Cook Your Best Veggie Recipe, Win a Ticket to Let Us Eat Local, and Have it Published in Just Food’s Tipsheet

It's back to school time in the city, and it's my favorite season for eating. Pumpkins and other winter squashes are fattening on the vine while heirloom tomatoes and outdoor barbecues are still going strong. It's no wonder Just Food has chosen this time of year to hold its annual fundraiser feast, Let Us Eat Local. This year's party is on September 16th, and it'll be outside, at the South Street Seaport Water Taxi Beach. And it's truly going to be the biggest, best, most delicious and inspiring one so far. I'd love for you to see in person. So once again, I'm holding a recipe contest where one food blogger will win a ticket, and more!

Week of Eating In Day Three: Making Time for Lunch

Getting into the midst of the Week of Eating In, I figured it was time for a good gathering over (homemade) grub again. As I discussed in The Art of Eating In, everyone can use some time in the middle of their day to relax, sit down and eat. Especially with your friends, fellow workers or family. Just like we all need to sleep, this communal time is restorative and constructive in many ways, even if it's not a business or "power lunch."

The Week Of Eating In Day One: Starting Off Slow

It's the first day of the Week of Eating In challenge, and I'm taking it easy like Sunday morning. Only it's Monday. You don't start skiing by tackling the super giant slalom, no, you keep to the bunny hill for a while (or in my case, never progress from that point, because you find that you don't like skiing much and have planted your face in the snow while getting on or off the ski left one too many times). So for a possibly frenzied week of cooking, in the midst of my book's release no less, I wanted to start off real simple.

What’s Hotter: Spicy or Sweet? (call in to chat!)

The perfect date meal, you name it, go! This has been one of my favorite questions of 2009 (happy New Year, by the way!). Until recently, I may have asked the same friends to describe their dream dinners way too many times, but now on nearly every episode of Let's Eat In, I get the chance to put it to a great new pair of guests each week. From food writers, sex writers, musicians, and overall food fanatics, each awesome expert has had something equally inspiring to say. It's a bit of a research project, for no good reason but fun. Two of the most commonly voiced food choices I've heard overall on this have been devilishly spicy, or deliciously sweet. So now, I wonder, what is the most romance-worthy flavor profile: spicy or sweet?

Ginger Sesame Truffles

Is there something slightly devilish about making a great batch of sugary-sweet treats, for the sole purpose of bestowing upon others as "gifts"? Do you get that Grinch-like smirk, stirring a bowl of melting chocolate and butter, thinking, this is not all going in my belly, 'cept for one teeny bite? And then, does it dissolve just as quickly as those last slicks of butterfat when your first "sneak" lick from the spatula turns into two, then three, then five? Concluding with a sigh, that we're all in it together. 'Tis the season for overeating. Yours, mine and their ultra-rich holiday foods.

Support Urban Farming at Roberta’s Pizza Tonight

On Friday, as I sat in the converted shipping container outside of Roberta's Pizza that's home to Heritage Radio Network preparing for the first Cheap Date episode with my guests Keith and Rachel, we were interrupted by a series of loud, clanking noises coming from the roof above. "Can they stop farming now?" I think I muttered. But really, it was music to my ears. There is more than a tree growing in Brooklyn, or for that matter, cities all over: a bonafide agricultural movement. And it was happening above our heads on the rooftop garden of Roberta's Pizza that day, as well as at farms, community gardens and backyards throughout the city. Tonight, Roberta's Pizza is holding a celebration of all that, as well as what more can come. You're welcome to come join the party, the dialogue, the movement -- and with your contribution to a new rooftop farm next spring, one of the most delicious feasts I have ever heard of.

Cheap Date airs on Heritage Radio Network, 3pm EST

A while ago, I was asked by the New York Daily News to cook a "romantic" meal for two that cost less than $15, including the bottle of wine. When the story ran, the paper concluded that I had given special meaning to the term, "cheap date." While this might sound a little so-so, at best, for a single in New York, I've decided to embrace that title ever since. And I hope to give it new meaning each week, by talking about cooking and dating with a number of guests. It's my new radio show! And it launches today on Heritage Radio Network, from 3 - 3:30pm.

Reason For Not Eating Out #35: The Whole Side of the Story

A cook's gotta do what a cook's gotta do. That usually includes dealing with the whole vegetable or grain from its raw to fully-cooked and plated states. Sometimes, it means the same for an animal. And the way I see it, all the better for the person cooking it.