Quips, Travails and Braised Oxtails

Category: Uncategorized

Something is better than nothing - DIY "homeless kits"

I generally try to keep food in my car, if for no other reason than that I now parent an ever-emptying vortex that refuses to be photographed (Sparky is a full-blown teenager – there must be an event horizon just behind his epiglottis…) I typically kept small bags of peanuts, trail mix or granola and... Read more »

By QuipsTravails,
January 22, 2016 at 9:30 am •

The Wayback Machine: Cake. No Lie (Portal II Black Forest Cake)

Sparky and his Dad are avid gamers, if late adopters – they just worked their way through Portal. I’d first heard about this video game on one of my very favorite blogs, Epbot (from the creators of Cake Wrecks, another blog so well worth reading that it’s a book, too – and one of Sparky’s favorites!)... Read more »

By QuipsTravails,
August 31, 2014 at 8:59 am •

Sundays with Sparky: Flaming S'more Cake

This cake was sparked by a Portuguese cooking video: somehow I fell down an internet rabbit hole and landed on Bolo de Bolacha Maria (Maria cookie cake.) It’s described as Portugese Tiramisu, but since it is made with digestive biscuits, the first thing that came to mind were s’mores. I immediately began thinking about how to... Read more »

By QuipsTravails,
August 24, 2014 at 9:00 am •

The Wayback Machine: @Bronxzooscobra Cake

From way, way back in 2011, we bring you our most famous post ever: I don’t know if you followed the escape of the Bronx Zoo Cobra and its subsequent capture…but Sparky and I followed the cobra’s alleged Twitter Stream closely. We all have our favorite cobra tweets – Sparky’s is @BronxZoosCobra “Indiana Jones, why... Read more »

By QuipsTravails,
August 17, 2014 at 9:00 am •

Sundays with Sparky: Israeli Salad with Pasta and Feta

This is one of those posts where a picture is worth 1,000 words, so I’ll just give you the ingredients and you can follow Sparky as he puts them together. Tomatoes Cucumbers (we like the Persian seedless kind) Shallot Parsley Salt Olive Oil Wine Vinegar Cooked Orzo pasta (about 1/4 cup per person) Feta cheese... Read more »

By QuipsTravails,
August 10, 2014 at 9:00 am •

Sundays with Sparky: Salted Mizuna and Nukazuke-style Pickled Turnips

One of the best parts of summer is that I’ve got friends with an overabundance of produce – and this post is brought to you by a particularly generous friend who has a CSA. The haul included significantly more than just turnips, onions, and Mizuna, so I thought some kind of preservation might be in... Read more »

By QuipsTravails,
July 13, 2014 at 9:01 am •

The Wayback Machine: Ice Cream Cones, or Love and Burnt Fingers

Yes, this is a story of love, and also a story of the sometimes unpleasantly surprising elements of a recipe. Eventually, this is a story of redemption. You see, at our Winter Farmer’s Market, Sparky had discovered Sweet Collective‘s Ruth and Phil’s ice cream – so, along with our popcorn and hardneck garlic, we came home... Read more »

By QuipsTravails,
July 6, 2014 at 9:00 am •