Poultry

Thumbnail image for C is for Cooking

C is for Cooking

Before Lu was born, I didn’t realize that cookbooks are great toddler reading material. Our friend Matthew, in his book Hungry Monkey, told us that his daughter Iris loved looking at Martha Stewart’s Cookies. Eventually, she had all the cookies memorized and could point out each kind: milk-chocolate cookies, hazelnut jam thumbprints, and ginger cheesecake [...]

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gluten-free turkey for Thanksgiving

I love a good roasted turkey, the skin crisp, the flesh juicy. Thanksgiving dinner doesn’t start for me until I have stolen a piece of skin from the bird just out of the oven. For that reason, a dry turkey that flecks off the bone and makes me reach for the gravy boat is just [...]

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how to break down a chicken (a video)

This first video is a long one, with no cuts or edits. It’s the Chef talking you through the process of breaking down a chicken. (I realize this might be the first time that some of you hear his voice, except in writing.) Those of you who don’t eat meat will not want to watch [...]

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twittering our way to a meal

As I sat at the computer, Little Bean taking a nap, I slipped the cursor underneath my Word document and opened up Firefox again. Even though I had only forced myself to close that window fifteen minutes before, I could not resist the lure of checking my email one more time. Maybe Meri wrote to [...]

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soon, please

Spring in Seattle? You are so fickle. Please stop. This morning, when we woke up, the green lawn was covered in grey-white frost. This made the walk to grab the paper an unpleasant experience in pajamas. The Chef found photos of snow-covered roads from the previous night, online, taken about twelve miles from our home. [...]

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Thumbnail image for this poached chicken breast is….

this poached chicken breast is….

poached chicken breast, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. the only food I ate all of yesterday. The Chef made me an emergency quart of stock in the morning, before going off to work. He also brought me ginger ale and lemons and oranges and fresh juice. Sweetly, he brought all of them to me with tender [...]

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duck confit

duck confit, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. The Chef made these at the restaurant the other afternoon. I walked in with cups of coffee — milky and sugary for him; straight black for me — and saw them by the window. “What’s that?” I shouted, hoping he could hear me over the searing noises in the [...]

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being filmed for the Food Network

being filmed for the Food Network, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. As a kid, I used to teach television cooking classes in my mind. Ten years old and infatuated with Julia Child — oh, how I loved that outrageous woman, her high-pitched voice, and her gangly goofiness — I sometimes left my place before the TV [...]

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Let’s celebrate!

Scotch III, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. When I was a kid, I wasn’t much of a rulebreaker. In fact, I pretty much did what I was told. Homework done, chores accomplished, goals met: I was regular and plodding as bleached white bread. Well, not entirely. Not internally, where I lived a wild life. But on [...]

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a celebration in juicy red

seeds of pom, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. When I was a kid, we lived in one house longer than any other. 1715 Westwood Place, in Pomona, California. The rhythm of that address often repeats in my head, a mantra I can’t quite shake. No matter how many places I have lived in the world, that [...]

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the comfort of roast chicken

roast chicken, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. It has been a hard week. My smashed-up ankle, which I downplayed at first, for myself, for all of you reading, has occupied most of my last ten days. The pain has throbbed through me, exhausted me, and it just wouldn’t go away. At first, I thought, “Am I [...]

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Thumbnail image for eating roast chicken with my favorite family

eating roast chicken with my favorite family

roast chicken, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. A Friday night, and I felt just fine. The first full week of school fatigued me, but not so utterly as usual. In years before, I reached late Friday afternoon with a pounding headache and no desire to do anything, other than go home and flop on the couch. [...]

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Thumbnail image for sometimes, the ugliest food tastes the best

sometimes, the ugliest food tastes the best

Jabba the Hut red pepper, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. I swear, sometimes the squashed fruit tastes the best. The nectarine with the dull sheen, the lumpy tomato, the apples with holes in them. Lately, I’ve been realizing more and more deeply how obsessed we are in this country with everything looking pretty. I don’t know [...]

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Thumbnail image for chicken soup with rice (and avocado)

chicken soup with rice (and avocado)

chicken soup, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. I’m sure that it’s having to wake up at 6 am that has given me this cold. I’m a reluctant, early-morning riser. Always, my entire life, I’ve wanted to stay up late and wake up later. During the long, indolent months of summer, I could let my body tell [...]

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loving the kitchen

summer lunch, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. I’m loving my kitchen lately. For the past couple of years, I’ve neglected my poor kitchen. I let dishes pile up in the sink. The countertops were perpetually ringed in coffee stains. Splatters stayed near the burners after I had made pasta sauce. It wasn’t that I didn’t care. [...]

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