CHEWING THE FAT

            Baking can be a challenge in the heat. But the lure of local berries and the idea of incorporating them into a very simple cake sounds like a great idea.  Especially one like this  can be eaten virtually any time of the day. That…

 The focus of The Daily Meal, is, of course, food.  And so everything I write for them is about Food Events, Wine Touring and Culinary Travel.  I’m proud of my work and have acquired quite a portfolio of stories.  But many of my trips are…

Last Thursday’s  post about the first five days of my Rhine River Getaway, brought news from many of my fellow passengers and I was so glad to hear from them.  To me travel has always been about meeting people, making fresh discoveries together, learning, absorbing…

In the annals of Chewing the Fat, never has one cake come close to having a name as long as this one.  However, I could write a new adage: ‘the longer the name, the better the cake’.  Because I’d be hard-pressed to find a salute…

         Last November, in the New York Times no less, came a story about a Burger that caused, in the words of my late father, “a big stink”.  There were no complaints about the burger itself. In fact, it is lauded as being New York’s…

Too often, I get into trouble with a recipe that’s just too much food for two people.  Try as I may, cutting back on volume isn’t always the easiest task.   Things that say they are for four people are relatively simple to divide in half. …

Julie Richardson wrote a cookbook devoted to old-fashioned cakes, the ones you may remember your grandmother cooking or at the very least, bringing home from the local bakery.   “Vintage Cakes” (Ten Speed Press 2012) is filled with gems that are not only nostalgic but are…

I got into a peck of trouble for pronouncing Pasta a cold-weather food.  And I have to admit, ‘they’ were right and I was wrong.  Pasta is one of the most adaptable of all foods.  Just think what you can marry it with! Fish, shellfish,…

I have to admit, I am enamored with Trader Joe’s even if it has its drawbacks.  Among them, those incredible lines out the door on weekends. And their cash register lines are epic.  The store also doesn’t carry everything so it inevitably means shopping two…

Lyon, one beautiful city Three years ago, my friend Kimberly moved to Europe from Montclair, New Jersey. Her husband had been assigned by his American company to run their European division which has its headquarters in the third largest city in France: Lyon.  Kimberly, Peter…

Letizia Mattiaci of Alla Madonna del Piatto Lucky me!  I’ve been traveling most of the month of May.  I’ve done two almost back-to-back river cruises, one on the Rhine from Basel, Switzerland to Amsterdam, Netherlands with stops along the way in France and Germany.  A…

I don’t know if you are aware of a quirky food magazine called “Lucky Peach”.  It’s been in existence since 2011.  It was the brainchild of two long-time writers and the Chef, David Chang, of Momofuku fame.  It never toppled the juggernaut of food magazines…

Exploring Bordeaux: An Itinerary for Wine LoversEvery oenophile should visit Bordeaux at least once. By Monte Mathews Staff Writer  Where to go when you’re in Bordeaux Bordeaux, where the vineyards seem to go on forever Of all the world’s great winemaking regions, none surpasses Bordeaux…

The way it works in our house is that I leave the recipe for whatever I am making for dinner sitting conspicuously on the kitchen counter.  It’s the first thing Andrew sees when he gets home and walks into the kitchen.  The only advance warning…