Last night, Andrew, Jessica, Annie, and I made ravioli, stretching pasta sheets until you could see through them with sautéed mushrooms, asparagus, garlic, and parmesan:

Sprinkled with Hawaiian red salt and feathered with chives, the cooked ravioli rested in a butter sauce.
I realized when taking the picture below that the chives had fallen in [...]

The biscuits were baking, the jam cooling, and the bacon sputtering yesterday morning, for brunch (not Grease, though the bacon rendered plenty) was the word—brunch was the time, was the place, was the motion; brunch was the way we were feeling.
A small group of the leading lights in digital innovation filled the magic cottage with [...]

Yesterday morning, I went to the Charlottesville farmers’ market and almost bought beautiful figs.

It was too difficult to choose between the tomatoes

that stretched out in breathtaking rows at Waterpenny Farms and Radical Roots.

I reluctantly left this place of thoughtful people and food, and drove to the District, where I came upon a group [...]

Should you ever find yourself in possession of a decent amount of fresh conch, you might fritter away an afternoon and the edible mollusks…
(Watch this episode in Vimeo HD here.)

Recipe: Make a batter of 1 cup all-purpose flour, add 1 cup of a golden beer, dice and add 1/4 to 1/3 lb. conch meat [...]

A few years ago, on the sixth day of June, I attended a party at my friend Eric’s house and partook of vodka cured with smashed atomic fireballs and other fiery delicacies. Needless to say, this is the only picture I can share of the event, and don’t look too long—those are snakes on my [...]

My charming friend John, who now resides in Chicago, suggested Avec on Tuesday night, which was the perfect complement to a full day of interesting talks about digital media tools with national journalism leaders.

John and I both marveled at Avec’s focaccia (ricotta is inside, I think) that was crispy and light. Avec maintains [...]

The other night I introduced a new and rather intriguing friend to my favorite legume: the cranberry bean. (Note: this episode looks much better in HD here.)

A white bean speckled with purple, the cranberry bean is at once homey and elegant–unadorned, a simple meal, or an excellent partner for caramelized onions, corn, and country bacon.
Shelled [...]

In recognition of Captain America’s return to Charlottesville, we deemed this past Saturday America Day II: Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through.
Like last year’s first America Day, we determined to spend the day doing very American things; this time, relating to music.
(Follow the rest of the adventure after the jump–)

A few weekends ago, the kitchen counter was in a glorious state of disarray, with friends helping to fold filling into potstickers, stir vegetables into fried rice, and make fortune cookies at our combined celebration of Ben’s birthday and the Chinese New Year.
In the below episode, we make crispy tuile cookies with pinched ends folded [...]

Let us now reclaim the Hallmark holiday of St. Valentine with feasting foods good for our hearts.

In this episode, we make salmon cakes full of essential ω−3 (Omega 3) fatty acids with magical garlicky aioli over roasted fennel–one of the nine sacred Anglo-Saxon herbs.
watch this episode on vimeo (in HD)
salmon cake wallpaper on [...]