Inextricably bound up with M.F.K. Fisher’s lifelong passion for food was the pleasure she took from sipping and serving a simple house wine, a crisp aperitif or a prickly, delicious glass of Champagne. In “M.F.K. Fisher: Musings on Wine and other Libations” (Sterling Epicure; $19), Fisher’s biographer, Anne Zimmerman, gathers all of the eminent food writer’s essays on drink under one beautifully designed cover. Some of these gems have been plucked from well-known collections,

Home economics, which was a fixture in secondary schools throughout the 1950s and 1960s, has all but vanished today, but there is a steady rallying cry from pediatricians, nutrition educators, and food justice activists to bring it back. Helen Zoe Veit, an assistant professor of history at Michigan State, recently wrote an impassioned Op-Ed in the New York Times in which she championed home ec and asked, “What if the government put the tools of obesity prevention in the hands

This year, the Portland Pie Off was practically in my own backyard—the lovely Laurelhurst Park. How could I resist? Read more about it here, at T: Travel 's the Moment. A pie judge surveys the contestants at Portland’s fifth annual Pie Off. [Photo: Don McIntosh] Trying to locate this year’s fifth annual Pie Off in Laurelhurst Park in Portland, Ore., was like a sketch from the TV show “Portlandia”: first you had to pass by what was billed (in chalk on the asphalt path) as an

For eco-minded eaters — not to mention radiation alarmists — fish is a quandary these days. Much of the seafood served in American restaurants is imported, caught using methods that endanger other animals or farmed unsustainably. But a few chefs around the country are trying to turn the tide with local, eco-conscious menus. Tataki in San Francisco Tataki in San Francisco offers local catches like Monterey Bay sardines, horse mackerel from California and wild salmon, when it’

A few weeks ago, I got to tag along on one of chef Matt Lightner's foraging expeditions to the Oregon Coast. With us were Merrick, the CEO of branding/ad/creative agency Tangible Worldwide , and his girlfriend (both adventurous epicureans), my dear friend Kimberley Sevcik, and Jason, a sous chef from Castagna. Wildcrafter Lars Norgren was our de facto tour guide—teaching us about a parasitic vine called dodder that wraps itself prettily around salicornia (aka pickleweed) and

One of the first things a curious eater will discover about Portland (Oregon) is the ubiquity of food-focused happy hours. Not only are house wines and daily cocktails just $5 (and local microbrews often $3)—you can usually get a full dinner for under $10 (depending on how hungry you are). I just wrote about a handful of my current favorites for the New York Times' T: Style . What are yours?

Freelancing can be rough, especially in this economy. But reporting stories like this one , which ran in the Metro section of the Times this past weekend, is what makes me love my job. For a year or more, I'd walked past Automotive High School in Williamsburg and wondered about the raggedy but lush vegetable garden bordering its majestic front. I always had another assignment or story idea to pursue, though, so never took the time to investigate. It wasn't until this fall, w

Food trends are typically followed by parallel trends in wine. Witness the recent focus on organic, biodynamic, and local wines—at restaurants and wine shops across the country. But, just as the locavore movement has begun spurning mere organic produce (consecrating “beyond organic” farmers such as Joel Salatin as movement heros), fans of terroir—let’s call them terroir-ists—are touting something called natural wines. Artisan & Vine is London’s first natural wine bar. For a q

Farm tourism has always been popular amongst a certain type of traveler. But these days, with Michelle Obama planting an organic vegetable garden and the Slow Food movement gathering mainstream momentum, seeking out local, seasonal fare—even while on vacation—is becoming a priority for many food-obsessed travelers. Staying on a working farm, whether it’s an agriturismo in Italy or a Bauernhofurlaub in Germany is an authentic (not to mention affordable) way of seeing a country

I went to the opening party for this swish new premium lounge at JFK on the very same day that Captain Sully safely landed a US Airways jet on the Hudson. What a day for aviation!     Read my short blog about the lounge, which I wrote for T: Travel 's of-the-moment site. Most American airport lounges are about as welcoming as the lobby of a La Quinta Inn. Which is why Lufthansa’s new $10 million lounge at Kennedy Airport’s Terminal 1 is pretty interesting news.