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My name is Gerhard and I live in Wilderness in Eden. Two years ago I decided to retire and do nothing for a while. The problem with doing nothing is that it is difficult to know when you are done. That is probably the main reason why I decided to buy a guest house. The Artist's prodding did play a role. Her version was that I interfered with the creative process and was a nuisance around the house. Mine was that I was merely offering support by way of constructive criticism. Be that as it may, I woke up one morning with the thought that we should up stakes in Johannesburg and move to the coast. If we could find a large house, we could convert it into a guest house. I could keep myself busy looking after guests and cooking. The artist always had a yen to live at the seaside and I got enthusiastic support for the idea. She would paint and I would be the innkeeper. Two weeks later we bought Mes Amis in Wilderness, an existing, somewhat dilapidated guest house. 9 guest bedrooms and a large 2 bedroom apartment for us. The location is terrific: right on the beach with a splendid view of the Indian Ocean. Wilderness is an area of rivers, lakes, wetlands, mountains, forests and the Indian Ocean. Perhaps slightly overdeveloped, but still a quiet, bucolic village where the main economic activity is tourism and life proceeds at a gentle pace. We have a temperate climate, with an average min/max of 17/25 in summer (Oct-April) and 8/18 in winter. In May 2004, we relocated. The artist, sissy tutu and I. I made the mistake of visiting our local animal shelter shortly after arriving, and the result was two new additions to the menagerie, Bibi and Becky. This will be mainly a breakfast blog. That is where most of my culinary creative energy is spent these days and it may just be mildly interesting for you to follow me through a few days of cooking for the guests. (And, of course, for the artist and myself). Breakfast is served a la carte in our breakfast room: It is now just after 11am and breakfast service is done. We had 13 in, a table for 8, two for two and one single. As always seem to happen when we have a large table, the whole lot sat down at the same time. Here is today's menu: The front and back and the inside Between helping Miki with table service, giving Veronica a hand with cooking and smooching the guests, I did not have time to take pics, other than the fresh fruit: I'll do better tomorrow morning. The 8 Italian guests checked out and service should be easier. Voluble bunch, the table for 8. The shy young Swiss couple in the corner were somewhat bemused. Every time I headed for their table to discuss their plans for the day, and advise where I can, I was waylaid by the Italians. Time to take it easy. I intended watching the cricket test, but we are (again) getting soundly beaten by the Aussies. I have a large pot of duck legs on the stove and may as well start preparing the jars for the confit. The rest of the day will proceed placidly. Patricia will draw up the list of stuff that we need to order – groceries, fruit, veggies, meat, toiletries, cleaning materials and so on and place the orders for delivery tomorrow after I've checked the list and added my two bits. Time then to take the dogs for a walk on the beach, have a short siesta and then get ready to receive guests. That involves checking the reservations book and memorizing new guest names. It is often very easy to guess names correctly when the guests arrive. Tonight we have a German couple, two ladies from the UK, a businessman from Johannesburg and a repeat couple from Cape Town checking in, so I should be able to greet them all by name. I will, if you will allow me, tell more about my innkeeping day tomorrow.

It’s not even 6am yet and I was so excited about starting my food blog today, I couldn’t fall back asleep. I had quite the late night last night, yet my body seems to be telling me that 4 hours of sleep is enough when there is food to write about! First, a bit about myself. My name is Henry H Lo. I am in no way connected to the “industry” but have found that I have a passion for good food and cooking my whole life. I am 33 years old and an architect in Seattle. The relationship between cooking and architecture is generally discussed among the architecture world. Both are art forms which are not always recognized as art by the general public. Just as food must provide nourishment for life, architecture must provide shelter. Once these basic requirements are established, only the educated few can see the artistic qualities which some architects/chefs elevate their work to. A few exceptions exist which are too obvious as to not be recognized as art. The buildings of Rem Koolhaus, and Ferran Adria’s work come to mind. I find that my architecture is greatly influenced by lessons I've learned from the cooking world. After all, in both endevours, we are creating "functional art." Another nice thing about being an architect was the fact that I was able to design and build my own kitchen. More on my kitchen to come. When I found out I would be food blogging, I set up a number of events in Seattle for myself and my friends to take part in. Here’s a short list of the things I have planned for this week: Friday March 17th Trail the chef at Veil Veil I did this last night and had a great time. More on this to come. Here's a teaser photo though: Friday March 17th Dinner at Crush Crush Had a great time! Stay tuned for more information. Saturday March 18th Dinner at Veil Sunday March 19th Brunch at Monsoon Monsoon (That's me on the webpage behind the potted cypress. The owner is sitting to my left) Sunday March 20th “Sopranos” Pot Luck Monday March 21st Dinner at The Barking Frog Barking Frog Tuesday March 22nd Dinner Party at home Wednesday March 23rd Special lunch at Salumi Salumi Thursday March 24th Dinner at Mistral for 20 Mistral Friday March 25th Trail the chef at Mistral Saturday March 26th Dinner at Marjorie Marjorie I also plan on taking you all on a sandwich tour of Seattle. After all, the sandwich is the perfect food! I am really looking forward to sharing my great food town with the rest of you. Please feel free to let me know if there are any specific places or things in Seattle you would like me to explore. Talk to you all soon!

I thought about calling this "Meet Me at the Bar" because, well, I do have a bar in my living room, but I don't want people to get the wrong idea, and besides, my Mom might be reading this. (Actually, my parents know I have a bar in my living room. I've had it for years.) Then I thought about calling it "A Girl and her Cookware" because, having worked at a cookware store for more years than I can believe, I have collected a frightening amount. So why "Park and Shop"? People of a certain age (women, probably) might remember the old board game by that name. Or maybe not -- maybe my sister and our friends were the only ones who played that strange game. In brief, here's an overview. You had two markers: one car and one pedestrian. You drew cards that told you which shops you had to visit. You started out with your car, and "drove" to one of several parking lots, depending on where your shops were located. Then you used your pedestrian to visit all the shops. (I know, we're not talking the excitement of buying property on Boardwalk, but hey, we liked it.) Of course there were squares you could land on that sent you to jail (I don't remember why -- jaywalking?) or otherwise set you back. But mostly, the strategy involved trying to find the shortest, most economic way of visiting all the shops on your list, and that's why I always remember it, because in many ways, that's my shopping life today. Back when I worked in an office and had a civilized hour for lunch, I often used that time to run as many errands as possible, and that's when it first came to me that I was living the "Park and Shop" game (without the parking, but close enough.) Now, since I am without a car, much of my food planning revolves around trying to figure out exactly that same thing -- how to get to all the shops I need to without making unnecessary side trips, taking impossibly long bus routes, or ending up with so much stuff I can't carry it. But "Public Transportation and Shop" doesn't quite have the same ring, does it? So "Park and Shop" it is. I'll talk more in a while about the shops I visit, how this whole process plays out day to day and how it influences my cooking style. But first, here's the way I start all my mornings, feeding the boys. Damien, Mookie, and Felix having breakfast. Max generally prefers private dining. Once they've eaten and I've let them out, I can concentrate on caffeine. I have a 10-cup programmable Krups machine, but I've found that my little one-cup Melita, which started life as a travel coffee maker, is more manageable for just me. I drag out the big black machine only when I have company. So, if you'll let me drink my coffee, I'll be back with more about the week ahead (kitchen pictures, too).

Good morning! My name is Kathy, and I live with my husband and two small boys in Diamond Bar, California. I usually just tell people I live at the very edge of Los Angeles, which is completely correct, if only by a whopping three miles. Or I mention that I'm close to Disneyland, which is also true. I did a food blog last summer and enjoyed myself so much I had to do it again. This time around I'm older, wiser, and only slighty more insane. This week will be all about (hopefully) controlled chaos in my kitchen and house. After years of planning, we have finally decided to move to Oregon. There are many reasons for the move, but the main thing is that we both feel more home there than here. It's an exciting time and a slightly crazy one as well. In an effort to get the house ready to sell, we're painting and installing new flooring and generally fixing and fluffing everything to hopefully get the most money possible in this already insanely high market. Hey, every last bit helps . Getting everything done hasn't been easy, but I love a good challenge. I'll be finishing up the kitchen and putting in some last bits of tile. Since we're moving soon, I'm trying to use what's left in my pantry and freezer, so suggestions are more than welcome (ideas on what to do with three cups of cracklins, anyone?). I'll be making Pepper Steak and falafel and whatever else sounds appealing. Also grabbing something at In-N-Out before they become just another burger chain. Pictures hopefully soon to follow. My Canon S400 is having issues, so today's first order of business after dropping the boys at school will be a trip to the camera store. Back again in a few hours!

Good morning, all! I'm really excited about doing my first foodblog, and I can't wait to show you around New York City, my adopted hometown. This week we'll be hitting the opera (pre-theatre dinner and during-intermission Champagne make it food-related!), Babbo, a couple of markets, and loads of other fun spots. I'll also be cooking a whole bunch, and giving it my all to make something I've never made before...but more on that later. I've lived in Manhattan since graduating from college in 2001, and have loved it from day one. At first, my forays into the New York food scene were exclusively restaurant-based - milking my California-based mom for dinner at all the new places I wanted to try when she was in town, while eating Kraft dinner or Ramen at home when she wasn't. At some point, I realized how much money I could save and how much better I could treat myself if I actually started cooking for myself. I always had the skills (I used to throw brunches and cocktail parties), but just never cooked for myself on a regular basis. Well, that's changed, and if I'm still not the most accomplished home cook I know (and certainly not anywhere close to it here on eGullet), I am one of the happiest. I live on the Upper East Side, a neighborhood known for its museums, its palatial Park Avenue apartments, and its (clothes) shopping. I'm hoping to show you my version of the Upper East Side, filled with tiny coffee shops and tinier produce shops, fantastic bakeries and even the occasional decent restaurant. But not to worry - we'll also be making visits to SoHo, Chelsea, and Greenwich Village, at the very least. I am off from work this week, since my mom is here from California, and am leaving right now to meet her for breakfast before she has to catch a plane home. But, I'll be back with a full report on breakfast and any adventures undertaken on the way home. In the meantime, I'd love to hear from all of you - is there anything you'd like to see me do this week? Any place you'd like me to visit and photograph to death for you? Anything you think I should make? I have a bit of a head cold, and am pondering garlic soup for dinner tonight. Recommendations are VERY welcome! See you soon!

My name is Rochelle. I host the Cooking and DC & DelMarVa forums here on eGullet. Long timers may remember the Diary of a Cooking School Student I kept back when I studied at L’academie de Cuisine for my culinary degree. Fans of the Foodblogs may recall that I completed a turn in the hot seat about a year ago, when I was the chef for a sorority at the University of Maryland (34 Hungry College Girls). My, how things change in a short year. Since I kept that sorority-chef blog, my life has shifted dramatically. My husband, who is almost done with a doctoral degree in music, landed a position at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV (about 85 miles from Washington, DC), which he started in August 2005. So we sold our house in Takoma Park, MD and moved to Harpers Ferry, WV last summer. This meant I had to leave my job at the sorority…which was okay with me, it was getting a little boring although it was a fun and fairly easy job to do and do well. So, what next for me? I had long fantasized about teaching cooking skills, and I decided to try to piece together a career that would include that as one of my primary revenue streams. I also wanted to try my hand at catering, and I wanted to land some sort of regular food writing gig. So I founded my own business, Rochelle Myers Catering and Cooking Classes, and got cracking. Last fall, I catered a few weddings and private parties, and I managed to line up some teaching gigs for this winter. I also teach private classes when I can find the work. And I even managed to hook up a monthly gig writing a “Cooking 101” column for the Martinsburg, WV Journal-News. I’m always looking for more work, but for now I’m pretty busy. This past summer, we discovered that I am pregnant with our first child. The future food nerd/music snob is slated to arrive sometime around 10 April. We feed him only the best…my homemade food via the umbilical cord, and a steady diet of classical music via my mp3 player and a set of earbuds stuck in the waistband of my maternity jeans. I expect that when he turns 14 he’ll be listening to thrash metal or gangsta rap or whatever the equivalent is at that time and eating McDonald’s as a rebellion against his super-focused artistic parents. We couldn’t be more excited about our baby and eagerly await meeting him. Right now, I am teaching a bunch of one-off cooking classes at Frederick Community College in Frederick, MD (about 30min away), and also teaching a six-course “basics of cooking” series for Jefferson County (WV) Public Schools Adult Education program. This week, I’m also putting together my next column for the Journal-News, so there should be a visit from a staff photographer who comes and snaps images of my work-in-progress to publish with my article. My mom is visiting this weekend because there is a baby shower being held in my household on Saturday;she might be bringing a friend, and I expect to cook for them a little bit, plus probably have one or two meals out at some of our limited local restaurants. On Sunday, I’ll be going back to my alma mater, L'academie de Cuisine, to check out their 30th anniversary gala dinner—should be a good time, they’ve invited back a bunch of alums to prepare special dishes for the event. In between, I’ll be eating whatever strikes my pregnant-lady fancy, preparing low-carb meals for my husband who is losing weight, and sleeping about 10 hours per day. Gather ye antacids while ye may…

This Foodblog is a Foodblog unlike any other. It's the first time we've ever done a Foodblog with more than two participants. Second, three Society members will each embark on a very special journey over the next twelve days...and hopefully remain on course once this installment is over. Each of them has decided to quit smoking. This Foodblog will explore certain food-related issues that will arise from their decision: associated weight gain, healthier diet, better sense of taste, and an all-around sense of well-being and wholesomeness. Whilst there is no formal program unlike two of our previous Tag Teams -- A Tale of Two Kitchens and When Pocky Meets Pad Thai -- here is a general overview of things to come: Thursday, 2 February: Asian cooking using dishes from the various pictorials in the China forum Saturday, 4 February: Roasting meats Monday, 6 February to Wednesday, 8 February: Cuban cuisine Saturday, 11 February: Smoking pork butt Also planned are big breakfasts on the weekends and at least one meal at an "institution" school cafeteria, convention hall etc. Finally, I would like to take this moment to dedicate this Tag Team to the memory of my grandfather and my stepfather. You see, my grandfather died of lung cancer when I was ten years old. It was a devastating blow to my grandmother. Michael, my stepfather, died a few years ago of a heart attack caused in part by his diabetes -- which might have been exacerbated due to his smoking. Although he went cold turkey in the early 1990s, I firmly believe that had he quit even earlier than that, that he would still be alive today. As you can see, this Tag Team is very special to me. I hope that it's a special one for you too. Soba

Greetings from the OTHER Charleston! I am getting a rather late start because I got slammed the minute I got into work, but I am very excited about doing this blog. First, a geography lesson – anyone who watched World New Tonight last night on ABC is probably confused about where Charleston, West Virginia is located. They had a correspondent in Charleston (the capital city) reporting on the mine safety legislation that just passed, but the map they displayed showed Charles Town, a WV city about 5 hours away. Here is where both cities are located. West Virginia has been in the news recently for some very unhappy events. I hope to show you that West Virginia is more than these depressing occurrences, and that while not a culinary mecca, there is good food available to most residents of this state. I welcome, nay, encourage, any questions about West Virginia and its food. As the title of my blog suggests, there will be baking in this blog. Lots of baking and indeed baking with bacon. I found an interesting recipe for Swedish Ginger Cookies that calls for bacon fat. Mmmmm, bacon. I also just purchased some almond meal and might try to make macarons for the first time (inspired by this macaron thread on eG). I may bake other items on request, so think about what you might like to see. In addition, I need to bake myself a birthday cake (sorry, no cassoulet on my birthday). My birthday is Thursday (I will be 37), but I will probably get to baking and decorating this weekend. I would like your suggestions on what kind of cake (or pie?) I should bake for myself. My friends all think I am strange for wanting to bake my own birthday cake (and for other reasons also food related), but I love to bake (even if I do cuss a lot whilst doing so). Ideas? I have to run out for an hour or two, but before I leave, here was this morning’s breakfast: All hail the coffee maker, without which I would never get going. There is yogurt underneath all that granola. Gotta run, be back soon! Edited for tipos.

Greetings and salutations from sunny San Diego! Any of my closest friends will tell you I am not one to be easily intimidated, but I admit it is a bit unnerving to be directly following such exemplary bloggers as John Whiting. But don't worry, I'll get over myself fairly quickly. I was originally going to subtitle this blog something like "Beggars Banquet," or maybe "The Tightwad Gourmand" (as in "you've heard of the Frugal Gourmet, now meet ... " et cetera and so forth). These titles were attempts to address the fact that, for various reasons, I live a pretty low-budget lifestyle, but still manage to have a damn good time enjoying food. In fact, I kind of revel in finding and enjoying good cheap eats, and this blog would be a chance to go on at length about that revelry with folks of like mind. For one of the many things about eGullet that has really turned me on is the great egalitarianism of food tastes here--I've noticed that many of the same people who contribute passionately to topics on five-star restaurants and rarified vintages also weigh in with equal vigor about sliders, barbeque, chili, and other "just plain folks" food. But as to the blog title I wound up with: by the serendipity of scheduling, it turns out that I will be moving at the end of this month to a neighborhood a few miles away from the one I currently live in. That means not only a whole different kitchen, and a whole different household with different tolerances about cooking, but also a whole new neighborhood of food resources to explore. So--one of the themes of my blog this week will be taking you all along with me as I get ready to move my personal food act across town. If I'm lucky and the fellow currently occupying my new digs vacates in time, you'll actually get to see my new kitchen and what I'll soon have to work with; but at the very least I'll take you with me as I start exploring the shops and eateries around my new neighborhood. There might even be an IKEA run in there somewhere--meatballs ahoy! I don't get to do big cooking projects in my current living situation nearly as often as I'd like, partly because my current household companion (who I've immortalized in various posts as Fearless Housemate) is really sensitive to food smells, and partly because this wacky house has a substandard kitchen exhaust fan that vents directly into FH's bedroom--YIKES! So I do try to spare the poor guy from being stanked out of his own room as much as possible. HOWEVER, Fearless Housemate will be out with his band on a gig this Saturday evening, so I plan to execute some kind of minor cooking extravaganza in his absence--the exact nature of which will be determined by what looks good in the markets, what feels good to me, my energy level by the time we get to Saturday, PLUS your input and suggestions. As for the bulk of this week's meals: I'm taking inspiration from Pan's foodblog, in which he demonstrated the dining, take-out, and delivery food wonders of his immediate neighborhood. Only I'll have *two* neighborhoods full of dining and take-out opportunities to draw upon--my new one as well as my current one, both of which feature a fabulous array of inexpensive ethnic eateries. In fact, the teaser photos for my blog demonstrated just a small sampling of the local riches in my current neighborhood: The above, in order of appearance: a bento box from Nijiya Market; a medley of cold Szechuan-style appetizers from my beloved Ba Ren; and the iconic San Diego takeout meal, a fish taco combo, this one from El Cotixan, the nearest 24-hour taqueria to my current abode. And that's just for starters; within a five-mile radius of where I'm sitting right now, I can also sample such cuisines as Vietnamese, Korean, Thai, Middle Eastern, Filipino, Indian, South American, Greek, Hawaiian, Jewish-style deli, several different styles of hamburger from national chains to one-of-a-kind monsters, and others cuisines that I'm still only just discovering after three-and-a-half years in this town. Oh, and one other little adventure: on Sunday evening, I'm going to be playing Mistress of the Church Coffee Reception. The congregation of which I am a member is going to be hosting a distinguished lecturer, and I volunteered to do battle with the social hall's brand-new high-volume high-speed high-falutin' coffeemaker. I'm told it's supposed to be easy, all the instructions are written out and taped to the beast. Ooooo-kay ... so how come nobody else volunteered for this task? I sense a potential for this to turn into something right out of an "I Love Lucy" episode, so I'll be sure to bring my camera along in order to record any coffee carnage. There will be other neighborhood adventures as well, depending on time, schedule, whim, energy level, and audience suggestion. About those audience suggestions: I do hope folks will chime in early and often with questions and comments as well as suggestions. As you may have noticed, I like to have a lot of fun while hanging on the board here, and it's so much more fun when I have accomplices to help bat the conversational shuttlecock around. P.S. Oh yeah--despite my fondness for Frank Zappa, there will be no corn sandwiches in this blog (shudder). However, there may well be some fried seafood of some sort, though perhaps neither oysters nor eels (not that I wouldn't mind that...)

Marlena and I decided to put our blogs up separately, because we want to see lots of questions, and would hate to miss any. We offer round-the-clock coverage for your every quibble, query, or latent culinary quest, so please don't disappoint us - ask away about the foodlife you see in our blogs, or whatever hidden aspects of food culture you think we might be trying to keep hidden in the shadows outside the blog world (that's right, isn't it, Marlena? ). I was wondering what to call this blog, when I realized that my husband's belly was all but telling me - the end of New Year in Japan is a blessed relief from a surfeit of BEANS and SWEET POTATOES! Talking of surfeit...while the third day of New Year started much the same as the breakfasts described way back in my first blog 18 months ago, lunch was very "oshougatsu" (New Year). On our way to my father and mother in law's, we picked up two trays of sushi and a tray of mixed fried hors d'oeuvres (and certainly out of the reckoning of most people's culinary oeuvres, I wouldn't want care to be named as the creator of a platter of deepfried pork with onion sauce, deepfried green bean and meat rolls, deepfried prawns, deepfried potatoes and sweet potatoes, and something flat and squarish which remained unidentified and uneaten to the last.) The sushi, however, was good. The expensive sushi was plump, glossy squid, sea urchin, salmon roe, schnapper, and tuna. The cheaper sushi focused more on things like cucumber rolls and omelet. Here's son1 forcefeeding son2 with a cucumber roll, just to set the tone of the blog... Here's what was left when we remembered the camera...the paper plates and cups are a nod to my mother in law, who is getting a little senile and gets terribly confused about laying the table - better for us to bring EVERYTHING, and take EVERYTHING home. Here's my mother in law dishing up buta-jiru (a winter miso soup with root vegetables and pork in it). After some bad experiences, we never eat anything at her table that we haven't seen prepared - this soup was unaccountably sweet, but she was once an accomplished cook, and you can see how she reacted when asked to pose with her soup! She's standing by her 2-ring gas burner, the standard cooking equipment for any Japanese kitchen. On the way home, we went back to the supermarket, and spent about USD73 or GBP42...with two big boys, I count our food supply in hours rather than days! Here it all is - the 10% off pork scraps, the NZ lamb, the wieners, the nori (seaweed) squares, the bean sprouts, the snacks, the tea, the udon noodles, the rice, the mochi rice cakes, the hot dog rolls...any questions? Now here's the prep for tonight's dinner. Any idea what we're having?

Greetings--at this moment, I'm in the heart of Hampshire, England. Its 9 a.m. and I would have started this blog earlier--say about 3 hours earlier when I first woke up--but couldn't figure out a good title for it. I'm still not convinced, but I'm getting thirsty for caffeine and hungry hungry hungry, so figured I'd better tap something out before I spent all week fretting and never got a posting made! I decided on the title because I lead an unusual bi-continental lifestyle. I live in the Hampshire countryside of the United Kingdom, and write a food column--Roving Feast-- for The San Francisco Chronicle. i also write cookbooks, do broadcasting, and have a daughter in new york city. I'm here, I'm there, I'm inbetween, sometimes I want to cry out: who am i and where do i live? This week I'm actually at home in Britain working on a project that will keep me tied closelly to the kitchen; more about that later. Last week we were in a shepherds hut on a greek island perched high above the sea. we were there for several weeks; i love greece, and this week will probably still be making a few greek dishes in an effort to extend the well being i get when i think of being there. plus i love greek food which is seldom made well in american or british restaurants, or even in many restaurants in greece either. shortly after i do this blog, in a week or two, i'll be back in san francisco catching up on the tastiest stuff going on. so this is a good time to write a foodblog as will have time to devote to writing about each and every delicious thing we eat. this week should be fun, too, because it is the tail end of christmas, and having missed the original olde english christmas, my british husband is trying to catch up with the christmas pudding, mince pies, and all the things he went without during our sojurn in greece. and most of all, i'm really really glad to be doing this blog, because its getting me back in the egullet.org mode: i've been away tooooooo long working at things that seem so important! now i know that nothing is as important as egullet! right? okay. i'm off to brew some caffeine. having brought back that finely ground coffee from greece. This morning instead of my usual dark roast french press, its going to be greek coffee, brewed in a briki, the little long handled traditional pot. i take my greek coffee metrios, that is with a medium amount of sugar. its thick, and strong, and fragrant, it smells like being in Greece! in keeping up the theme, and because i've already been awake hours without eating and figure its lunchtime at least, i'm making us feta cheese omelets. usually i only make omelets for lunch or dinner, but hey, i'm not really locked into any time frame for any meal. i pride myself on being able to eat anything at any time! Feta cheese omelet: learned to make this from a greek mechanic a long time ago in another lifetime when i drove my vw van to greece and broke down somewhere near patras. the mechanic fixed our car, and fixed us an omelet that i've been making in variations ever since. today I have some really excellent feta cheese that i bought in the athens central market. it is made from sheeps milk and is very creamy and rich. i had a lot of fun speaking with the cheese monger there in my pidgen greek; i ended up making a lot of baaaa-ing noises in an effort to differentiate between goats, cows and sheeps milk. I break up a few thick slices of feta, so that they are bite sized, and add them to beaten eggs; probably 2 ounces of cheese to one egg. i'm using three eggs for the two of us. Heat the pan with a little extra virgin, then pour it in; the edges sizzle in the hot oil; then i turn the heat down, and pull up the crisp sizzled edges every so often for the liquid egg to run in. I like to keep the cheese dispursed evenly throughout the pan. When the omelet is golden on the bottom, invert it onto a plate then turn it over in the pan and brown its top. Sometimes I do this under the broiler instead. Okay, its ready to go; though i usually sprinkle dried oregano over it, today i have fresh dill, and green onions; i'll chop them and sprinkle them over the top. i also have some pita--the greek pita without pockets--that i also brought back from athens. i'll warm that up too. Speak with you later, after we've eaten and digested. Marlena

Boker Tov Kulam! Good morning everyone! Chag Hannukah Sameach (Happy Hannukah) and Merry Christmas from the Land of Milk and Honey! Last night was the first night of Hannukah and my town lit the big Hannukiah in front of the "Welcome to Hod HaSharon" sign. I am very excited about blogging this week. This is my first blog and I hope that I can live up to the other wonderful blogs. Didn't Zucchini Mama do a great job this past week? My other half, David (a.k.a. Tapenade) or he may tell you "my better half" is going to be joining in on the blog. We have planned a lot of interesting things for you to see. Tonight you are all formally invited to an Israeli wedding. David and I are going to a colleague of mine's wedding and we will show how weddings are done here. Don't worry, I am taking a gift for all of us and you can relax in your pajamas. Anything goes here in Israel!

A Merry Zucchini Christmas to You! "Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a ...?" In this blog we'll be flying over the Canadian Rocky Mountains for Christmas in cowboy country. As they say in this household: "Keep yer fork Duke, there's pie!" Hello from sunny Vancouver! This is your Saskatchewan expat correspondent Zucchini Mama reporting from the funky boroughs of Little Mountain Neighborhood, just up the hill from Aurora Bistro. During this Christmas blog we'll be making and consuming some prairie soul food, baking up a storm, and heading to the rootin' tootin' town of Cochrane Alberta, birthplace of country singer George Fox and home of Bernie's Bavarian Bakery! Yee haw! Git along little dogies! This can be a challenging time of the year when psychological tectonic plates are shifting. Memories of holidays past suddenly bob to the surface, and the ghost of Christmas futures can inspire or haunt us. So let's all share our Christmas present: our culinary traditions and our survival techniques. (Sometimes they may be one and the same.) Whether you celebrate Kwanzaa, Hannukah, or you just hunker down for a binge of your favorite movies, tell us what you're eating this year. It would mean the world to me if you would put up a couple of "postcards" and a few words about what makes this specific Christmas or holiday special to you, with specific references to your family food traditions. (It would also take a bit of pressure off me as a first-time blogger who is relatively new to eGullet.) Besides, I'd love for this blog to be a kind of window on the world for my son Ullie to be able to enjoy for years to come--an educational thread and an aide-memoire of his fifth Christmas on earth. I am a big fan of eGullet and am drawn to it as if I was warming my hands around the hearths or stoves and ovens in people's kitchens all around the world. Some days it's like a global kitchen party. So come on in, pull up a comfortable chair, grab a snack and a drink and let's chat and cook. We'll have a giant eGullet potluck. I feel that since joining eGullet I have felt a renewed incentive to suck the marrow from life's bones, (particularly if the marrow is chocolate ganache, darling). So let's do it. Let's seize the carp du jour, chomp the char tartar, and take the time to stop and scratch and sniff the cocoa solids. Let the Zucchini Mama Christmas Party begin!

Much like cookbooks, what the world needs now is many fewer restaurant critics. Over the next week, it’s my goal to ensure that you talk me out of my job, while I, meanwhile, try to talk you into it. So to speak. In other words, I want you to ask me lots of questions. My life doesn’t hang in the balance of my next review, something that I’ve been doing professionally for the past 15 years. But from writing about restaurants I’ve also come to know the food service business quite well, I suppose. And behind the swinging doors lie much bigger stories, especially of the collaboration of chef, farmer and fisherman; distribution; cross-cultural influences (Vancouver, where the culinary DNA is still knitting itself together, is a fine laboratory to observe that in); the collusion of wine with food; and more recently, the necessity of sustainability, especially as it relates to the global fishery. This week I’m going to eat my last Russian caviar. Ever. No, restaurant reviewing would be much less interesting if I couldn’t write about these bigger stories. So I hope that I can transmit to you how the research works, how the writing gets done, and ultimately, lend a sense as to how culinary cultures--born from diversity--emerge with a sense of their new locality. We’ll be covering a considerable amount of real estate across this big, raw-boned place: • We’ll begin today In British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley Wine Country and for the next two days and nights look in on some agricultural history (in an attempt to track the area's culinary evolution) and wineries, cook with chef Michael Allemeier of the Mission Hill Family Estate Winery (braised boar cheeks will be featured at a Friday night dinner party with some wine folks) and a revisit to a restaurant to demonstrate our review process and methodology. • On Saturday I’ll return to our home in Vancouver—where we have some friends joining us for a little seasonal cheer, ‘Seven Hour Sacrificial Lamb’ and ‘Cheesier-Than-Mariah Carey Scalloped Potatoes.’ • On Sunday morning we’ll be flying to the wild outside coast of Vancouver Island to the ecotourism town of Tofino, which is about an hour’s flight in a twin engine aircraft. Once there we’ll be looking in at coastal cuisine from the pans of chef Andrew Springett at The Wickaninnish Inn and, in a more casual vein, at the construction of excellent fish tacos at Sobo. • On Monday we’ll be returning to Vancouver to go behind the scenes at pastry chef Thomas Haas’s (he was the opening executive pastry chef at Daniel in Manhattan) lovely production facility, and observe John van der Liek at the Oyama Sausage Factory, which carefully produces more than 150 products. We'll aslo track the history of a new restaurant, from development menu to opening night and review. • Through the balance of the week we’ll look inside many more professional kitchens and markets, hopes and dreams. I’m sure we’ll find a few other things to do too. Once again, I very much encourage your questions. Last night, the Ice Wine harvest was supposed to start. In order to trigger that, Vintners' Quality Alliance reguations demand the temperature must stay at or below -8 degrees Centigrade through the entire pick, which can take a while. Anything else is just Late Harvest fruit. Alas, there was a slight inversion off the lake yesterday afternoon and it was called off. So we stoked the fire and rolled back into bed. But now I’m off to pick up some croissants down the hill at La Boulangerie. We baked some Irish soda bread yesterday as well. I’ll make some strong coffee when I’m back, and begin to tell you a little more about this disturbingly beautiful place . . . Welcome, Jamie Image: On the Beach - Okanagan Lake last afternoon, 1530 hours.

Good Morning. It's raining. I'll get right to the photos! All Breakfasts Served this morning: As plans for (human)meals for the next few days come up, I'll let you in on them. One special highlight of the week will be Sunday: we're having a true Mexican/Michoacan goat roast in our yard with one of our goats. Don Miguel, a trained butcher/Birria cooker from Michoacan will cook for some of our food-industry friends from the SF Bay area. I promise many photos. More about me later, the restaurants are calling, I've got to call the field with the orders, I'll be back in an hour or so. cg

Hello dear friends, members of eGullet! Stan asked me if I would be interested in blogging this week and I said yes – that was back in I think September. He is very cunning in his ways. I wonder if it’s going to be possible to see the rhythms as I weave through this week. So much is changing, life is taking special, lucky turns. The routine I am trying to establish is not perfect yet, I’m in the midst of a battle to get used to a new one. I am doing the best I can to prepare to catch the golden apple next time it comes ‘round, and we’ve got the holiday coming up. It’s very particular being in a holiday mood when everyone around you has no clue. Can you imagine it? Your own private secret holiday. It’s important to try and keep things cool as I deal with my vendors, they are on a completely different wavelength. They just don’t ‘get’ the idea of monumental importance that seems to be oozing from my being. They know I’m a strange one, they think it’s funny, and from there, we do Thanksgiving. At the same time I keep my daily life grinding along. The leaves are changing here in Lyon, the weather has gotten cold, we had ourselves the annual a glass of the Beaujolais Nouveau (I don’t know why they said it was supposed to be more ‘traditional’ this year, it still tasted like banana bubblegum to me.) We took this moment, as we have for the last few years, to map out what we might like to do this year for the holiday. I’ve taken out my notes and taken a chance to remember what I liked and didn’t like about last year. In any case, I have a loose plan laid out (I don’t like to write things in stone, especially when blogging!) and I heartily welcome you to accompany me through this week. I hope I can do it justice.

Remember how Pogo sang, to the tune of Deck the Halls "Walla Walla Wash and Kalamazoo?" You don't? You're too young! In any case, this blog will take you from Walla Walla, not to Kalamazoo, but to Orcas Island, by way of Bainbridge Island. That's all the way from the extreme southeast corner to the absolute northwest corner of Washington. You'll see things you never imagined about Washington, and we'll cook and eat all along the way. As you might remember from my first foodblog, I'm a personal chef. This week I'm going to show you Extreme Personal Cheffing, as well as lower-case personal cheffing and just plain cooking. And I'm going to show you lots of beautiful parts of our state, especially if there's good food to be found there. Ready, set, go! A couple of months ago a guy down in Walla Walla asked me to do the food for his 30th anniversary party, in a church kitchen, with a staff of teenagers. There'd be no opportunity to see the kitchen before the event, it was a sit-down plated dinner for 50 (17 of whom were small children), and the crew would be kids from 12-15 years old, none of whom I'd get to meet in advance of the event. Oh, and no weird food, please! What would you have done in a case like that? If you were smarter than I am, you'd have gotten under the bed and sucked your thumb. Me, I said, sure, what the hell, why not? Thus begins our tale. Taking my husband with me for moral support, I set out for Walla Walla, some 6 hours away, with a car full of cooking implements and foods that might be hard to find in Walla Walla. It's quite a journey from Puget Sound. Now, I have a zillion pictures for you, but ImageGullet "is experiencing technical difficulties," so this first post is just to say hi and give you a little teaser about what's to come. As soon as I can get my pictures posted, we'll be on our merry way. I'm glad you're along for the ride!

Prologue: Our hero and master chef has gone off to the wilds of Elsewhere in America to slay dragons with his high notes. Left to her own devices, our heroine quickly realizes that ordering out every night will not only expand her waistline, but severely reduce her cash flow, and one can only eat baked potatoes for so long without getting bored. She has no other alternative but to do what she has successfully resisted for an obscene number of years. She must...learn...to...cook. Cast of characters: bergerka, your intrepid heroine slkinsey, the absent hero Charlie, their roommate, who was kind enough to lend your heroine his digital camera and who seems to have no objection to serving as a test subject for recipes ewindels, dessert maven and restaurant god Eric_Malson, frequent partner in crime for cooking and restaurant/bar trips SarahD, ditto Asher, Zebulun and Issachar, the ferrets, who turn their noses up at mice, preferring raw chicken. Mickey, the little bastard of a cute fuzzy brown mouse who has taken up residence in our apartment. Mickey pushes traps aside contemptuously with his nose and likes to poop on my stovetop. A few other characters will pop in and out from time to time. Act 1: First of all, thanks, everyone, for putting up with another foodblog from me. For anyone who doesn't know, I'm an opera singer who lives in New York City with slkinsey, our roommate Charlie, and three cute little ferrets. Somehow or other, I missed the day when we were all taught to cook, although I bake pretty decently. As mentioned above, slkinsey is out of town until just before Thanksgiving, and I am taking the opportunity to figure out the mysteries of the kitchen once and for all. So far, I've made the following: a spicy pumpkin soup, described here, which was really good, sopa alentejana, also delicious, which Eric_Malson taught me to make (and which was my first experience ever poaching an egg. Hint: do not poach eggs for 5-8 minutes, as The Joy of Cooking tells you to do. You end up with concrete eggs. Fat Guy's EGCI course, here, is much better and easier to follow, and combined with telephone advice from mom produced two perfectly cooked eggs), and arroz al frango (a Portuguese chicken and rice dish), which Eric and I made this past Monday night. No, you don't get to see pictures of my first attempt at cutting up a whole chicken - there's only so much laughter at my expense that I can take. There were also pumpkin cranberry muffins that didn't turn out quite right, and a pumpkin cranberry pecan bread that did, I'll post the recipe below. As mentioned above, Charlie the roommate has lent me his super-duper high tech digital camera, which does everything except push the button for you, so there will be pictures. I can't promise you the exquisite composition provided by, say, slkinsey and bleudauvergne, but they shouldn't be THAT blurry, and yes, there will be ferret porn, metaphorically speaking. I have planned the week to include a few evenings of cooking for myself, two evenings out (one at Churrascaria Tropical in Queens and one with fried dumplings in Chinatown followed by a trip to Pegu Club to overindulge - I mean, have one or two little...teeny...drinks), and - yes - one dinner party with friends at my apartment. If you have any (REASONABLE, remember I'm a beginner) requests, please express 'em and I'll do my best to accommodate. I may pick up opera tickets one or two nights, which will throw the whole schedule into turmoil. Let's get started with breakfast, shall we? Before he took off into the wild blue yonder, slkinsey taught me, once and for all, to use the damned espresso machine. We have a Rancilio Silvia, and I've always found it intimidating, but no more - after two weeks, I'm practically an expert. Plus I have the written instructions up on the refrigerator door. Slkinsey also roasted about a week's worth of coffee before he left, but I ran out of it and do NOT know how to work the roaster and have no desire to try. Fortunately, Eric_Malson introduced me to Cafe Caracolillo, which can be had for $8 a pound at La Rosita restaurant (where they make a delicious cafe con leche and cubano sandwich) and which makes a dark, thick, chocolatey shot of espresso. The bag is shown here: Here is the Rancilio, savior of my morning: Oooh, sorry, that picture is kind of dark - I thought I brightened it before I uploaded, but it was very early (I had to be at my day job at 8:30 today, a long story). Here is the finished product, with a slice of pumpkin pecan cranberry bread. Ack! I'll work on the pictures tonight, I promise. That one is really not very good. For my birthday, a couple of weeks ago (28 again!), I asked my brothers and sisters to send me their favorite recipes. My sister Carol sent this one, for the bread: Mix together in a bowl: 2 cups sugar 4 eggs 1 cup oil 2 cups pumpkin (cooked and mashed or canned - I used the leftover fresh pumpkin from the soup) Into a separate bowl, sift: 3 1/3 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon nutmeg 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon allspice Have ready: 2/3 cup milk 1 cup chopped nuts (I like pecans) 1 cup raisins, fresh or dried cranberries (if you use fresh, as I did - I like the tartness - cut them in half. I used about 1.5 cups), or mixed raisins/dates Cream the eggs, oil, sugar and pumpkin in a bowl. Gradually add dry ingredients, alternating with the milk. Beat well. Fold in the fruit and nuts. Bake in greased and floured loaf pan (this makes one very large loaf or two medium sized ones. Either way, fill pans a little more than 1/2 full with batter) at 350 degrees, for about one hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

Good morning, first time blogger here. I'm quite nervous and excited to be doing this. I hope to, as past bloggers have, keep you riveted, informed, and engaged in a dialogue. Feel free to ask question, offer suggestions and comment on everything! But first info on me: My name is Maggie and I live in the FAR northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois: Crystal Lake, with my husband John and our kitty-cat Cashew. Besides the usual mega-marts (Dominick’s, Jewel, Meijer) Crystal Lake does have a few nice shoppies: Joseph’s Market, Rosmart Polish Deli (Go Polska!), and a Mexican market. Even though our weeks are hectic, a 3hr. roundtrip commute to/from work plus a 4 hours class once a week, I strive to prepare 4 weekday meals at home. I am an adventurous eater and see the plate as a place to explore flavors, textures, and cooking styles. I have been fortunate to live in Poland, travel around Europe, and the continental US. I am blessed with foodie parents that encouraged culinary Maggie. At age 9, I read Jeff Smith’s The Frugal Gourmet cover to cover. Because of an extra busy week (month-end at work) my posts might be delayed, so please be patient. The Game Plan: - 5 dinners at home - 1 “crap” food night - 3 dinners out - Last trip of the season to the Green Market, in Lincoln Park - Excursion to Polish Markets more info to follow Thanks and I hope you all enjoy -- Maggie

Click here for The Tale of the Corporate Cafeteria. WARNING: This is a Foodblog unlike any other. There won't be very many pictures. Not only do I not own a digital camera, I'm not quite a techie. For instance, it really does take me more than two minutes to figure out how to use a cell phone. Yes, I'm hopeless. My eating habits have changed drastically since late 2003. In December 2003, I weighed something like 138 lbs. soaking wet. Fast forward twenty-two months and countless trips to the gym, and I'm now 187; furthermore, I'm contemplating going on a diet for the first time in my life. It's been quite a ride. This week promises to be fairly interesting. You'll get to see how a professional hobbit deals with having seven to nine meals a day, in ways that make Frodo Baggins look like an amateur. In some ways, meals are an adventure every day. At other times, eating tends to be a chore. Lest you think that my food life consists of endless bowls of cottage cheese topped with tuna and Mrs. Dash, I do plan to actually cook a dinner or two that's worthy of the Dinner! thread and not the infamous Dinner II thread. What these will consist of shall remain a secret for now. I'll give you a hint though -- one of them involves a dish only an eGulleteer could love. Sunday evening I'll probably want to have dinner someplace in the city. This is where you, Gentle Reader, come in. Take a look through our New York forum and pick two or three restaurants that you think I might have a reasonable chance of securing a reservation on short notice. It doesn't matter if you don't have any familiarity with restaurants in New York. I have a feeling that if enough readers weigh in on this Foodblog, I'll run a relatively good chance of going to some place good. I don't have any food dislikes apart from stinky cheese (so things like epoisses are out), jellied eels and extraordinarily weird food such as although it's worth noting that something like doesn't phase me. Weird, huh? So without further adieu, welcome to my world. I promise it won't be too bad...

Good morning! I'm Chris Amirault, and this here's my first foodblog. Hell, it's my first blog of any kind. Thanks for reading it! First, a quick personal introduction. I'm an unremarkable eGulleteer: pretty good skills around the kitchen, adventurous palate, opinionated as all get-out. I've got me a swell life here, what with a great partner, two great daughters, a great dog, a great house, and a great job; you'll see those folks and things at different moments during the week (though, unfortunately, not the preschoolers in my care due to security concerns). I should say right off the bat that my main hope this week is to interact with y'all as much as you'll allow. Ask questions about what you see and read here; I'll do the same, so that the foodblog can have a sense of dialogue to it. Also, feel free to bump me in directions you find interesting. While I hope to hit a few particular meals, I also feel pretty flexible, and would be happy to try to go where you want me to go! I do, however, have an overall theme. When Stash asked me for a title and image to announce my foodblog, I realized that my interests weren't only centered on sharing my week's eating and cooking with y'all. Of course, they are a little. Well, ok, a lot. Might as well cop to the narcissism required for foodblogging right out of the box, you know? Like many around the eGullet Society, I'm a big fan of the food scene in my home town, particularly concerning purveyors and cheap to moderate eats. But unlike folks living in NYC, Nice, NOLA, or Napa, Providence RI seems not to rate very highly for out-of-towners, particularly now that our ex-mayor, Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci, Jr., is making license plates in a NJ jail instead of marinara in City Hall. I'm here to tell you that it's a damned shame, because Providence is a remarkable food town. So, in addition to showing you a slice of my own food life, I will also be trying to set the place of Providence for you, dear reader. I take this challenge with the extreme optimism of someone who lives in a town where, as Mad Peck knows, most of us live off -- or in my case, work on -- Hope. To start, I offer you an initial structuring analogy, complete with paper plate: a fantasy Providence meal, one that you can't get in its entirety anywhere in town but that represents the odd correspondences among some of the cuisines from which so many of us make our meals. It's a delicious combination of immigrant and working-class foods, chosen from a few dozen possibilities, that makes Providence stomachs growl in delight: First, for an app, we have nime chow, a.k.a. goi cuon, a.k.a. fresh spring roll. This is a staple item at the many pan-Southeast-Asian restaurants found throughout the Providence area, and the familiarity of the dish is an indication of the wide dissemination of Cambodian, Vietnamese, Laotian, Thai, and Hmong cuisine over the last few decades. I ordered this particular one at HON's (House of Noodles, a great pho joint just over the Cranston line on Rt 2, a.k.a. Reservoir Ave) by requesting "goi cuon" as written in the Vietnamese menu, but the hostess made sure to confirm that I wanted "nime chow," using the more familiar Cambodian word for a fresh spring roll. Like last week's bloggers, Susan and Kristin, I'm hoping to make a southeast Asian meal this week. We're pretty flexible about names, as you can also tell from the main course, the NY System weiner. Many would tell you that this short dog, topped with mustard, minced onion, chili sauce, and celery salt, sitting in a center-split bun, is the official food of Providence. Its origins have been traced to Coney Island, but that's probably apocryphal; it's more likely that a canny weiner vendor several decades ago thought he could sell more franks to hard-working folks if he gave 'em the NYC seal of approval. I bought this one at the Olneyville NY System shop down the road from Hon's on Rt 2, the closest source to my house for good weiners; you'll likely see one of these making its way toward my mouth sooner rather than later! For dessert? Why, the longer-than-it-is-wide dessert of choice among the fine folks who turned Providence into a foodie haven in the mid-20th century: the cannoli. I have yet to find a perfect cannoli in Providence -- if you know a contender, please post here -- but, given its central place of Federal Hill in the establishment of the city's culinary credibility, leaving Italian-American food off my little paper plate would have been a travesty. This baby is from Scialo Bakery, nearly 100 years old and still in fine art deco form. Like all food, these three items say more about Providence folks than we probably realize. I'm hoping that, in the coming days, I'll be able to figure out what a few of those things are -- with your help, of course! -- during this glimpse into my odd little food world. In the meanwhile, I've got a week of shopping, cooking, and eating to do (and I'm already nervous about the prep work for that -- there oughta be a special brand of foodblog Maalox! ) not to mention full days of actual wage-earning work. And the dog needs a walk! It's time to get crackin'! But first, on this fifth rainy day in a row (again, see the Mad Peck Providence poster for details on the rain situation here in Providence), since some foodblog conventions are worth keepin': coffee!

Click here for the first Tag Team Foodblog: A Tale of Two Kitchens. This is the second of a series of recurring threads and a special feature of the eGullet Foodblog. As with the first Tag Team, two Society members will be blogging and will be coordinating menus throughout this week. Out of seven days, they will commit to a set number of matched meals, in this case five. (The number of meals may change in future installments, depending on the participants, their schedules and other factors.) The execution doesn't have to be the same, or even the recipe, but the overall meals have to be essentially similar. Snowangel previously appeared in Midwestern Thai. Torakris was previously featured in New Year's Festivities in Japan, A Week of Fun in Japan, and Pocky and the Geisha. Susan and Kristin will post later today, but in the meantime, here are a few highlights during the upcoming week: Tuesday, 4 October: based on trips to the farmer's market, or Kris's coop basket. This could be interesting....This will really be a "wing it" night, and suggestions from members will be solicited. Wednesday, 5 October: dinner on the run. Susan will be doing a soup from her husband's new cookbook, which will be featured in a separate topic. Thursday, 6 October: Recipes from RecipeGullet. Advice and feedback from members would be greatly appreciated. Some of this may be predicated by trips to the market. Friday, 7 October: Three recipes from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet. As with Thursday's dinner, this will depend on what is available at the market. Saturday, 8 October: Kristin is going to a festival with her family. Susan's family will celebrate a birthday, and she will smoke brisket, in addition to baking a cake. Sunday, 9 October: BBQ. Kris and her family are going to friend's for a BBQ, and Susan's family will have a neighbor get-together. Monday, 10 October: Homemade pasta. Wish our bloggers luck! As before, we've started the thread a day early so that everyone can orient themselves and get their bearings. In addition to all of the above, they will be blogging their daily eating. Let the games begin! Soba

OK, Susan wins !! Not only did she precede this blog with a great installment of her own, but she also guessed the identity of this humble blogger, based on Soba's teaser. Good job Susan...have a beer on me Being a first time blogger, I studied the masters who blogged before me. So who am I to give tradition a cold shoulder? From what I gather, we are all supposed to Hail to the temple of caffeine.... And keeping with tradition...a little about your blogger for the week (the foodblog Czars must really be scraping the barrel if they asked me to blog)... I belong to a small (approx 100K worldwide) religion/community called Zoroastrian or Parsi, who's origins date back to 1500 BC. This community originated in Persia and settled in India around 700 AD. Throughout this time, they have maintained their unique culture and cuisine. (The only reason for me mentioning this is to share some of the hard to find recipes from this community....see list of topics below). Having spent my formative years on 3 different continents with very different culinary outlooks put my taste buds through the wringer and frazzled my poor little mind. WARNING: what you may be exposed to in this blog will be from my own twisted perception of "good eats", so proceed at your own risk !! Seriously though, while I enjoyed "good food" for as long as I can remember, my interest in cooking only peeked when I was in college, where I did not have my mom or the private chef who helped her to cook family meals. It was at this point that I decided to get an off-campus apartment and start making my own meals. I soon realized that I could not do much worse than the so-called chef in the college cafeteria, though I did come close a few initial occasions. Soon friends and friends of friends showed up for weekend dinners (that's college weekends, which start on Thursday and end on Monday), many of which we would start cooking around 3am after a few rounds of "social drinks" at the local bars. Anyway, having spent most of my life in big cities, I currently reside in a suburban area, bordered on the East by Philadelphia and Lancaster (Amish country) on the West. Over the next week, I hope to bring you a glimpse of each (city dining as well as Country/Amish dining). I would like to make this blog as interactive as possible and I plan to answer each question, but I do ask for your patience, as I have a busy work week and a sick family member. Speaking of family, there are 3 of us, my wife, myself and our cat Peanut, aka "little miss foodie" (she prefers foie gras and caviar over almost anything else). Wendy, you may have that alias on eGullet, but in this household, it is already taken You may see some posts of what I have for lunch while at work, but for legal reasons, I prefer not to go into details or identify of my employer (remember the Google and American Airline incidents?). All I can say is that it is a large multinational company, for which I get to do a little overseas travel and enjoy the local customs and cusine. This is where I need some audience participation...... I already have a few special events planned (on Wed and Sat evening) and given the limited amount of time we have, I need your help in prioritizing a list of topics you would like me to feature on the blog. Please post or PM me your top 3 choices: * Lunch at an Amish restaurant * Visit to an Amish farm * Tour of Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market * Philly Cheesesteak Kings * Breakfast Bonanza * Special "Parsi dishes" like Dhansak or Sali Gosht or Machi (Fish) nu Sauce * Typical Indian dishes like Tandoori or Goan Curry Rice * Other food topics of your choice (please specify) While it is with some trepidation that I embark on this journey, I hope you are as excited as I am about this blog. Cheers Percy

Good Morning! ...What a way to start a day, and what a day to start a foodblog. Today is very meaningful here at Casa del Burgess in sunny Florida. Though the timing of this blog happened by chance, I am happy to be sharing the day and the coming week with you. It is a date I treasure, perhaps even more than any holiday or my birthday. It is the anniversary of moving to Florida. Four years ago was settlement on the purchase of our Florida home and move-in day. It was the night of our first dinner here. Today is also Russ’s birthday! I’m an avid walker-slash-runner, and even though I don’t enjoy getting up before dark to do so, on some of my days off I take my walk in the morning at the beach to watch the sun rise. When I do, I don’t even drink coffee before I go. I save that for when I come back. Today's walk was short; I was eager to get home, to continue celebrating and start foodblogging. I love the state of Florida as much as I love the world of food. Welcome to this week’s foodblog and the celebrations: a birthday, an anniversary, a wine festival, a picnic, and more...

Hi, wow, been very nervous about this, but now that I'm at the jumping off point it doesnt seem so bad, lol. Welcome back to Scotland, Edinburgh again in fact, although hopefully, a different view of our city and eating. I live with my husband and mum, my sister and her little girl are here for most meals during the week, I also look after her little one after school so I'm usually on lunch duty too. My main enthusiasm is baking, I love making bread, cakes and cookies, however I do not partake as I can only eat a soft/pureed diet. I also make jam, I have an occasional stall at my niece's school market. On the agenda this week, a trip to a pick your own orchard, jams and jellies, haggis, a dry run on making a pumpkin shaped cake and international talk like a pirate day! arr. I have to scoot out but will be back shortly with (hopefully) a laptop cable that will allow me to post some pictures of today's eating!