This gravy heavily poured on warm home made biscuits with broiled tofu atop (open faced sandwich style) is the very definition of comfort food. Hung-over, sick, missing your Mama, frozen to the bone from riding your bike in the rain…eat gravy. Also very good on mashed sweet potatoes or oven roasted vegetables. Its just all and all fantastic on anything gravy compliments-which is everything. This is a recipe that Ive messed with and rearranged every time Ive prepared it. Ill add ingredients, change ingredients, mess with proportions and no matter because it always turns out lick the pan clean good in the end. The spices are most open to revision- sometimes I add bay leaf or sage, change out basil for oregano, throw in some nutritional yeast…a clove of garlic. This will feel good in the belly, I promise- not greasy and heavy like most. Ladle it on generously and wallow in good ol’ gravy induced comfort. (more…)

Sushi is one of those foods that I have never even remotely considered making myself. Its labor intensive… slicing, chopping, rice cooking, rolling, garnish, etc. This is a food that exudes precision, uniformity and elegance - I don’t do well within these boundaries. Not only are there numerous rules to mind, but the reward just isn’t that great… it will always exist to me as an appetizer- meaning all that work for not even a full meal. This is a cuisine best left to professionals. That being said, I have no idea why I decided last night was a good night to make sushi. (more…)

Landing in Krakow a week ago, I find myself outstandingly disoriented. Cobblestone streets and primordial architecture, street musicians harping on accordion (folks still play those…weird), horse drawn carriages and very few cars -this cannot be real…it might be a movie set. Next I expected ladies with parasols and gents donning top hats & curly mustaches. Cities just don’t look like this anymore (or so I thought). I figured the modern way of life had reared its ugly head just about everywhere,infesting every larger city with superfluous technology and capitalist brainwash. Taking a stroll into the town square is testament to Krakow’s adversity to mutate with the majority. Rynek is one of the largest medieval squares in Europe and is home to St. Marys Basilica- a jaw dropper of a church. The painted starry ceilings, the intricate stained glass, an exquisitely detailed altarpiece that took a German artist 15 years to create…all overwhelmingly stunning. Nothing, however, can trump the feeling of standing in this space… it chokes me. The smells, the air on my skin, the mumblings of prayer and the flutter of pigeons who have made their home high in the framework…I find myself unsure that I can be experiencing such an impossibility- a moment of what I feel is bona-fide history. This church stands today true to its original time…I have never been witness to anything like it. (more…)