Category Archives: breads and pizzas

A Christmas Food Story: Father’s Nuts

Last Christmas I posted about orevnitza, the Serbian bread we eat at Christmas…What I didn’t mention was that there’s a back story to orevnitza from my childhood. A story about foraging (or stealing), mortification, and class difference. I wrote it down about ten years ago and never published it. When I finally went public with [...]
Also posted in DIY, Food and Drink, foraging, holidays | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Kitchen Hacker: Cowboy Stovetop Buttermilk Biscuits & Sorghum Syrup

I enjoy a kitchen challenge. My favorite variety of challenge is when I don’t have the necessary equipment for what I want to accomplish and I have to make do with what’s on hand. I think problem solving in the kitchen makes us smarter cooks. Recently a special someone and I had a hankering for [...]
Also posted in DIY, Food and Drink, breakfast | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Orevnitza—The Serbian Bread we eat at Christmas

This bread is something my mom’s Serbian family made for holidays. Even my mom, pretty much a non-cook, felt duty bound to make it at Christmas time. Strangely, there doesn’t seem to be much information on the Internet about the origins of this bread. I have no idea if it’s still made today in The [...]
Also posted in breakfast, holidays | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Food Orgies I’ve Lived Through: Oyster Bliss and IACP in Portland

  You'd think it was the holidays judging by how much I’ve been eating. It’s a little weird when the forced austerity of tax time collides with not-to-be-missed eating opportunities. Credit card bills and elastic-waist pants are usually the result.  No regrets here because hey, this is just how I roll now. Living in the [...]
Also posted in Travel, community, from the market | 1 Comment

The Prospector in Twain Harte: Certified Napoletana Pizza

I don’t usually write about restaurants because everybody else does, and usually, when I’m dining out, I want to be fully present with my dining companions and the food and don’t want to take photos and notes. I have to make an exception here because The Prospector Forno Rustica is pretty out-of-the-ordinary and has not [...]
Also posted in food news | 4 Comments

Magic Pumpkins: Pumpkin Pie and Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

I bought one of Annabelle’s magic white pumpkins on her recommendation. She said they were the best for pie. I always believe her. Even though I never make pumpkin pie (I always have the Thanksgiving guests bring it so I can concentrate on the savories) I thought I might as well give it a whirl. [...]
Also posted in breakfast, from the market, holidays | Leave a comment

Flatbread with Za’atar (the herb not the spice mix)

One of my favorite farmers, Annabelle of La Tercera Farm made her seasonal return to the Berkeley Farmers’ Market a couple of Saturdays ago. I’m always happy to see her because she grows really great shelling and dried beans, wonderful hard squash and exotic Italian heirloom greens. Plus I love chatting with her. Annabelle also [...]
Also posted in from the market | Leave a comment

Scenes from a Photo Shoot

Toast shot Ok, so the book is pretty much done. All that remains is copyediting, galleys, and other little details. Directly on the heels of turning in the manuscript, we went right into shooting the photos. We did it with a crew of 4 plus me over 5 long days right here at the house. [...]
Also posted in Asian, Books, breakfast | 1 Comment

A Photo Essay from the Grain Chapter

I'm all out of words. Three weeks to manuscript and I don't feel like writing. So here are some photos taken over the last few months. This is the wood-burning Alan Scott oven at Headlands Center for the Arts. My friend Eduardo Morell has generously shared his sourdough bread baking skills and methods with me [...]
Also posted in DIY | Leave a comment

Something to Relish

I'm rarely compelled to blog about a product, but here's an exception. I found this at The Pasta Shop in Berkeley just as they were building the new display. They found it at the Unfancy Food Show in Brooklyn. I was smitten by the packaging first and that's about as far as it would have [...]
Also posted in Books, Current Affairs, Film, breakfast, community, entertaining, from the market, pantry staples | Leave a comment
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    The recipes and images on this site belong to Vanessa Barrington. Feel free to link here and if you’d like to use a recipe or image, please ask permission first. Thank you.