Winter has arrived — after a lovely day yesterday — all snowflakes falling gently from a sky out of which no gale-force winds blew (a perennial winter problem here) — this morning dawned frozen and cold. Three below outside. I’m certainly glad I blocked the dog door with that very-swanky piece of styrofoam I cut to fit last winter — because even with the 2-foot square hole in my back door blocked off, it’s chilly in my house this morning. And poor Jacques, who is staying with me for the week while the MH drives the Famous Author to Arizona,…
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Bonnie over at Ethicurean picked up this correction that the WSJ ran this morning on the money that Wade Dokken has paid Alice Waters to endorse his Ameya Preserve. I don’t have much more to add to the several items I’ve already written about Alice Waters and the Ameya Preserve. Ameya’s advertising and marketing claims to be green are entirely unsupported. That Alice Waters is drinking Wade Dokken’s koolaid is disappointing, but at this point, not a surprise. In addition, business owners who are struggling and looking to improve their marketing and customer support may consider checking out here how…
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My DSL is on the fritz — something in the lines apparently, the tech support guy from my ISP (shout out to Bridgeband, they’re great and have terrific support) says it’s in the wires. We think it has something to do with the windstorms we’ve been having. Which means I’m waiting on Qwest. Which is a drag. So I’m ducking out a couple of times a day to the library or one of the coffee houses in town where there’s a wireless connection, but for the most part, I’m back in the pre-internet world. Which is sort of interesting. You…
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While Sushi Nozawa was the culinary highlight not just of my trip to LA, but perhaps of my entire gustatory existence, there was more food fun to be had during my visit to LA. On Wednesday I went over to Brentwood to have dinner with my oldest college friend and his wife and year-old baby. They were hosting a couple, also with a little munchkin, who were visiting from France and they took over the cooking duties. Now my old friend Matt grew up to be kind of a big deal studio executive, and so people bring him really really…
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I have a little piece up at Culinate about how mushroom hunting saved my health during grad school. It was fun to write, hope you enjoy it.
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When I was in LA last week, Nina and I managed to sneak away to Sushi Nozawa for a quick lunch. If you Google Sushi Nozawa, you’ll find all sorts of posts about how Nozawa-san is known as the “sushi nazi” and that he’s thrown all sorts of famous people out of the restaurant. It’s a completely unassuming little restaurant in a strip mall in Studio City — when you walk in there are perhaps ten little tables — two- and four-tops and a small bar that seats maybe eight people. We were worried we’d be too late to sit…
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I’ve got a post up at Ethicurean. Looks like Alice Waters had an answer to why she’s involved with the Ameya Preserve. You can read all about it here.
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Here at LivingSmall we’re closing up shop for the week — I’m heading south to stay with my friends the striking screenwriters (if I make it to the picket lines, I’ll be sure to get a photo). We completely support the striking screenwriters here at LivingSmall (for what it’s worth). I’ve got a hunk of pancetta and some dried morels to contribute to the feast, and then on Friday, the big event is that the miracle babies are turning three! They’re big girls now — talking to one another and singing songs and generally getting into all sorts of trouble.…
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Well, now that we’ve explored the strange and wonderful world of bizarre holiday foods — let’s talk about tips and tricks for getting that big ceremonial meal on the table … My mother just called and my cousin Denise wants to know how I did the turkey last year because apparently she remembers it as being especially good — honestly, I can’t really remember. I’m pretty sure I bought an organic bird because those frozen ones shot full of stuff freak me out — and really, if you can get a nice fresh organic turkey, it’s worth the hassle and…
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Okay, I’ll admit it — I think Thanksgiving is the most boring holiday meal of the year. Perhaps it’s the residue of the Turkey Years, when Mom fed us on a couple of turkeys a month because it was a lot of meat for the dollar, or perhaps it’s just because it *is* the most boring meal of the year — but snore snore snore. Turkey. Stuffing. Mashed potatoes. A couple of sides — brussell sprouts or green beans. Cranberry sauce. Pie. It’s inviolable. There are variations, sure — every year the magazines plop into my box full of variations,…