Adam D. Roberts's Blog, page 120

Three Ways to Follow Me

So you may have noticed I haven't been updating the blog as much lately. That's because I owe my book on April 15th! That date is creeping up quickly. In the meantime, there are three excellent ways to keep up with my goings-on: #1. Twitter. Do you follow me there? You should, I'm lots of fun. Check me out: @amateurgourmet; #2. My newsletter. Here's this week's, in case you missed it (click here) and if you enjoy it, you can subscribe here; finally there's the newest and latest way to follow me, #3. My Facebook Fan Page. Click here to "like" and follow my new stream of updates.

Let's Talk About Lettuce

I started cooking seven or eight years ago, maybe even a little further back, and it was around the time that people stopped buying whole heads of lettuce and started buying lettuce, pre-washed, in those little plastic tubs. The tubs, which are now omnipresent, have labels like "Spring Salad Mix" and "Herb Salad Mix" and they cost, usually, around $5. And like many of you out there, if I wanted to make a quick lettuce salad, I'd grab one of those tubs, pay my $5, bring it home, dress it up and call it a day.

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Kings of Pastry

My hands flew to my face several times last night.

It was 1:30 AM and I'd made a mistake. At midnight, exhausted after testing four recipes, I loaded up "Kings of Pastry" on AppleTV just to see if it was something I wanted to watch. To say that I was immediately hooked would be a profound understatement; I was so engrossed, that by 1:30 my heart was beating so fast and I was biting my nails so nervously, there was no way I'd ever get to sleep.

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Pickle Juice & Chili Salt in Your Beer

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

As a Jew, I'm not quite sure who St. Patrick is or why he has a day; I'm more familiar with St. Schlomo and his afternoon where you eat chopped liver and call your grandmother, but that's neither here nor there. What is here and there is that some of you (many of you?) will be drinking beer today, and I'd like to tell you about something that I experienced involving beer last Saturday during a meeting of the "Bad Movie Club."

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The Hot Dog at Katz's Deli

There was a time in my life when I couldn't conceive of going to Katz's Deli and not ordering the pastrami.

That would be like going to France and eating pizza; or going to the world's best sushi restaurant and asking them to cook your fish. Go to Katz's and not order pastrami? You've got to be kidding! Only the other night, after we saw our friend Cary's movie "Jane Eyre" (Cary went to film school with Craig), we found ourselves at Katz's Deli and I was very hungered. And the line for pastrami was oh so long. Reader, I got a hot dog.

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Purple Peruvian Potato Hash

A good argument to be made about the farmer's market is: if you really believe in it, and go there to support farmers and local, sustainable agriculture, you should patronize it all year, including those rough months of winter.

That is a good argument but, unfortunately, a rather impractical one. I mean when it's bitter cold out, I can barely get myself out the front door, let alone 14 blocks north and 3 avenues east to the farmer's market. In my own defense, though, when the weather turns nice? I'm there in a heartbeat.

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A Proper Tea

On this blog, only one hot, caffeinated beverage gets the love (see: coffee), but what about the other hot, caffeinated beverage? No, not boiled Coke, I'm talking about tea.

Funny story: the other day I Tweeted, "I think I'm ready to own a teapot."

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Pour-Over Coffee

Food journalists notice food trends---"this is the year of the nutmeg martini!" "oatmeal's out, grits are back in"--and I'm not a food journalist, so I feel like I get a free pass on that front. I just cook, blog and eat (not always in that order) and go about my merry way.

But last year, I thought I noticed a food trend creeping up at the coffee shops I frequented. I noticed it at Joe, then I noticed it at Gorilla. They were these little copper stands with white ceramic objects sitting on top that looked like a cross between a coffee mug and a funnel. Had it really happened? Had I hit upon a food trend?

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"The Sweet Life" Winners Chosen

Click here to see the winners of our contest to give away three copies of David Lebovitz's "The Sweet Life." Thanks to all who participated!

Food Book Giveaway: David Lebovitz's "The Sweet Life"

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My friend David Lebovitz wrote a wonderful book about living in Paris called "The Sweet Life" (read my write-up about it here) and now that it's out in paperback, his publisher has generously agreed to donate THREE copies to readers of The Amateur Gourmet. If you'd like to win a copy, make up a French dish that doesn't really exist and describe it in the comments. The best three win. [Make sure to enter a valid e-mail address when you enter your info and then check back here, to this specific post, to see the winners on Wednesday morning.]