates of locally made lox, capers, thickly sliced heirloom tomatoes, red onion, and cream cheese were spread across the table. Coffee brewed. The forest beckoned. I could hardly sit still while we ate.
We parked along the side of the road, another stop without a clearly marked trail [...]

Lobster Mushrooms Sautéed with Lemon-thyme and Crispy Garlic
Served on Butter Fried Sourdough
 Farro with Chanterelles, Hazelnuts and Parmesan Cheese
 Barbequed Kumomoto Oysters with Opal Basil Butter
Lemon Cucumber and Heirloom Tomato Salad
 Fresh Figs Stuffed with Truffle Tremor Goat Cheese
I’m not sure how long it has been that I have been dreaming of going hunting for edible mushrooms. A [...]

Since leaving the yachting world, I feel that my blog has been left adrift, without the wind to guide it. I just can’t write about what I cook and eat on a daily basis. Without the element of adventure, I’m feeling a bit lost. It’s not that I don’t have great fun in my kitchen [...]

My Bottarga arrived! With the patience of a five-year-old on Christmas morning, I ripped the package right open. There, before me, was a gorgeous, soft, amber cake of salted, pressed mullet roe. It smelled divine, like the ocean: briny, slightly fishy, reminding me of salted anchovies. Never having eaten Bottarga before, this was not [...]

Every year, for the past 5 years, I’ve gotten this asinine idea in my head that I’m going to fast. How healthy of me, right? Last year, I tried fasting at a special “cleansing” resort in Thailand. Even surrounded by dozens of other fasters, I broke down after three days and gave [...]

The ground beneath me explodes as I rip a handful of weeds from the rich, dark soil. A lacy netting of roots clings for dear life to a giant dirt clod. I knock the extra dirt off on a nearby rock and throw the weed into my rapidly expanding weed pile. I’ve never gardened before [...]

“Love-matches are made by people who are content, for a month of honey, to condemn themselves to a life of vinegar.” ~The Countess of Blessington, 1789-1849
I read recently that bartering, though it’s been around for centuries, is the new ‘new’ thing and with the economy falling out from underneath us, the online bartering community has [...]

“An idle mind is the devil’s workshop” ~English Proverb

As I head across the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco is awash in a pale, grey-blue haze making the skyline look like a black and white photograph.
I’ve been anxiety ridden for the past 2 days as I, once again, packed my belongings for an extended leave. [...]