Even since I've know chef Peter Hoffman--some twenty years--he's walked his talk. Or should I say bicycled?

For decades before bike lanes showed up on NYC streets, Hoffman biked to his Soho Restaurant, Savoy and now to the recently opened Back Forty. He was one...

Remember when President Jimmy Carter visited the blighted south Bronx, with the result that images of burned-out houses and trash-stewn lots flashed across TV screens all over the nation? That visit and the movie, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three created an indelible image of the Bronx as a...

If you are a very lucky person, you occasionally have food placed before you whose beauty makes you wide-eyed in amazement and whose taste makes you eat as slowly as possible to savor every nuance.

I was recently a very lucky person when The Sweetie and I had dinner at...

The mission of Gardens for Humanity is to "heal the world, one garden at a time." The simplicity of this powerful goal brings tears to my eyes.

Here are their guiding principles:

• * The Earth is our responsibility -- our Sacred Garden.


• * The Earth is...

When it comes to the challenge of eating in, few appliances can compete with the time-efficient, fuel-efficient pressure cooker. Because water boils in the vacuum-sealed cooker at 242F rather than the standard 212F, food cooks in 1/3 or less the standard cooking time.

While there are pressure cookers in kitchens...

Since coming back from Maui, I've found the cold weather in NYC quite shocking and have stayed inside, warm and cozy, living vicariously through Cathy Erway's just-out book: The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove.

Actually, for someone who eats in, Erway...

For the Chinese, February 14 will begin the Year of the Tiger. For MAC users, it's the Year of the Snow Leopard. For me, it's the Year of the Pressure Cooker.

Just when I was about to give up hope that American cooks would ever give up their paranoia about...

A few days ago, the Sweetie and I visited a 10,000-foot edible schoolyard garden planted by and for elementary school children in S. Kihei, Maui.

What a joy to be surrounded by robust pole beans, herbs, and tomatoes all planted by second and third graders.

We met with three dedicated...

I went to a press event at E.A.T. on Madison Avenue a few weeks ago and had a sampling of exquisite smoked fish. The white fish--a kind of chub--was caught in the Yukon by the Yapik Eskimos and smoked at Acme Smoked Fish Corp, an old-fashioned, family-run business in Greenpoint,...

When I emerged from the NYC Food and Climate Summit onto Washington Square Park last Saturday, I was astonished to see hundred of Santas hovering near the great arch.

At first I thought it was silly, this gathering of raucus, red-jacketed folks chanting "ho, ho, ho," and "we...

Last night I had a ball--or should I say a Ball jar?-- at a free workshop called Preserving Your Harvest with Canning.

The class was sponsored by Just Food and Green Thumb, two terrific organizations that promote and support community gardens.

The teacher, Classie Parker--who I'm convinced has...

cross-posted from LornaSassAtLarge

Wednesday night I saw a fine documentary called FRESH in which farmers using brilliantly conceived, sustainable growing methods were celebrated for the heroes they are.

The film, directed with great sensitivity by Anna Joanes, portrays the palpable joy of farmers like Joel Salatin in...