How to help your Lactobacillus buddies — You’ve decided you’re going to give yogurt-making a go. Great choice. Maybe you’ve even knocked out a few good batches for your next tart frosting, potluck tzatziki, or — my personal favorite — breakfast parfait. Or maybe your yogurt hasn’t yet made you swoon over your spoon and you’ve been…

Clear instructions to start your probiotic journey — After writing an entire article about the magic of yogurt, I thought I should give you a clear and straightforward recipe to start making your own. …

It’s easier (and greener) than you think — During the pandemic, some of us obsessed over sourdough. Others religiously followed Youtube fitness gurus, constructed birdhouses, sewed crafty-looking face masks, or discovered the lost arts of shoe cobbling and basket weaving. As for me, I chose trash. Each night of the lockdown, I channeled all my COVID anxieties into…

Sexism, unsustainability, and meat — [This is the second article in a three-part series on Slow Food. If you missed part one, here’s the link.] For those of you just tuning in, grab your shovels because we’re digging deep into the Slow Food movement. Founded in 1986 in Italy, Slow Food strives to “ensure everyone has access to good, clean and fair food.” …

Xenophobia, nationalism, and so much more — (This is the first article in a three-part series on Slow Food. Subscribe or follow me to get notified when the second part is released.) “Inevitably, the manufacturers of processed food argue that they have allowed us to become the people we want to be, fast and busy, no longer…

Celebrate Earth Day with a taste of the Mediterranean — “Just how destructive does a culinary preference have to be before we decide to eat something else?… And if you are tempted to put off these questions of conscience, to say not now, then when?” — Jonathan Safron Foer Almost every morning of my childhood, I ate Honey Nut Cheerios…

Live to eat, not eat to live Yesterday I caught up with an old friend on the phone. Intimidatingly intelligent with the sort of warm personality that can make January in Chicago feel downright toasty, Jess and I were close friends when I lived in the States. …

It’s not the reason you think — Everything you know about Passover is a lie. Okay, not everything. But the story about matzoh — the cardboard crackers Jews eat instead of real bread during the Passover holiday — is probably fake news. …

Wanna stick it to the man? Use a fork. — I used to be afraid of enjoying food. Of course, I never disclosed this fear to a living soul. I knew dieting was too feminine, and feminine things were the kryptonite of cool. The cool girl never wasted her cool time on girly bullshit like makeup or hair because she…