Author’s Note: When you want to cause a stir in politics, bring up government spending.  No one is right and everyone is wrong.  We are taxed too high, spending’s too low, too much money goes to parks, not enough on research… the shouting will never subside. If you want to stir up controversy amongst everyone else, bring up bread.  The ultra fit, meathead marathoners will tell you to eat as the cavemen did.  The le pain snobs will tell you about the ONLY boulangerie where you can find a decent baguette.  Then there are the folks who like their bread fluffy, airy and tasteless and would sooner eat dirt than multigrain. I loved this column because ever after 30,000 years, bread is still sexy as hell.  My lifelong love affair with it burns like the fire of a brick pizza oven.   I am not really a fan of dieting. I usually gain five pounds in the first week because my brain and body become convinced I am secretly conspiring to starve myself to death, so they conspire to send me into insatiable pizza and ice cream urges. But like it or not, dieting basically becomes a must at some point after you hit twenty five and everyone’s metabolism hits the wall. Whilst having dinner with friends last week, one of my dining companions regaled us with ins and outs of his newest low carb fad. The idea is to deny yourself of all carbs so on your one day off, all you want is strawberries for your cheat food. Thinking about it, I said that was pretty much how I naturally gravitate in my eating. I focus on healthy proteins and my indulgences are generally a bunch of grapes here and there. I sat...

I grew up in a commercial kitchen that also included a fully stocked “prep” kitchen one floor up, two walk-in butler pantries and a detached dry food storage as large as a garage behind the house. I was not reared in a hotel or army base but with a mother who believed why do less when you can have the best? Because of this, she could throw a dinner party for two dozen guests, bake a wedding cake or jerky an entire deer without going to the store (I have witnessed all of these things too many times to count growing up). Since I was raised in a culinary Xanadu, I know that someone should have a nine gas burner stove with 36 inch convection oven and griddle attachment. However, I am also a bit of a gypsy and in a whirlwind in the heat of passion I will start off to a new city and new life with only what fits in my hatchback. Everyone needs certain things in your kitchen but not everything needs to be purchased at Sur la Table. There are a couple items you have forever, some you buy cheaply and toss and more things are money pits you are fooled into thinking you need. If you are right out of college, a bachelorette with only a can and wine opener or just need to revamp your favorite room, here’s a handy list that shows you what to invest in, buy on the cheap because you didn’t pack it and what you should save money on and avoid completely.  Just like the relationship game: some you marry, some you fuck ’em and leave ’em and some you outright should kill. NOTE: I consulted my culinary genius that is loins...

Food and music are two of the few things in the world that are universal. Sure some people don’t like peanut butter and some people don’t like polka. There is no person in the world who does not like music or does not like food. Both can evoke more than what they are. When you hear a favorite song, you think of that road trip you took when you were twenty one. When you eat tomato soup and grilled cheese you remember the snowy days you spent sledding when you were eight. Levon Helm, drummer for The Band, died last week. When I heard the news my thoughts inevitably turned to old family Thanksgivings. I think for most people, Thanksgiving is filled with WASPy simmering and unspoken frustrations, touch football and trying desperately to come up with something for which you are thankful before it is your turn to speak up before you can dig into your stuffing. Like most festivities in my house, Thanksgiving was barely civilized. I am the middle daughter of six intense and active children of two very passionate hippie parents. The one constant we had in holiday was The Last Waltz played on loop. Martin Scorsese filmed the last concert The Band performed on Thanksgiving in San Francisco. The Band wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving before performing for the last time with some of the eras most brilliant musicians, everyone from Bob Dylan to The Staple Singers. Even last Thanksgiving, which I spent in Paris, did not pass without me playing “The Weight” half a dozen times in my Saint Germaine hotel room. I didn’t need the turkey, but I did need The Band and the happy memories it evoked. Musicians and the culinary laborer have always shared a...