No F train + lunch on the Lower East Side this President’s Day made for an unexpected detour through Chinatown. Though we were late, we couldn’t help but slow our pace as we weaved through the throngs of midday shoppers along Grand St. We just love Chinatown. There’s always something new to see, to touch, to smell. It’s messy and overwhelming and sensory and marvelous. … Continue reading candied cherry & almond ice cream.
Ah, the Super Bowl. We’re not quite sure what all the fuss is about. Really. There’s something so unappealing about watching large men with protruding bellies in shiny spandex lumber about and fall on each other in some hilarious attempt to move a few yards. It’s graceless and, frankly, boring. How is it possible that four quarters takes four hours? Isn’t “quarter” like, 15 minutes … Continue reading the superbowl.
We can see it now: Clara’s abuela, standing in her cool stone and ceramic kitchen in Córdoba, worn white apron tied around her waist, slowly, ever so slowly, patiently, ever so patiently, pouring a steady, remarkably steady, thin stream of sparkling white sugar into a bowlful of mountainous egg whites. She makes it seem effortless, and in some ways it is, having done it so … Continue reading torta de merengue.
*note: this entry updated in Dec 2012. In Munich a few weeks back, our (American) friend and Clara’s (German) uncle got into a to-us-ridiculous debate about whether gingerbread was lebkuchen. Elizabeth maintained it was; Eckhart was adamant it wasn’t. We were at the holiday market in Marienplatz, poking through cookie cutters, and had come across some tiny gingerbread men (we bought ourselves a wooden owl … Continue reading lebkuchen.
En route from MA to NY post holidays, we decided to duck in to New Haven for a slice (or six) of famous New Haven pizza. It was raining, anyways (a whopping 54 degrees in late December) and we figured an hour off the road would be a good thing. Pizza might be one of our most favorite things, and after a month of travel … Continue reading Sally’s Apizza.
Dan returned from Japan this week, and his only request for his first meal home was something non Asian. Of course, this meant an Italian dinner was in order, and we whipped up some of his favorites: a slow-simmered Bolognese, and another classic, tiramisu. Clara spent a year studying the art of food – ahem – semiotics, in Bologna, in the food-famous region of Emilia-Romagna. … Continue reading tiramisu (senza gli uovi!)
Late October brings an interesting addition to stands heaped with squash and apples at the Greenmarkets in New York: a strange green fruit, seemingly under-ripened, knobby and oddly leathery, with just the faintest unidentifiable smell of sweetness. Few farmers carry this elusive fruit, and finding one is an annual mission of ours. The fruit is quince, or membrillo. And we got lucky last week: We … Continue reading dulce de membrillo (quince paste).
For a Halloween-themed dinner this past Sunday (where we were the only ones who took to the theme, our own admittedly, of wearing black to eat orange…) we were charged with bringing dessert. The only requirement for said dessert was its color – orange – which left us with the obvious choice of making something pumpkin-y. The next obvious choice, pie, seemed a little uninspired. … Continue reading spicy gingersnaps + pumpkin ice cream (sandwiches).
Of all Clara’s adopted Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah is a favorite for its food (although a recent discovery of South Williamsburg-style gefilte fish, which comes frozen – not canned, thankfully – and is baked with savory vegetables and touch of sugar, has pushed that previously confusing food item quite high on the like-list…) But really, how can any other holiday compete with such festive comfort … Continue reading rosh hashanah.
For various and sundry reasons, our fire escape garden has, perhaps permanently, moved indoors. It’s not all that bad, in the end. On one hand, our tiny kitchen is desperately short of floor space but on the other it smells deliciously of mint and basil, and the closeness allows for easy delighting in the budding progress of our jalapeños and habaneros. The smelling-of-mint has us … Continue reading fresh mint & chocolate chip ice cream.
!dpm does! 