Introducing Lunch at Sixpoint, where I’m cooking from now

So, last week, I launched a new site to start off a new chapter in my writing about food. Have you seen it yet? It's called Lunch at Sixpoint, and it'll cover gardening and growing food as well as cooking it at home. Or, not exactly at home. At the office kitchen of Sixpoint Craft Ales, a brewery in Brooklyn that was founded by my boyfriend. Lunches at Sixpoint began as a casual, occasional affair -- I'd be at the brewery, helping out in the fledgling rooftop garden or doing some other work, and I'd make lunch. And share it with everyone. Sandwiches, stuffed with a smorgasbord of fillings set out on the long table, or pizzas baked in the oven with a smattering of toppings like a newly cracked egg from the chicken coop that morning. It was fun for me, as getting to cook for a hungry audience always has been. And it was fun for everyone who got to eat. It was also more efficient, having someone making healthy, nutritious and hopefully yummy meals for the group, with all the food grown right on the roof.

The Biggest, Best, Most Outdoors, Food Obstructions IV is July 18th

It's been a while since Karol, David and I have hosted a Food Obstructions, the cooking competition based on five ever-changing rules. It started out in November at The Gutter, and we held two more Food Obstructions there over the following months. But now that it's the start of a new season, we're bringing it back with some twists. In celebration of all that's local, edible and in season right now, this time the cook-off will be a fundraiser for Just Food. And because it's warm, it'll be held in the backyard of East River Bar in Williamsburg. We're taking it outside -- let the food fight begin!

BBQ Blowout is tonight at Good Company

Welcome to summer, New York City, and with that, barbecue season. I hope you've gotten to enjoy the food at a few ones already. But I dare say you've never had anything like what we're going to put on the grills tonight, at Good Company bar (formerly known as Hope Lounge) in Brooklyn. It's Finger on the Pulse's annual BBQ Blowout series, and I'm chef of honor along with my friends at Mrs. Kim's restaurant. Get ready for a crazy Korean-infused barbecue meal, made with local produce and trusted meats.

Ginger Stir-Fried Sugarsnap Peas & Fish

This is just one of those really simple yet satisfying weeknight meals. It took all of three minutes to cook, though that's not counting the rice you might want to serve it with. It was light and tasty as anything could be. And it's currently my favorite way to enjoy sugarsnap peas. That's saying a lot, since snap peas are so good prepared so many different ways.

Help Healthy Bodega Initiative & Red Jacket Orchard Bring Local Produce to Bodegas

It's summer. There's produce, plenty of it local. It's coming to supermarkets, restaurants and Greenmarkets throughout New York City. But one place you won't hardly ever find it at is a bodega, those convenient, often round-the-clock shops where you can get toothpaste and telephone cards or tonight's dinner of ramen and chips. Unfortunately, this is the only type of grocery store that exists in increasingly more communities here. That's why the Healthy Bodegas Initiative was formed in 2005, aimed at increasing access to fresh food and improving the health of all New Yorkers through its bodegas. Targeting the most underserved areas, or healthy "food deserts," the mission has partnered with many bodegas and local organizations, such as the Greenmarket of Grow NYC (previously called CENYC). Check out Kerry Trueman's great interview with the initiative's founder, Donya Williams, on Food Systems NYC. And read below for an interview with Justone Bossert, Director of NYC Operations for Red Jacket Orchards, an upstate, family-operated fruit farm that's joined the cause.

Rhubarb, Chile & Lemon Peel Preserves

Sweet, spicy and sour, what a wallop for your morning toast. What a surprise for a spread with cheese on crackers. This jar will surely sit a special place in the fridge, one of the wacky, must-think-before-eating creations, right there with the kimchee-pickled beets. The good thing: one slick will go a long way. The bad thing: your tastebuds will become more tolerant to heat, as you'll want to slick on more and more.

Rainbow Chard on Toast, Two Ways

I often shop with my eyes rather than my head when it comes to local food at the Greenmarket. This leads to a fun culinary game later of what to do with strawberries, fiddleheads, and a rainbow trout, for instance. Not the most practical method, I'll admit, but I'll stand by it just for the unexpected little solutions to those puzzles like this. Plowing through a bustling Saturday market at Grand Army Plaza, my eyes settled on some of the flashiest gems, and I left with -- and not knowing what to do with -- a bunch of rainbow-stemmed Swiss chard, and some multigrain bread.