Bacon IS a trail snack.

It's no secret that I grew up in Central Ontario, Canada where the Summer season is really just two or three weeks of really bad pond ice skating.  When we do talk about "the seasons" it's always "Fishing Season", "Duck Hunting Season", "Deer Season"; ...you get the idea. A good friend sent some fantastic duck to me in late Fall (Duck Season), all dressed and freeze packed knowing I would create "art" when I decided to cook it up. In my opinion, "art" is subjective... so what may be a dramatic looking duck dish to me...  could very well be lame duck to someone else ;o) I thought I'd share my favorite roast duck recipe today (it's a perfect day for the aroma of roast duck filling the house!) The accompanying sauce is a go-to for me and works well with Lamb, chicken, pork as well as duck breast. One note before we begin... the breed of duck ...

I know, I KNOW!  I have absolutely no excuse whatsoever for not keeping up with my weekly food related blog.  On any other Thursday night I would have already sent out the shopping list for this weeks Cooking Class; printed out the recipes and made sure that there was enough chilled wine for all (beer for Becca). We all got together at the Burbank house a couple of weeks ago but its been near to impossible to predict what the traffic will be like once I leave my office in Santa Monica... did I  mention IMPOSSIBLE?  Well, with the new gig starting at the end of May, the drive will be considerably less which means reinstating COOKING CLASS!!!  I have a ton of new things we can explore both cooking and baking.  I'm still working on ironing out some wrinkles with my publisher for the Sunflower Diaries Cook Book but here's the cover that has been proofed and ready to go: ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  ...

I recall, a few years ago, a girlfriend had quite a scare when her husband ended up in the ER with chest pains early one morning.  It basically came down to altering their lifestyle and eating habits with a little more exercise thrown in for good measure.  I was not only very concerned but on the other side of the coin, completely moved that she reached out to me to help them explore healthier eating habits. Now of course, those of you who read this blog know that I'm a fan of bacon, butter, thick French sauces and heck well, I'm a baker so... you might be surprised that with minimal effort and a few key ingredients, health conscience menu planning is as easy as falling off a log.  Seriously!  A log! Here are some tried and true facts about eating for better health especially when you must make a complete lifestyle adjustment; (from the wonderful folks at the Mayo Clinic).   The food constituting a diet must include proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Eac...

Working in Santa Monica these past few months there is never a moment when I stop and think, "gosh,  there just isn't anywhere to eat around here".   I could literally swing a cat and hit no less than 25 eating establishments (not that I would swing a cat... but well, you get the point).  Then there are the food trucks.   A once terrifying notion, (seen above) now they are verrrrrrrrrrrry trendy.  The "it" thing.   I'm still very wary of them to be quite honest with you... very wary.  Yes, yes, I know they're regulated and have the same Safe Food Handling certifications required by brick and mortar locations but...still. Now, THAT said, I AM the first one to grab a "water dog" from the nearest hot dog vendor on Broadway and 43rd when I AM in the City with not a care in the world.   Street Food here in the USA is actually quite tame compared to the offerings in other countries.  For e...

Did you know that Florence, Italy was the first place to use a fork at the table?  Yep, it's true... more than 200 years before the French did; not that it's hard for anyone to believe when you really think about it ;o)  Not to knock French Cuisine or table manners at all but there has always been a mysterious if not alluring quality to Italian cooking and Italy in general..(my personal opinion of course).  I mean seriously, just take a moment and look at Tuscany will yah?! What's not to like about it?  Okay, so maybe acres and acres of sunflowers aren't your thing... But you can't deny that the architecture alone is breathtaking...                                         Of course then there's the FOOD, the MARKETS, the quaint family owned establishments that have been serving the same white bean and shrimp stew since the beginning of time... o...