Rigatoni with Sausage and Butternut Squash
Over my twenty years of doing The Amateur Gourmet, I’ve been approached by fans a handful of times. Usually the exchange is quick and pleasant: I feel a thrill for being recognized and hopefully they feel a thrill for meeting their favorite nerdy, gay, old-school food blogger. However the exchange goes, I’m always on the same side of it; until a few months ago when the roles reversed and I fan-girled out over meeting my favorite food influencer, Hailee Catalano.
Garam Masala Miso Chicken Thighs with Fennel
Back in 2004, when I first became interested in cooking but didn’t have the money to buy all of the cookbooks I wanted, I would take index cards to Borders (remember Borders?) and copy down recipes by hand that I could make later. I remember frantically scribbling The Barefoot Contessa’s Herbal Iced Tea recipe with Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger and Lemon Zinger from her first cookbook, eyeing the security guard across the way to see if he was on to me.
Bucatini with Swiss Chard, Raisins, and Parmesan
Sometimes sharing a recipe is like playing a game of telephone. Take, for example, this recipe for Bucatini with Swiss Chard, Raisins, and Parmesan. It’s based on a recipe that I saw on Nigella Lawson’s website; but it turns out that she got the recipe from Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons. I’m sure Nigella changed the recipe after it got whispered into her ear, and now I’ll do the same.
