Snacks and Appetizers

Food-savvy dads at the stove

By Debra Samuels GLOBE CORRESPONDENT  JUNE 16, 2015 LEXINGTON — In mid-20th-century America, TV dads Ozzie Nelson, Ward Cleaver, and Desi Arnaz donned their wives’ aprons and mishaps and mayhem ensued. Now some dads have taken over kitchen responsibilities, either out of necessity or because they love the inventive aspect of cooking. The bumbling dad has been …

This Chinese grandma forages and cooks

By Debra Samuels GLOBE CORRESPONDENT  MAY 12, 2015 SOMERVILLE — Ginger Chen scans the terrain, a sharp knife at the ready. A wide smile spreads across her face as she spots something. She bends down, pokes the knife into the dirt, and wiggles loose a straggly plant. This is no ordinary, unwelcome weed. At the edge of …

Spam goes glam

By Debra Samuels, Globe Correspondent WELLESLEY — Those who know Susumu “Sus” Ito, 93, know that he is a Nisei (second-generation Japanese-American), a Congressional Gold Medal recipient from World War II’s legendary all-Japanese-American 442d Regimental Combat Team, an emeritus professor at Harvard Medical School, a furniture maker, photographer, dad, and grandfather.   (Sus is second …

In Berlin, flavors of Turkey and Lebanon spice up the fast food

This article originally appeared in the Boston Globe in June 2003. I thought I would bring it back now, because we are spending 2 months in Berlin.
I have added old and new photos. And the currywurst at Curry36 is still delicious. Just had some tonight!

From Barbara Rotger, Melrose, Ma

Hand written recipes from beloved relatives are our treasures. This recipe for Asparagus roll ups came from Barbara Rotger, a woman I interviewed for the article Something old, something new. It is from her grandmother, Marion Griswold Doane, who lived in Essex, Conn., and entertained a lot. “Grandma’s recipe box is full of appetizers and dips. My grandfather, Charlie, had a large vegetable garden and small farm stand. He would have grown the asparagus that Grandma used in this recipe,’’ says Rotger. Combined with cream cheese and blue cheese, the toasted bread asparagus roll-ups make elegant finger food.

Chopped Liver

Makes 2 cups or enough to serve 6 Chopped liver is served during the Passover holiday with matzo. The basic ingredients are chicken livers (or a mixture of chicken and beef liver), onions, and hard-cooked eggs. At one time, the onions were cooked in schmaltz (rendered chicken fat), and mixed with boiled, broiled, or sauteed …

The Wooden Bowls

I wrote this piece just after my nana, Beatrice Bloom, passed away on Valentine’s Day 2000. On this 11th anniversary of her death and the upcoming Passover holiday I wanted to share this personal reminiscence with you.

From left to right:
Beatrice, Lily, Frances, Ruth and Rose

I was on my hands and knees, plucking pot after broken-handled pot from beneath my Nana’s cabinets cluttered with kitchenware accumulated after the death of each of her four sisters. “Who needs to spend money on new pots with all these?” I imagined her saying.

What’s a Sox game without dried squid and beer?

TOKYO – Peanuts! Popcorn! Squid jerky, anyone? The Boston Red Sox play their season opener nine days from now at the Tokyo Dome, once home field to their relief pitcher Hideki Okajima, a former member of the Yomiuri Giants. And instead of those sausage and onion subs on Yawkey Way, fans will be munching dried …

Dress-up season in TokyoSummer spawns celebrations of season and spirits

TOKYO — The passion in Japanese souls is never more evident than at a “matsuri” — a festival that is part Mardi Gras, part history lesson, and part food festival. From local neighborhood fetes to large-scale city events, matsuri celebrate everything from rites of passage to changing seasons to local culture. They even are used …

Consuming more than one serving a common diet buster

In your cache of kitchen gadgets do you have a scale for weighing food? Are your measuring cups and spoons ever-handy for dishing out those suggested serving sizes on the nutrition label? For example, the one that says two tablespoons of salad dressing equals 1 serving? We know that the amount of food we eat …