The Traveler's Lunchbox

Blog Aid for Haiti: The Cookbook

2010-02-05T13:19:24Z

I hardly even know where to begin on this one. I'm so thrilled to have been invited to contribute to this project, and so happy that I can finally share it with you. Nobody needs an introduction to the earthquake that happened last month in Haiti, but unlike most of us who sat in front of the pictures feeling helpless, one woman pulled on her combat boots and came up with a plan.

Happy New Decade, Now Pass the Pâté

2010-01-21T13:37:47Z

Well hello, and happy new year. Or happy new decade, actually. Has it sunk in for you yet? It hasn't for me, that's for sure. I just can't figure out where the last one escaped to. I remember my stepdad telling me when I was young that the older I got, the quicker time would seem to pass. Isn't that the truth! Every time I think about that it kind of scares me, since I'm not that old, yet the years already seem to be flying by faster than I can keep track of them. But ready or not, here we are in the tens, or teens, or whatever they're going to end up being called, and despite the fact that I don't know where the past decade went, there is something undeniably exciting about facing the totally clean slate of a new one and contemplating its endless possibilities.

Merry Christmas, Frohe Weihnachten

2009-12-24T14:07:02Z

How does this happen every year? One minute I'm looking at the calendar and it's the beginning of December, and the next minute Christmas is barely a day away. Actually here in Germany it's Christmas already, since the main part of the celebrating is done the night of the 24th. While that's a little hard to get used to for someone raised on the Christmas-morning adrenaline rush (and really, what's Christmas without the too-excited-to-sleep night before Christmas?), I've decided that the best thing is to embrace both traditions, which is exactly what we'll be doing. After all, that means twice the Christmas fun!

Menu for Hope 6

2009-12-14T16:36:13Z

Complete the following: if it's December, it must be time for...

Did you say Menu for Hope? Of course you did!

What We're Thankful For

2009-11-26T11:55:00Z

Being abroad is hard on Thanksgiving, probably harder than on any other holiday. After all, here in Germany it's just another Thursday full of work and errands and all the usual mid-week hassles. Years ago in Edinburgh I tried to make Thanksgiving Thursday something special, to celebrate the holiday no matter how many logistical hurdles I had to battle. But feasting just wasn't the same when there were only two of us eating, there were only a couple of frantic hours to cook, and I knew I couldn't overdo it since I'd have to drag myself out of bed the next morning and go to work. Trying to celebrate that way only made me miss Thanksgiving even more.

Q&A: The Silk Road Gourmet

2009-11-10T13:24:00Z

I think it would be somewhat of an understatement to say I have fondness for books about food, travel and culture. So when Laura Kelley asked if I would like to see a copy of her new cookbook The Silk Road Gourmet - the first of a self-published three volume series exploring the cuisines of thirty countries along the ancient Silk Road - I couldn't hit the reply button fast enough to say yes.

Friends, Beets, Enemies

2009-10-20T16:12:27Z

I've never understood beet-haters. I can fully sympathize with brussels-sprout-haters, for instance, since I even used to be one myself before realizing that a splash of olive oil and a turn in a hot oven make all the difference in the world. Also things like kale (so vegetal! so chewy!) and eggplant (slimy and bitter in the wrong hands) occasionally turn even my stomach, so I can fully comprehend why some people swear them off completely.

Home is Where the Cake is

2009-10-02T11:17:00Z

It's funny, the things moving teaches you about yourself. Particularly big, trans-global moves - like the two we've done in the last year - are as much about the journey of self-discovery as they are about the journey of things. I now know, for example, exactly which of my material possessions are important to me, since paying by the cubic millimeter to retain possession of them - twice - forces you to figure that out fast. I also have a heightened appreciation of the shades of gray between what I can and cannot live without. Like, I now know that I can live without a microwave but I cannot live without a set of handheld beaters, and that I prefer not to live without a salad spinner but that's it's considerably more preferable than living without a dishwasher. And as for those dwarf-sized fridges without an inbuilt freezer that I happily waved goodbye to when we left Europe, it seems I'll force my husband to drive two hours to pick up a fridge I bought on ebay rather than live with one of those again, even if it was provided free with our apartment. But that's not being unreasonable, is it?

Hello, Deutschland

2009-09-08T15:45:22Z

Satays, Staff of Life

2009-08-12T01:20:27Z

Some days, I think I could live off satays. It's not everyday I think this, and in fact most days I don't think about satays at all, but on those days when I do (which coincidentally happen to be the days when I eat them too), I find myself so besotted by them that I think I could really, truly eat nothing else - okay, maybe aside from a little bit of ice cream now and then - and still be happy.

Culture Shock

2009-07-26T16:31:16Z

I seem to be the Northwest's new homemade-dairy evangelist. First it was ricotta, and now I'm encouraging the good people of Seattle to make butter - cultured butter, no less. Watch out, next thing you know I'll be telling you to adopt your own cow.

10 Great Things to Do (and Eat) on PEI

2009-07-08T20:06:05Z

Okay, okay, so nothing will stump you guys. I don't know why I try. :) I was, of course, on Prince Edward Island, best known for being the smallest Canadian province and the home of Lucy Maud Montgomery, who published the enduringly popular Anne of Green Gables in 1908. In fact, Anne is a huge draw here - on some parts of the island it's impossible to take two steps without bumping into some Anne-themed establishment or memorabilia, or a Japanese tour group looking for the same. Nevertheless, as fascinating as Anne is, for the last few years the island has been pushing hard to break out of its literary pigeonhole and establish a new identity - a culinary one.

On the Road

2009-06-26T11:32:07Z

There are so many things I've been meaning to tell you about, but life right now is just crazy. This week, for example, I'm on assignment in a (rather surprising) culinary paradise. It's a place I've dreamed of coming ever since I was a little girl and fell in love with a certain red-haired literary heroine, but it turns out they have some pretty amazing food too. Do you have any idea where it might be?

Ricotta in Print

2009-05-31T17:04:39Z

If you're in the Seattle area and you happen to have a copy of the Sunday Seattle Times on your table, you might want to flip to page 14 of Pacific Northwest Magazine, where I have an article rhapsodizing about the pleasure (and ease) of homemade ricotta.

Brown Butter Bliss

2009-05-27T15:00:00Z

Have I ever told you how I feel about ice cream? I mean, really feel about it? No? Oh good, I'm glad there are still some secrets between us.