VIVRE POUR MANGER

Dirty secret: I keep imported Betty Crocker cake mix stashed in my cupboard for emergency cakes and cupcakes. I spend the time saved by the mix making fancy icings.

If I had a pie shop, it would be called ‘Simple Simon’ and it would serve pie, good coffee and sandwiches by Tiffany for lunch.
A friend here in Berlin, who knows of my pie shop fantasies, emailed me to say he was going to visit a pie shop in Berlin-Kreuzberg, Hemingway’s Pie Factory and would [...]

All measurements can be adjusted as you like. These are so delicious that I can barely stop myself from drinking them in one long pull, especially the strawberry one when made with fresh sweet berries.
Mint Lassi

1 cup loosely packed mint
1/2 tsp toasted fennel seeds or less
1 cup plain yogurt
sugar to taste, I usually add 1-2 [...]

Witchcraft essentially. Science actually. Since I stumbled upon this recipe two months ago, I’ve made bread more than a half-dozen times. It must have been over eight years since I last baked proper bread. Sure, some easy pizza dough there, a foccacia here. But not proper bread.

Bärlauch drying to be made into pesto.

or Five Days of Fine Dining
My former boss and friend Mark now lives in Switzerland where he and his family have a chalet in Jaun, the only German-speaking municipality in district of French-speaking Gruyère in the Prealps, or Alpine foothills. Mark generously offered the use of the chalet over Christmas.
Tiffany, Sebastian and I took up [...]

First, get the Pot. You need the simplest rice cooker made. It comes with two speeds: Cook, and Warm. Not expensive. Now you’re all set to cook meals for the rest of your life on two square feet of counter space, plus a chopping block. No, I am not putting you on the Rice Diet. [...]

My current food obsession is quinoa, sacred crop of the Incas. Dead easy to prepare, a pleasant nutty flavour and a great rice substitute. Also, really healthy.

It seems like all my favourite fruits and berries are in season right now. Breakfast almost everyday has been fresh fruit with yogurt, rice milk or milk and often with müsli. Usually I’m too groggy in the morning to care much about breakfast but at this time of year, especially since it’s so bright out [...]

The arrival of this mild oniony garlicky herb at the market is one of the signals of the beginning of spring in Berlin. Before moving to Berlin I’d never seen nor heard of Bärlauch, as it’s called here, but I’ve come to look forward to making a few meals with it every spring.