Mar 18, 2009 -
Maybe it was the luck of the Irish, but yesterday's festivities got me thinking about fortuitous foods. Whenever anyone in my family travels, my mother prepares a large pot of Ping An Mien, the Chinese chicken noodle soup pictured above, for safe travels. Before my friend Jaime ran her first marathon, she had to eat a certain dish at her favorite Italian restaurant for good luck, and many Southerners will tell you they can't start a new year on the right foot without black-eyed peas.
- 23 Comments
Jul 28, 2009 -
Next month, some of my friends are making the trek out to Sacramento from the Bay Area to hit up the California State Fair, where a number artists — including one of my favorite country music stars — is performing. But the state fair doesn't have to put on an elaborate musical production to get me to show up; I'd be there for the food alone! After all, who can say no to mile-high strawberry daiquiris, elephant ears, garlic fries, and those giant smoked turkey legs?
- 22 Comments
Nov 10, 2009 -
Call it a predilection, an idée fixe, or simply a weird fascination, but I've always had a penchant for Continental dishes with unique names and even more intriguing histories. But it wasn't until I took the time to look up some of the foods that I realized many of the dishes aren't just named after their creator or an inspirational figure, but also other oddities, like locales, plays, and even battles.
Since many of you scored so well with your food trivia the first time around, just for kicks, I thought I'd test you again.
- 7 Comments
Jun 30, 2009 -
With the Fourth of July fast approaching, I've been in the mindset of paying homage to my favorite American foods. But as much as I love our country's biggest icons — like hot dogs and hamburgers — there's one genre of American cuisine that can't go overlooked, and that's soul food. This month is National Soul Food Month, so I thought I'd test your knowledge of traditional African-American Southern cuisine.
- 26 Comments
Aug 11, 2008 -
At a recent restaurant outing, a friend and I ordered an appetizer that was an unusual (but not unheard of) combination of flavors: gruyère cheese and Fuji apples.
The combination of melted cheese and apples has always been a favorite of mine, and it made me ponder the other unusual pairings that I've loved in my lifetime. As a 5-year-old, I wrapped Kraft singles around my bananas.
- 99 Comments
Jul 03, 2008 -
Whenever I interview chefs, I always ask: "What's your favorite guilty pleasure food?" Of course, my definition of "guilty pleasure" is quite different from, say, FitSugar's. I don't consider it a guilty pleasure if it's high in fat or calories; that is a mere pleasure.
- 86 Comments
Jul 01, 2008 -
Most of the food lovers I know were pickier eaters as kids. Over the years, as we try more foods, we discover that tastes we once disliked have transformed into deliciousness. I don't know about you, but once I start liking a new food, I can't get enough of it.
- 93 Comments
Sep 23, 2008 -
Last Friday, YumSugar discovered a random strand of blue thread in her salad. It was disgustingly attached to a piece of feta cheese. We got to talking about gross things we've come across in restaurant food.
- 96 Comments
Sep 16, 2008 -
Yesterday Yum and I got to talking about the word "tater." While I have nothing against potatoes, tater tots, or the pocket-stuffing scene from Napoleon Dynamite, I can't stand the word "tater." Something about it rubs me the wrong way.
- 60 Comments