Trailers are for movies, right? Or maybe for hipster curbside no-fuss dining establishments. But actually, trailers are now for cookbooks, too. And other books that show up on shelves each year. I'd never heard the concept of a cookbook trailer until a matter of months ago, when I started seeing/hearing friends talk [...]
It's not that hard to come up with a good excuse to throw a party. We do it pretty often at this house....not just for birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, holidays. But we celebrate made-up holidays like Open That Bottle Night. Or have friends over to see the blooms on our tree [...]
Anyone else out there love both food and playing games as much as I do? I sure hope so. Because today's the official release date of my new cookbook, Gourmet Game Night. It's the ideal book for that niche of humanity that lives in that overlap of the foodie crowd and the [...]
At Seattle Bookfest in late October, I found myself chatting with a gentleman at the Book Club of Washington booth about their organization. "Are you a collector?" he asked me. "No, not really," I muttered. "Do you have more than 3 books at home?" Sure. Of course. Who doesn't? Is it that easy to [...]
I'm wildly overdue in sharing news of release of the latest cookbook project I've worked on. Delayed in large part because I was up-to-eyeballs in work on the newer book, Gourmet Game Night, which just went to bed this week. Coming up for air and getting caught up! Memorable Recipes [...]
I've had a Blondie comic strip tacked just above my desk for a while now. In it, Dagwood's playing poker with his pals, shuffling the cards only to have them all fly out of his hands with a P-R-R-R-T (one of those clever comic sound effects). The others decide that Dagwood's [...]
They say that the proof is in the pudding. And I say it's also in the skillet-roasted chicken, the green gazpacho, the risotto with asparagus and peas, the braised lamb shanks with olives and the hazelnut soufflé. The proof I'm talking about is how well the recipe does its job. [...]
If anyone on your holiday gift list is a food lover, you can make some progress on your shopping with a little visit to the Palace Ballroom in Seattle on December 1. Tom Douglas is hosting his third annual Ultimate Holiday Cookbook Social from 4:00 to 7:00 that afternoon. I've been [...]
It's so tempting to call Marcella Hazan the "Julia Child of Italy." The temptation made that much easier because I know so much more about Julia Child's life than I do about Marcella's, which I imagine to be true for many other cooks in this country. Reading the New York Times Book Review [...]
If you don't have anything on your calendar for October 16 and you'll be in the Seattle vicinity, I've got a proposition for you. Come join me and many of my Dames pals for this year's fundraiser. It's going to be a fun and tasty evening, held at the wonderful [...]