The Traveler's Lunchbox

The Pizza Project

melissa — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:28:57 +0000

A few weeks ago I was sitting in what I sometimes describe (depending on my mood) as my favorite restaurant in the world: Ken's Artisan Pizza in Portland, Oregon. It's a tradition my dad, stepmom and I have every time I spend a few days in town; we go to Ken's on my first night, or my last night, or sometimes both. Sometimes I secretly wish we could eat there all the nights in between too. I love the place that much.

Happy 2012, Long Time No See

melissa — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:20:49 +0000

Dear Friends,

Hi! How are you? Staying warm, I hope, or cool if you're reading this from the southern half of the globe. Things around here are fine—and so am I, despite what the long silence around here may have led you to believe. I know, I'm sorry—I feel terrible for vanishing without a trace like that. And as delicious as that butter chicken was, well, six months (oops, actually almost seven) is an awfully long time to be staring at it.

How to Cook Indian

melissa — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 12:12:33 +0000

You've heard of Sanjeev Kapoor, right? You know, the author of more than three dozen cookbooks, host of Asia's longest-running cooking show (actually, television program of any kind!), owner of multiple restaurants and brains behind the eponymous website that registers 25 million hits per month?

The Holy Grail of Cookies

melissa — Tue, 24 May 2011 12:12:36 +0000

My dear husband celebrated a birthday recently, and like every year, I started steeling myself for the inevitable conversation several days in advance. Normally it goes something like this:

It's an Honor...

melissa — Tue, 03 May 2011 10:28:03 +0000

...just to be nominated, in this case for the second time as one of Saveur Magazine's six best food and travel blogs on the web. If you haven't visited their 2011 blog awards yet, don't doddle; like last year, it's a smorgasbord of talent, and I'm sure you'll find several fabulous new sites to add to your daily reads.

A Super, Natural Spread

melissa — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:49:00 +0000

The weather gods have finally decided to smile on northern Europe. While the rest of the hemisphere gradually stumbles into spring, we've been blessed with too many magnificently warm, fine days to count. And this week seems to be their culmination: the skies are an endless expanse of sapphire, the sun is golden and intense, and everything is flowering and blossoming like mad. All I want to do is sit in the garden next to the crazy-fragrant lilac bush and bask in this crazy-unexpected heat. The only time I even think about opening my laptop is to check the weather forecast of places like Athens and Madrid (ha ha, suckers!) and delight in this rare and wonderful feeling of climatic schadenfreude.

Kitchen Classics

melissa — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 12:15:58 +0000

Here's a question for all you cookbook-hoarders out there: if you were forced to reduce the number of books in your possession, and you were allowed to keep either your books that are at least twenty years old or those that are less than ten, which ones would you keep — the old or the new?

Pkhali, Unearthed

melissa — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 10:07:36 +0000

I recently decided to re-organize my bookshelves. Actually it was a new cookbook that prompted this decision, since when I tried to find a spot for it on the right shelf, I realized I couldn't; not only was the shelf full, the entire bookcase was too. Luckily the one across the room still had some space I could hijack, so I set to work redistributing and rearranging, and in the process, rediscovered a number of books I had completely forgotten I owned.

Out of Africa, Into the Bowl

melissa — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 10:13:54 +0000

In fourth grade there was a girl named Karen who I envied something fierce. Karen was cool and pretty, she beat the boys at every sport in PE, and everyone—regardless of gender—wanted to be her friend. The main reason I envied her, though, was for her lunches. In stark contrast to my tuna or egg salad on whole wheat and fruit-juice-sweetened granola bars, Karen's lunchbags were a cornucopia of forbidden delights: Ritz crackers topped with canned Velveeta, snack-pack pudding cups, tall stacks of Oreo cookies and the coup de grâce, fluffernutter sandwiches on squishy white bread*.

Celebrating Love (Cake)

melissa — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:29:00 +0000

Mid-February always presents me with a dilemma: to post about Valentine's Day or not? On one hand it's usually the first opportunity to talk about an indulgent dessert after six long weeks of steamed-broccoli-and-whole-grain-everything living. And usually a chocolate dessert is called for, which is a great opportunity to remedy the paltry amount of chocolate recipes I have on this site. On the other hand, the older I get the less I feel like celebrating the day. It was all fine and good back in my early 20s to embrace the kitsch and syrupy canned sentiment; now, though, it feels forced and awkward, and somehow trivializes the real business of loving in a long-term partnership. Add to that how commercial it all is with the cards and flowers and chocolates and jewelry (none of which can be skimped on, lest it be a reflection of your commitment to the relationship!), not to mention competitive (heaven forbid your friends are serenading/being serenaded better than you!), and it's enough to just want to make me stick my head in a hole until it's over.

January Food

melissa — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 11:01:48 +0000

Does January seem like a never-ending month to you too? Most months fly by before I've really registered their arrival, but this one seems to inch forward like a blob of molasses. Of course it doesn't help that I spend most of the month in a kind of food purgatory. On one hand I'm actively trying to avoid even hearing the words 'light', 'healthy' and 'diet-friendly' let alone eating anything that could be described as such. I mean really, who wants to diet now, when the days are at their darkest, the weather at its worst and nothing but roots and crucifers are in season? Give me food that's going to comfort, not depress!

Sriracha, Seductress in a Squeeze Bottle

melissa — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 12:56:47 +0000

"It's THE gateway drug of chili heads."

"You know it's a sign that you've got a good condiment when you're making dishes to accommodate your condiment."

-comments on chowhound.com's thread Sriracha Chili Sauce, Condiment or Crack?

Merry Christmas with Meatballs

melissa — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 11:46:00 +0000

I am currently contemplating a text document on my screen that contains the following:

My Calabria

melissa — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 17:38:37 +0000

Well, the joke is on me. After confessing that I just couldn't seem to let go of summer this year, the universe responded with something along the lines of "What the heck, we don't need fall anyway!" and fast-forwarded us all straight into winter. Gone are the frosty mornings, muddy fields and last stubborn yellow leaves; in their place have appeared knee-high snowdrifts, frozen ponds and temperatures nobody expected to see until January. Apparently it was the coldest start to December in Germany for centuries. I don't know whether to laugh, cry, or go back to bed until April.

The Pumpkin Stops Here

melissa — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 13:29:58 +0000

A couple of weeks ago we were at my in-laws' when the conversation, as it often does at this time of year, turned to Thanksgiving. While trying to explain why and what we celebrate, I found myself once again surprised at how little is known about this holiday in the rest of the world. Not that that's a bad thing; the fact that Thanksgiving is still confined to North American shores just stands in stark contrast to all those other holidays we seem to have exported to the furthest reaches of the globe (Valentine's Day and Halloween in particular come to mind). While it's true that Non-North Americans have heard of it, know it revolves around a turkey and may have even attended a Thanksgiving dinner staged by a homesick expat somewhere, most still don't really understand it. In particular no one seems to be able to grasp that there's no religious or political motivation behind it, that it really exists for the sole purpose of getting together with family and eating as much as possible!