Food porn for Valentine's Day at BonAppetit.com

Here's my roundup of 12 erotic scenes using food for BonAppetit.com, from a femdom feeding to a kinky artichoke to "wilted" spinach, pomegranates, peanut butter and a very special Dove Bar - I thought it would be gauche to include my work, but I've written about hamburgers, French fries and cupcakes, and am working on a story to submit to More Smut for Chocoholics!


kinky artichokes, anyone?

4 cookbook authors DISH tonight at Housing Works Bookstore in New York

Check out the following cookbook authors at DISH tonight at charity bookstore Housing Works, which is also a great place to find holiday gifts. See my New York Observer writeup for details and please keep sending me Eight-Day Week event listings to 8dayweek at observer.com - right now I'm considering events from December 11-January 8, and event organizers, add that email address to your update lists!

Southern Shabbit tonight with kimchi-braised brisket at City Grit

Tonight's Southern Shabbat at City Grit had me at "kimchi-braised brisket." Wish I could be there but I'm getting ready to go on a two-week trip. For my daily event picks check out the Eight-Day Week section of The New York Observer and keep sending me events, yours or ones that might be of interest, with full details and at least 2 weeks' notice, to 8dayweek at observer.com - thanks and do check out City Grit if you're looking for a unique meal and to meet interesting people.

Cheese curds, bacon, alligator, lamb testicles, deep fried deliciousness: My first time at the Minnesota State Fair

Read all about my three days at the Minnesota State Fair at Grub Street (yes, "orgy" is in the title). It's my first piece for them and I'm very excited to be delving into food writing (aside from cupcake blogging). If you like it, please like it on Facebook and pass it on. More photos are on Flickr but these are some of my favorites, like alligator sauteed in garlic and oil and alligator-shaped fries! That soft serve cone ruined me for soft serve; it was amazing. Thanks to my friend Sheela for recommending I try it (in the dairy building). Also it didn't make it in to the final article, but New Yorkers, heads up for next year, there's a Minnesota State Fair Day in NYC, complete with cheese curds!


Puff Daddy on a stick!

Binge eating essay at The Frisky

I wrote "I'm a Binge Eater (Sometimes)" for The Frisky. Check it out.

One aspect of my disordered eating habits has remained, an occasional crutch that feels all the more sinful because it’s so rare: bingeing. Usually it involves some type of “bad” carb, be it cereal or cookies or, in this case, potato chips. Once I know a food is a potential trigger, I tend not to buy it, or if I do, I buy a small package of it so that if I want the giddy, joyful, getting-away-with-something feeling of literally shoving food in my mouth, I can do so without guilt. (Thank you, single-serving cereal packs, which I know are bad for the environment, but they let me shovel Lucky Charms into my mouth and not feel gross about it.) Sometimes it’s Cheerios or Raisin Bran; I’ve even managed to binge on Grape Nuts, and that’s a challenge. It’s not that Cheerios are unhealthy in and of themselves, but when I eat anything simply because I want to feel and hear it crunch in my mouth until I zone out, it’s not a good thing. For me, binge eating isn’t only about eating “forbidden” foods. It’s that I’m eating them alone, in secret, with a purpose that I know, even if subconsciously, has nothing to do with hunger.

My boyfriend had two large bags of potato chips in his kitchen; the jalapeño chips were almost decimated, so I decided to open the Kettle sea salt chips. As almost always happens when I binge, I didn’t set out to eat all of them. I just wanted something salty and crunchy, something to take my mind off myself and my problems, and figured I could eat a few, close the bag, and I would look like a normal snacker, not a glutton. And it worked, for a little while; those first few bites were blissful. Then, after the initial handful of chips, I zoned out and kept shoving them in my mouth, long after the saltiness had made my tongue rough and even the crunch seemed dulled. Every time I paused, I realized how much I didn’t want to face my own sluggishness, and the chips seemed easier to deal with … until I got to the very bottom of the bag. I didn’t let myself look at the calorie count, because I knew if I did I’d be tempted to revert to my old ways and stick my fingers down my throat (when I did finally look, I saw that the entire bag contained 750 calories, and was relieved it wasn’t twice that amount). I was like a living version of Heather Whaley’s hilarious and a little-too-close-to-home cookbook Eat Your Feelings: Recipes for Self-Loathing.

The worst part wasn’t my regret or stomachache, but that I couldn’t keep it a secret. Like secret eater Shoshana Davis, I’m used to hiding the eating I don’t want anyone to know about.

Read the whole thing

Macaroni and Cheese Off tonight is another reason I love NY

I haven't been so great about keeping up with what's going on in my city. I want to be on top of things, but I'm much more up on what's going on in bookstores, as that's my main beat, aside from sex, and the side of my writing I'm looking to expand on. That being said, I do want to start going to more fun events, like Monday night bingo at The West Cafe (I did try to go to The Moth on Thursday at Housing Works but the line was long and I was cold, not having quite mastered how to work my winter coat in to warm days/cool nights, so I've been leaving it at home). When I want to know about fun cheap places to go in New York, I always look at The Skint and it never disappoints! That's how I found out about today's The Mac-Off, which is both in Williamsburg and involves one of my favorite foods, macaroni and cheese!



The Mac-Off: 2nd Annual Mac and Cheese Fundraiser
Sunday, October 23
5pm to 8pm
Huckleberry Bar
588 Grand Street
$10 to judge, eat and booze

Probably not going to get to check it out, but I also found out via The Skint about a corn maze in Queens. I don't think I even knew they existed until I read the murder mystery (is "murder mystery" redundant or does "mystery" pretty much cover it? I feel like as a mystery reader I've never read a mystery that didn't involve a murder, yet I felt compelled to add "murder" to be sure you knew which kind of book I meant. Hmm...) Corpse on the Cob by Sue Ann Jaffarian, one of her excellent Odelia Gray series.

I want to put this in my mouth

Today I blogged about pepperoni pizza and chicken soup and spicy macaroni cupcakes from Savor Cakes in Portland, Oregon, who have a Kickstarter campaign going to bring savory cupcakes to the hungry mouths of Portland. I for one totally want to eat this, and plan to give you a full report 2 weeks from tomorrow. For now, a mouthwatering photo:


spicy baked macaroni in a croissant!

Spanakopitza from Papa Cristos and caramel Oreo ice cream at Scoops

Yesterday I had lunch with Zach from Midtown Lunch LA (founder and former blogger of Midtown Lunch). He asked if I was up for trying Greek food, I said yes, and off we went to Papa Cristos, where I tried this delicious spanakopitza:



I'm a big spinach fan, and feta fan, so the combination all warmed up on bread with caramelized onions was delicious. I also had a big salad, and tasted Zach's gyro meat. I felt a little badly because I was mocking the signs on the homemade baklava, which looked delicious, but said "homemade" "chocolate" and "raspberry" and then I tried to explain to the very short, white-haired man helping me why those shouldn't be in quotes, but it didn't compute. I gave the baklava to the friends I'm staying with and got thumbs up. I'd definitely go back; it was spacious, much more so than you'd ever get in New York, and there were free samples of tabouli, honey halva spread and bread.

Then we hung out at Scoops in Culver City, which is run by a food blogger, where I ate this delicious caramel Oreo and chocolate almond non-dairy ice cream and tried to resolve my flight situation. It was very good, though the chocolate almond was a bit too almond-y for my taste, the caramel Oreo was perfect. Flavors change daily.



If you're in LA, follow @midtownlunchLA on Twitter for the latest and if you like music and food, see Zach's new Tumblr, Food is the New Rock.

Food blogger Cathy Erway on The Art of Eating In

My friend Cathy Erway, of the blog Not Eating Out in New York, read at Sex & Food Night at In The Flesh Reading Series, from her new book The Art of Eating In: How I Stopped Spending and Learned to Love the Stove. That's below, along with a little interview with her about the book. She's an inspiration to me especially as a non-cook.









See 193 more photos of Cathy and the other readers in this Sex & Food Night Flickr set; all photos by Anya Garrett.