Risotto is a difficult and time consuming dish to make, one that all too easily results in a heavy, mushy glob. A good deal of patience is required to stand at the stove for half an hour and constantly stir and ladle hot liquid in small increments. But it's well worth the effort.
I love all types of books. I guess you could classify me as a voracious reader. I also tend to buy books faster than I can read them (darn you, Amazon.com 1-Click!). There is one type of book, however, that I consistently, almost obsessively, purchase and almost never read - cookbooks.
I know I should, but I don't always eat breakfast. So on those days when I get my morning latte at Starbuck's I'm tempted to get a bran muffin; hoping it will be a healthy hold-me-until-lunch breakfast.
The last two years my grandmother would always say to me, "Now, you better put your name on whatever you want before I go." And I always responded with, "Oh, grandma," not wanting to think of this world without her. Well, this last October at the tender age of 96 she passed away.
I lived in Japan for three years. I wish that I had at least once dragged my body out of bed at 3:00 a.m., taken the one hour train ride to downtown Tokyo and gone to the world famous Tsukiji Fish Market.
In 1994, my mom's best friend, and my "spiritual" mother, Ann Wall Frank wrote a fabulously hilarious little cookbook titled 
One of the things I love about Thai food is the gentle balance of spicy, sweet and sour flavors.
When there's crab in the house there are no left-overs. Really, I can eat my body weight in these critters.
