I just use it as an excuse. The truth is, I only use the cultural intrigue over Oktoberfest as an excuse to do things like this. Because in any reasonable persons mind, this is a bit too far. One too many. Coco Chanel is telling me to take something off before I leave the house… Read More
Although it seems like most of America sees Oktoberfest as The Festival of Barely Contained Breasts And Bad Beer In October, it really isn’t meant to be any of those things. Oktoberfest began more than 200 years ago as a wedding celebration, it’s morphed into a celebration of local food and drink. In Germany, they… Read More
If you want to watch a culinary sports crowd get rilled up, ask what the “right way to make chili” really is. Just meat? Beans? No beans? Pork, vegetables, beef? Tomatoes? Because if you do it “wrong” you might was well be at Morton’s and ask for ketchup with your steak. Or waltz yourself in… Read More
If you follow me on twitter, you may have seen my announcement that I shot a TV show for Lifetime back in January. The premise of the show was to take people with interesting ideas for food products and develop those ideas into product lines that end up on grocery store shelves. There is a… Read More
I’ve started to think about dishes that have made an impact on me over the years, a salt roasted whole fish I ate in italy, curried soup I had in New York, even pancakes from my Grandfather. I didn’t grow up in a culinary family, I grew up in a defrost-and-feed family and decided I… Read More
I have wandered into a complete obsession with making bread. It started slowly, and really, rather timidly. When I first started, I was afraid of yeast, and a wee bit convinced that it hated me. I threw several mounds of fail dough in the trash after it refused to rise. I learned a few things… Read More
I didn’t grow up eating Sweet potatoes. I never saw them on my Thanksgiving table or at Sunday dinner. They just didn’t exist in my world. Until one chilly afternoon in College when I stopped by the dorm room of a Souther friend of mine who had just pulled a Sweet potato, covered… Read More
I’m not a beer snob. To be honest, the term has always rubbed against the grain. I’m a beer fan, a beer lover, a girl fascinated by beer, but I’m not a snob. I spent years on the fringes of the music industry in LA, and the beer snobs I meet now echo those same… Read More
You inspire me. You really do. One of my favorite moments of my day is reading emails from you, those of you who read my blog and like what I’m doing. And sometimes,the emails have a common theme. A thread that runs through out the world, across the internet, and remind me of how we… Read More
Although most of you are starting to pull out those wool sweaters you neatly packed away a few months ago, here in Los Angeles we are in the throws of a record heat wave that drug us into 108 degree heat yesterday. While most of the sane people of LA stayed indoors and avoided the… Read More
There are two ways to look at this. It’s either the summer death rattle manifesting itself in an ice cream during the first week of fall, or it’s the nexus of the best of summer treats and the best of fall beers joining forces at the perfect moment. For this, I used Bison Chocolate Stout.… Read More
When it seems like your entire life revolves around a food blog, small things make you really excited. Like making homemade tortillas with beer and realizing how much better they are than any other tortilla you’ve ever had. Or getting a shout out from The Cooking Channel as if they knew just how to… Read More
I have a confession to make. Before starting this blog, I tried to make beer cheese soup and failed. I was baffled, at first, but figured out that a combination of my lack of patience (manifesting itself in my cheese dumping rather than slow adding) and a furious boil, resulted in a sloppy mess.… Read More
Clearly, I’m ready for fall. And in Los Angeles, that just means that Dodgers games are starting to end and I get to wear a light sweater. If I feel like it. Oh, and fall produce. If I haven’t mentioned to you before my favorite part of living in Southern California, its this:… Read More
Last Friday I was able to visit the Los Angeles CBS studios. They even let me do a cooking segment. Originally slotted for 4 to 5 minutes, the loved me so much, they let me run to 6 1/2 minutes. Aren’t they great? A few questions threw me off, “Were you in a… Read More
When it comes to baking, I’m always intrigued by a new spin on an old favorite. Not to say that I don’t fully appreciate the simplicity and beauty of a perfect and well done classic recipe. I’ll never tire of a traditional, straight forward apple pie with a huge scoop of homemade vanilla bean ice… Read More
If you live in the Los Angeles area, I’m going to need you to do me a favor. I’ve somehow been booked on CBS, Los Angeles mid-day news with a cooking segment this Friday, August 31st. They want me to do a quick Cooking With Beer segment on the news at noon. People will… Read More
There are some great elements in this world we live in that we beg the universe to some how bring together. Like a Yankees vs. Dodgers World Series Or an episode of The Office directed by Christopher Guest Or Trey Parker have complete creative control over The White House Holiday Card Or a reality show… Read More