From the category archives:

The Yum-Yum Club

An organic Thanksgiving with South African flavor (recipes)

November 29, 2009

I know Thanksgiving is not politically correct in everyone’s view. But in the view of the only non-American-born woman I know whose mind I can read, it gets a vote for top U.S. holiday. Probably it’s not so good for turkeys that do not have a death wish. (I wonder, though, if the 45-pounder called [...]

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Thanksgiving Warmup: Tea Bags and Tim’s yams (recipe)

November 21, 2009

Tea bags Thanksgiving dinner. An annual event. The Saturday afternoon before Thanksgiving. Partners and spices — make that spouses — invited, which they’re not for the weekly teas. The tea bags? A group of East Bay women who (nearly) all took early retirement; who don’t have children (except one); who do art (except one); and [...]

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Chewing over lamb in an ode to a new stove

November 21, 2009

“Don’t you think it’s time to christen the stove,” he said. The brand spanking new, rust-free, pristine white GE, with numbers on the dials and two ovens, one of them self-cleaning, had been standing in the kitchen, admired but not used, for about five days. The old one — also large, but rusty and wonky [...]

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Cuisine Noir – Delicious Life: Comfort food, scorpions and oysters

November 1, 2009

(Delicious Life column, Cuisine Noir magazine, November 2009 issue) My daughter just returned, with her husband, from a trip to China. And no, she didn’t read my interview last month for Cuisine Noir with the Travel Channel’s Andrew Zimmern. It was sheer coincidence that when in China, she ate scorpions. “There was a main shopping [...]

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How to indulge your chocolate fantasies — and stay slim (Video)

October 7, 2009

It may not sound possible, but it is. To see how, I invite you to view today’s ultimate chocoholic video. It was filmed at a chocolate tasting on a Sunday afternoon in Berkeley, California, at the home of Naomi Friedman. Friedman has a business called Cooking with Naomi. She gives cooking lessons, food tours (follow [...]

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Cuisine Noir – Delicious Life: Andrew Zimmern’s bizarre foods Top 10 list

October 1, 2009

(Delicious Life column, Cuisine Noir magazine, October 2009 issue) Andrew Zimmern is a serious culinary traveler. Some might say Xtreme. He’s eaten flying ants in Uganda, porcupine in South Africa, armadillo in Bolivia, raw camel kidneys in Ethiopia, scorpion in China, Hunan-style rooster balls in Los Angeles — and that’s just for starters. The co-creator [...]

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You’re hired! — Hear Robyn’s tips and strategies (podcast)

September 30, 2009

Bay Area industrial engineer and IT professional Robyn Pierce has been laid off twice, the first time from Hewlett-Packard and the second, from a Napa Valley winery. Hear her, in this interview, talk about the impact of the layoffs, what pitfalls she has learned to avoid, and what she has learned by ways of tips [...]

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The Portuguese wine potluck, Berkeley (video)

September 9, 2009

Portuguese peri-peri prawns, chicken, and chicken livers, are three delicious reasons to visit Durban, South Africa. Given that Durbs is my home town and favorite African city, my contribution to the Portuguese wine bottling and potluck at Subterranean Cellars (click here to see and hear Tim Patterson and Roger Campbell talking about the wines we [...]

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Portuguese wine-bottling potluck, Berkeley (video)

September 6, 2009

A sunny day. A home winemaker. Rather, make that two home winemakers. An assortment of guests who have in common that they like to prepare food; eat it — and eat well. The party was at Subterranean Cellars, which comprises the garage, basement, yard and sometimes also the living room of winemaker and wine writer [...]

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Cuisine Noir – Delicious Life: Why add culinary to your travel menu?

September 1, 2009

(Delicious Life column, Cuisine Noir magazine, September 2009 issue) A few years ago I was sent by my editor at Cosmopolitan in South Africa, where I was working at the time, on what seemed like a dream assignment. The magazine had teamed up with a travel company and would offer readers a trip to experience [...]

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