Necessary luxuries, luxuria, or in other words: What makes you happy? For my mom, it’s a hot bath, the hair salon and cream. According to her these things are vital for her mental and physical happiness. For my dad, it is taking his friends out to dinner. For my friend Maddy, it is dark coffee, Read the Rest…

We have a root cellar. This statement seems improbable when you consider our contemporary house, situated in the end of a cul-de-sac full of other mid-1970’s houses in suburbia. But we do indeed have a root cellar. Tucked into the northern-most corner of our basement, made of plywood and blueboard insulation, with a tube to Read the Rest…

This past Sunday, we hosted the second Just Cook It potluck of the season, and our second time focusing of the theme of smoked foods. For half of us at the potluck, the first time we had tried cooking any foods with smoke was at last year’s potluck and this was a great chance to Read the Rest…

As you may all know, right now the Jewish people are in the midst of celebrating a holiday known as פסח, also known as Passover (see here for a quick wiki definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover ). The holiday lasts 8 days and during the first two days families get together to have a seder which is a Read the Rest…

What is natural? What is almost natural, kind of natural and not natural at all? My dictionary application defines natural as: something in or caused by nature; not made or caused by human kind; or in agreement with the character or makeup of, or circumstance, surrounding someone or something; instinct; based on innate moral sense… Read the Rest…

Our first Just Cook It challenge potluck of 2011, held on March 20th, was great fun. We had 10 very different and very delicious dishes to try, all featuring a novel kind of soup stock or broth. Everyone got the chance to describe the process they used and the parts of their dish they were Read the Rest…

Books are an important part of my life, on almost all subjects – fiction, history, gardening, among many others, including cookbooks. I usually keep one on my nightstand and read it straight through before bedtime, as if it were fiction. I love everything about books, the way the pages smell when they are new, how Read the Rest…

Wine in Italy is a world away from wine in the United States. Wine anywhere is different than wine anywhere else: technically speaking as well as culturally speaking. In this land, that is Italy, one does not have to wait until the age of 21 to Cin Cin nor do they chug chug chug until Read the Rest…

I don’t know what it is about the word ‘Africa.’ It tends to make people think of elephants, giraffes, black people, malaria, colors, drums, sunsets, sand and I could go on and on about the common words that spring to the tips of many people’s tongue when they hear the word ‘Africa.’ I am not Read the Rest…

I am a native Californian who discovered pho – the herbal, slightly sweet broth-based noodle soup that’s eaten for breakfast and lunch in Vietnamese communities – in her college years. I learned to crave the combination of meaty bone broth, slippery-soft rice noodles, a ménage ofunfamiliar cow parts both gristly and tender, topped with a Read the Rest…