About Me and My Blog

About me: I'm the food writer for Seven Days newspaper and a devotee of all things culinary. I designed my own B.A. at the University of Vermont in a field called "Interdisciplinary Food Studies," and own over 400 books about food. Many of these are cookbooks from all over the world, a bunch are other kinds of tasty tomes. The most ancient book in my collection is from 1893.
    Philosophically, I'm a proponent of ethical eating -- you'll hear a lot more about that if you read the blog. I base my diet on local, seasonal food, supplemented with exciting products that are best when they come from a specific region of the world -- think balsamic vinegar from Modena and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. I've eaten at a handful of the best restaurants in the world, but also swoon over good hamburgers and comfy bowls of mac & cheese.
    Yep -- I looooove food.

My wacky college major: My "Interdisciplinary Food Studies" major consisted of fiction and non-fiction writing, food ethics, sociology, anthropology, basic nutrition, sensory evaluation of food and lots more. I minored in philosophy and dabbled in studio art and film. I managed to make almost every course I took relate to food in some fashion.

About the Omnivore: Since the Seven Days newspaper has a local focus, this is a place where I'll post my thoughts about more expansive food-related topics. Here are a few of the special features I'm planning:

• Accolades -- praise for tasty products, quality cookware, delicious meals, etc.
• Cookbook of the week -- Over the course of each week, I'll try out recipes from one of the cookbooks in my collection. When the week is over, I'll post the results, complete with photos and a critique.
• Culinary Q & A -- Have a burning question about a strange item in the produce section or on any other type of culinary trivia? I'll try to find the answer. Just send me an e-mail with your query. I'll do some research and post the results.
• Food news -- Links to articles on foodie topics, and commentary, of course.
• Recipe Sleuth -- Kind of like "Culinary Q & A," except with recipes. You tell me what you're looking for, I'll scour my cookbooks till I find it.
• Tirades -- The opposite of accolades. Bad meals, bad service, bad products...you'll hear about 'em here.
• Did I miss something you'd like to see on the blog? Tell me about it!

Bon appetit!

Comments

[Eva]

Oooh, these topics look great! I want to hear more about food and film! Right up my alley!

My first question to you, what do you think of Mirabelle's new table service? IS change good?

And secondly, why is movie theater popcorn SO bad in Vermont (The Savoy being an exception)? Argh!

[suzanne]

Thanks Eva...I've added the questions to my "Culinary Q&A" list. I've got a good friend who worked at a movie theater, so I'm going to ask him for the skinny on VT popcorn. As for the Mirabelle's question, I might just have to suffer through breakfast and a pastry to decide what I think!