General | hungry sofia

Feb 28

Catching Up in February

I may be biased because it was my birthday month but it has been a fantastic February. I got started on a couple of new projects that I’ll have more details about soon, spent a lot of time with friends, and saw some great performances and shows including Balanciaga: Spanish Master at the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute and El Bulli: Cooking in Progress which just had it’s New York premiere at MoMA. When my head wasn’t in Spain past and future, I was flipping through the latest Saveur and thrilled that they featured Leticia Moreinos Schwartz’s Brazilian Kitchen in Dorothy Irwin’s Taking Root. I was also taking vicarious tours of Chile, starting with the New York Times 36 Hours in Santiago, Chile and ending with the Atlantic’s In Chile, Molecular Gastronomy and Locavores Collide. While the latter was a fun read, I was disappointed that it didn’t describe an actual chef rumble where no one gets hurt but everyone eats. Read more

Jan 31

Catching Up in January

If it was only the cold or the snow or the rain, it wouldn’t be so bad, but having all three, all the time, has begun to drain my reserves. Most mornings, I wake up to the weather man letting me down easy – it’s just going to be a light freezing rain or just below twenty but with a windchill factor in mid-misery – couching it in the gentlest terms so I know he’s serious but don’t get too hysterical. I’ll complain but if I’m being honest the snow and slush provide the perfect excuse to crawl into my over-sized shawl/undersized afghan, stream Netflix, dog nap, and catch up on my reading. Read more

Dec 31

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Catching Up in December

I briefly considered skipping my catching up post for December. The new year came on to quickly after the chaos of the blizzard and it had been a relatively quiet online month before that. Still, counting out the grapes for this year’s countdown, I realized I couldn’t end the year on an incomplete. Though I normally pull together stories and links from other sites, when I unexpectedly received my wordpress report card reviewing my year online, I thought it would be a good opportunity to catch up on my own. So in lieu of the twelve grapes I’ll be throwing back at midnight to welcome in 2011, here’s a quick catch-up list of the most popular posts from each month (with a few of my favorites mixed in) of the past year. Read more

Dec 25

Merry Christmas

Hope this Christmas brings you something new to try!

Dec 22

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Down to the Wire

This is a last minute post about last minute shopping. Pressed for time and more importantly money, it’s tempting to play it safe. Buy something you know they want, a gift certificate to a store they love, or the safest of all – not picking an item or even a store – just a pre-paid tab anywhere Master Card, Visa or American Express is accepted. All are good options and if any of them is waiting for me under a tree – thank you, I love it! But if you’ve waited but still want to find something bigger than an envelope and smaller than a bread box (or an actual bread box), I scouted out a few stores in my neighborhood that have never failed me. With little time to spare, I want to know that I can still find something thoughtful, unique, or beautiful whenever possible. Here are just a few stores where I found all three. If you can’t make it Smith Street before Christmas, they’re definitely worth a visit soon if only to use those handy gift cards. Read more

Dec 18

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Hungry Birthday

This weekend marks Hungry Sofia’s second birthday. In that first post, I talked about wanting to eat my Christmas tree (still do) and mentioned a bûche de noël but included no recipes or pictures. Two years later and closing in 300 posts, I thought it was time for the bûche to have its closeup. With friends coming over once again before going there separate ways for the holidays, I had the perfect excuse to make my site a birthday cake. Read more

Dec 15

Favorites in 2010

While my kitchen shelves groan audibly every time they see the familiar Amazon swoosh coming at them, I don’t feel equipped to offer a best cookbooks of the year list. I couldn’t begin to cover all the great books that made my wish list this year. Rather than coming up with one more “best of” selection, I decided to write up a quick list of my favorite releases covering Latin American and Spanish cuisine instead. I thought this would be the only thing they have in common but as jotted them down, a theme emerged – classically trained chefs who are passionate about their region offering traditional recipes with modern innovations – contemporary baroque. It was a good year. Read more

Nov 25

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No Place Like Home

Whether your travels were rough or easy, I hope your happy to be home wherever you’ve found it. Happy Thanksgiving!

Nov 8

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Marathon Running

After completing the New York City marathon (my first) yesterday, I’ve given myself a few extra days to get through my runner’s fog. In the meantime, I wanted to post a great New York Times article about the marathon written by Carmen Peláez, my sometimes contributor, oftentimes food taster, and every day sister. Whether or not you’re a runner, it’s a lovely story about getting through the race.

Oct 31

Catching Up in October

I experienced an unexpected interruption in internet and cable service this weekend. It may have been the ominous work-site superstructure ConEd has built outside my window or a Halloween trick gone horribly wrong, but the minutes turned into hours and a service call confirmed that it was not a drill – it was an outage. Relieved to have at least a few information portals closed, I took it as an unplanned vacation, congratulating myself on my ability disconnect (though I did fall asleep with my iPhone under my pillow). The next morning I was ready to plug back in to no avail. This was serious. Vacation over, I wanted my modem back. A few hours later service was restored and the pretty pictures, status updates, and links to links came flooding back in. Eerily quiet a few minutes before, it was like someone had knocked over a beehive. I have to admit I missed the buzzing. Read more