Herbs de Provence

I don’t tend to use a lot of different spice blends; I tend to make my own, particularly when it comes to Indian, Mexican, Chinese and Thai foods. But, sometimes I pick something up at Penzey’s because I like the smell of it, or it seems appealing in some way, or I end up getting […]

Stretching Dinner

Sometimes at my house, an unexpected guest arrives around dinner time; I notice that this happens more often now that Morganna is living with us. This is not a bad thing at all–in fact, I am convinced that it is a good thing to have friends dropping by. It forces a degree of spontenaeity in […]

Lingering Scents

It is good to wake up to the lingering mingled scents of last night’s stir fry. Since I have two kitchens, and currently the upstairs kitchen has the more powerful stove, I do all of my stir-frying upstairs. There is inadequate ventilation, so if what I cook is strongly-scented, it hangs around at least until […]

In Praise of Pressure

Not many people enjoy pressure, though I would say that plenty of folks work better under pressure than others. In fact, I would say that I am one of those people; I tend to do my best writing when under deadline pressure, and some of my best cooking is done when there is a time […]

Don’t Fear the Fish Sauce

I am continually amazed at how fearful salty fermented fish squeezings can make people. Every time I have taught a class in Thai cooking (which has been many times over the past five years or so), I have had one or two people hang towards the back of the room, and when I launch into […]

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