Welcome to the Real Food Rehab Holiday Gift Guide! I've asked my favorite tastemakers to submit, in their own words, their picks for a food-related gift they'd love to give or receive this holiday season. These are people I respect and admire, not only for their excellent taste, but for...

Today I took a long walk in this lovely park by my house. It has a circular, gravel running path and I go there every other day or so to get some exercise. As I walked toward the middle of the park, I heard the most beautiful sound. There, on...

I recently invited a professional into my kitchen to teach me a few things and WOW, did it pay off big. Kate Neumann came by last week to teach me how to make these glorious hand pies.

Kate's the former pastry chef at...

The journal from my trip to the Greek Islands many years ago reads a little like Cheech and Chong's, How I Spent My Summer Vacation. Day after day, it went a little something like this:

"Woke up. Went to the cafe for breakfast. Ate...

I was flipping through an old journal today and found this. It's a list of "Rules For Living" I created for myself a couple years ago. How bold of me! At the time, I was working through questions in a book called

For the last few months, I've been doing in-home food makeovers and basic cooking instruction for people who want to eat better and rely less on processed and packaged foods. During the initial consultations, what I hear each time is a slightly different version of the same story:
...

Salad culture in this country has changed so much since I was a young. Back then iceberg wedges and Julienne Salads reigned the day. I rarely see them anymore except at a steakhouse, diner or deli which I enjoy but rarely frequent.

Now, it seems to me almost every casual...

Not too long ago I discovered an article on the Atlantic Food Channel called, "Why I Want To Save The Deli". It was written by journalist and deli-obsessive, David Sax, who was coming out with a new book called Save...

I couldn't help but notice as I was watching Julie & Julia not too long ago that there was an awful lot of cocktail drinking going on in that movie. It wasn't just the food that was making my mouth water. I do believe there's a certain civility to occasionally...

Artists have been my personal heroes for as long as I can remember. I've always been moved by people who devote their lives to creating something unique; something that solely belongs to them but is also shared with the world for the sake of pleasure.

I consider great cooks to...

I grew up eating bad cheese. It wasn't cheese, actually, it was "processed cheese food." And then there were those bland, rubbery, generic blocks of unnaturally colored mild cheddar. When you think about it, they're kind of like the England Dan and John Ford Coley of cheese. Or better yet,...

I believe in beauty. I believe in surrounding yourself with beauty every day.

I'm talking about the most subtle and quiet moments in our day-to-day lives. When you're sitting at home and your eyes land on something that makes you infinitely happy: Like a piece of art; Ripe plums in...

Yes, I am a Jewbilly. A proud and noble Jewbilly. My grandfather was a Russian Jew from Kiev, my grandmother a Southerner from Cowan; a tiny town in the hills of South Central Tennessee. I spent many childhood summers there, riding horses and enjoying long, hot, slow southern days. My...

I recently had the good fortune to re-connect with some people I really jibe with. They were visiting from Columbus, Ohio for a weekend stay. The whole weekend was centered around our meals and we had lots of time to sit and talk and get to know one another better....

"I am grateful for transparency. Nothing is embarrassing if it's real."

--Aya Kanai

I have never been so poor in my life. There, I said it. That's humbling to reveal, but it's important to me that you know the truth and the truth is I am struggling, too. I...

For me, there is no joy at the average supermarket. The whole experience is a chore. First off, the lighting gives me a headache. Second, there's the complete disregard of the seasons. Sorry, but offering me Bing cherries in the middle of winter gives my whole body the NO feeling....

It's interesting to me how many people regard cooking as drudgery. I don't get it. To me, cooking is a deeply sensual and highly personal act: the sights, smells, tastes, and tactile touch of it all can almost move me to tears.

Learning how to cook is a great...

I discovered my tastes late in life. For a long time, my own preferences in practically everything from food to décor eluded me. Over the years, I appropriated ideas from lots of great sources, but none of them really jibed with me and I think it showed. My style amounted...

Purge : Processed Food :: Jettison : Baggage

(Remember analogies? Well, I've thrown a few in here this week to playfully and lovingly hammer my points home. Using the standard SAT format of ":" means "is to" and "::" means "as")*

What is a larder? It's another word for pantry...

Forget everything you've been told about food. There's a virtual minefield of information out there about how and what to eat and I find most of it confusing, conflicting and oppressive. White flour is bad for you, eat small meals throughout the day, corn syrup causes diabetes, eat five servings...