A Recipe For Pot Brownies

In this week’s Forking column, C.M. Redding described the virtues and pitfalls of making and consuming that illustrious of narcotic desserts: the pot brownie. Follow the recipe below to make your own…you know…if you’re permitted to have it for medical reasons. Ingredients: – One package of any store brand or…

Lord of the Custard

Some people wander through their lives, wondering why they’re here and what to do with themselves. Others are so clear about their purpose on this Earth it’s almost frightening. Marcus Ridgeway knows why he’s here, and it’s to make ice cream. Not just any ice cream, but frozen custard, which…

Yippee-Oy-Vey

When I was 16, I met a handsome guy with a perfect shiny black pompadour who told me his name was Alan Conti. Three weeks later he confessed that his real name was Alan Waldman. He was Jewish, not Italian, and had been afraid I wouldn’t go out with him…

World’s Fare

Cooking has taken Scottsdale-based chef Zipora Einav everywhere — just about. After stints serving as in-home chef for celebrities like Pierce Brosnan, Cybill Shepherd and Seal in Los Angeles, she was ready to take her show on the road. She became Mariah Carey’s personal chef on the Rainbow Tour in…

Hollywood and Wine

Picture this: Director Sam Pillsbury is shooting a Western-style movie in New Zealand and, as the gunslinger crashes through the saloon doors, he’s not shootin’ blanks. The weapons he draws from his holsters make loud pops as he uncorks them — a coupla bottles of Dos Cabezas 1998 Sauvignon Blanc…

Have It Our Way

On a recent trip to Europe, I was replenishing my depleted stocks of the familiar by, I’m sorry to say, visiting an American fast-food restaurant, when it suddenly occurred to me that something was not quite right. It is true that they serve a selection of beers in most European…

Got Milk?

A friend of mine recently told me that while he and his wife were visiting a coffee shop during their Italian vacation last year, his wife ordered a “grande latte” and was promptly presented with a large glass of milk. This kind of thing happens all the time because, over…

Ring Her Chime

When I first moved to Arizona a decade ago, I’d been crying for two months. I didn’t want to leave home but my husband’s job called. Back in Philly, we had a life filled with family, friends and food. And since we worked in the arts, we were always meeting…

Bohemian Rhapsody

Hoping to make enough money to keep working on a book project, I reluctantly accepted a job in the redwood forests of California last summer, knowing only that it would pay well and it meant working at a private club. I traveled 14 hours to Guerneville, California, in Sonoma County,…

Air Fare

Among the things that have changed since September 11 — television programming, color schemes — the phenomenon most widely suffered has been seen in our nation’s airports: namely, an increased reliance on airport food.Not long ago, you could get by on a bag of peanuts. Barring peanuts, you would get…

Thrill of the Grill

I have lived here in the Valley of the Sun for just a few weeks now, having moved here from Texas, where I grew up and spent most of my life.As soon as I got here, I picked up the New Times and immediately turned to the Cafe section since…