We all love top ten lists. As a society we’re obsessed by them. We gravitate towards sites with lists of the most famous, the best dressed (and worst dressed), the most influential and lists of biggest mishaps that have happened to celebrities. All we have to give is “The top ten reasons” for anything and there’s an audience for it somewhere. (Which reminds me.  I need to do a few more list posts…)

Lists are great when they are done correctly but can quickly become a reputation train wreck if implemented poorly.  You have to be sure to quantify the list you are presenting in the right manner.  Failure to do so can result in reader confusion, blatant disregard for the information or worse, out-and-out revolt over the information you so laboriously gathered.

The reason for this cautionary tale is a list posted on slashfood.com titled The Ten Hottest Women in the Food Industry. In concept the post would be fine.  It’s actually a pretty neat list as far as lists go.  Sure, some will balk at the beauty pageant aspect of it, but hey, it’s good for a few comments and a light read, right? Read more…

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Now that we’re in the new year, I thought I’d talk a little about the direction that Cooking by the seat of my Pants will be taking this year. For this blog the theme of the year is “back to basics”.

In all my writing here I have neclected the simpler items that grace our family table, this is completely wrong, and needs to be stopped.  Who am I tho assume that everyone in the world knows how to make brown gravy, or a bechamel?

It is sometimes hard to remember what it was like when I was just starting out, when I was hungry for new methods, new basics, new tools.  I have not adequately been covering these.  In failing to do so I may have been alienating a large segment of readers.  This year I intend to correct that.

It may very well be the year that CBSOP begins a series of videos on topics as well.  I’m hoping that it is, but I’m going to have to push myself to get the first one made, then see if Y’all don’t just laugh me out of the food blogging community.

don’t get me wrong.  There will still be a bevvy of dishes that were created on-they-fly, just as there have always been.  I am, after all, the cooking by the seat of his pants guy.  I’m not going to stop throwing goodness together on a whim.  If I did that, I’d be giving all the winging it cred to No Recipes, and we can’t have that!

Having said all this, I’m currently in the middle of a super hush-hush cooking marathon that must be completed tomorrow, so expect my year-in-review posts a bit later this week. (They’re compulsory… Who am I to argue that?)

For now, Peace. I’m out.

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I’m in agreement with my good friend Peter this year.  No long speeches, no resolutions, no fuss.  Just wishes to you and yours for a very happy and safe new year.

Enjoy your celebrations and time off if you have it.  Tell your family that you love them and appreciate what you have.

One last thing from me: a very heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you for making the past year a wonderful, warm and dizzying year.  This blog would not exist without you and I never forget that.  I just don’t mention it often enough.

Happy, Happy New Year to all.

Peace. I’m Out.

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It doesn’t matter that your cell phone, PDA, or toaster can keep the time.  Regardless of the ability of these multitasking machines that today’s technology provides us, everyone still loves a humble and simple uni-tasker; the simple yet invaluable watch

Your watch may not be able to collect your email, surf the web or balance your checkbook, but what they do they do with an unfailing and sometimes comforting degree of accuracy.  They tell the time and keep your day on track.

I’ve been thinking hard about what to get the women in my life as gifts this year.  All are savvy in the ways of their modern toys.  Each one carries at least three different devices that can give them the time in several different timezones to within a millisecond of precision.  Regardless of that, each one still wears or carries a watch, so what better way to say I was thinking of you than to get them a new, trendy watch.

Michele Watches capture a stunning design philosophy fusing timeless elegance with contemporary art. The designs are whimsical, classic and to be honest, just a little funky.  They are perfectfor the more eclectic women in my life.  Not because they are currently the most sought after “must have” by celebs and the well-to-do, but because a gift that helps to make your life predictable is worth the additional cost. After all, a watch shouldn’t just look good.  It should be expected to work perfectly at all times….

Well, it should look good, too.

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As a kid I was, as are most children, a huge fan of October 31st.  I find that as I got older, I don’t care for the holiday as much, but I was wondering…  What are your Halloween traditions?

Do you celebrate Halloween? If so, is it trick-or-treating or just watching a bunch of scary movies throughout the month?  do you look forward to costume parties and get-togethers or are you more the sit-home and pass out candy type? Are you involved at all, or do you just turn off the porch light and pray you don’t get T-P’ed or, like my sister, do you deck the yard with everything you can imagine to frighten the youn-ones that will invariably be passing your way on October 31st?

Just wondering.  Leave a comment and share in the discussion.

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I mentioned in an earlier post that I was completely disenchanted with the new theme I designed for Cooking, by the seat of my Pants!  After just a few weeks of looking at This:

I had determined that it simply wasn’t going to work for this blog, no matter what I did.  I couldn’t stand it.  So yesterday I unveiled the New-New cbsop.  The current design (which, if you’re reading this blog a few years down the line and thigs have changed, looks like this:)

Hearkens back to the original design of Cooking by the seat of my Pants!, which unfortunately I do not have an image for.

I think this layout works perfectly to show off what this blog is all about.  The food.  The theme is designed specifically to always show a the latest recipe posted at the top of the page, with all other posts following, which makes certain that there is no strange content at the top of the lo when someone visits. (Paid posts, contests, personal ramblings like this one, etc.)

I hope Y’All enjoy the new look and remember: You can access Cooking by the seat of my Pants! via www.cbsop.com as well!

Have a great day everyone!

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OK, this isn’t at all involved with food, but it’s interesting enough that I felt it had to be shared, so please allow a short digression.  I promise it will make you think for a minute, if nothing else.

Watch the video before reading on, if you please.  You won’t understand the rest of the post if you don’t…

Makes you think, doesn’t it?  But what does it make you think? I mean, I knew it probably wasn’t about what it sounded like, but did the end catch you by surprise, too?

Talbot’s is working hard to change their image and their clientele to a more trendy and modern crowd, the video is proof of that. It’s fun, it’s slightly naughty and it definitely made me do a double-take.  My wife shot straight over to their site and picked out a slew of things that she wanted form their inventory. (most notably in the shoe department.)

Is Talbot’s right for you?  Why not visit the Talbots site and take a look around.  If there’s something there that you love, leave a comment and share what it was and what you liked about it. It’ll be fun!

If you like, I’ll post my wife’s list as well, but be warned, it’s long!

You may also want to run over to Red Chair Confessions and watch more of these videos, including the progression that led up to this one. I have to admit that I found it interesting as well, though I’m not in their target audience. (I do hang at woman’s fashion sites though. It helps me pick the right gift for my wife!)

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If you’re wondering why I would take the time to post a recipe for a simple salami sandwich, I assure you that there is a very valid point behind this entry. The idea stemmed from a comment in a twitter conversation that got me thinking about a few things.  That idea simply could not go without being written because I think that it pertains to every food blogger in existence at least at one time or another.

This post is dedicated in particular to my good friend Judy from No Fear Entertaining. It was a the following tweet that got me thinking about food today.  In particular, it got me thinking about what food is good food, and what is worth serving to family, friends or acquaintances.

I was checking my twitterstream when the following popped up from Judy (You are following her on twitter, aren’t you?):

@nofearentertain Dinner tonight:  Ham and salami sandwiches…I suck :-(

Of course several of us chimed in to say there was absolutely nothing wrong with this idea as a meal (To be entirely honest, I was contemplating the sandwich above long before she brought the subject up), but the statement itself got me thinking about food bloggers and how the act of being a food blogger changes our idea of what food should be. It also started me thinking about how it changes our perspective in relation to every person out there who might someday read what we’ve written.

Regardless of whether we make our money directly from our writing, food bloggers are in a sense professional foodies.  We follow the latest news in food, chefs and restaurants.  We seek out unique and pristine ingredients.  We insatiably follow food trends and at times even create the trends that the rest of the world follows.  In one way or another we define our lives in the food that we eat, the places we congregate and the meals we prepare, but in the process we disconnect ourselves from the world at large.

The quest for perfection that we engage ourselves in has an unfortunate side effect for almost every one of us at one point. It causes our focus to shift from what good food is at its core to a strange belief that the ingredients make the dish.  Nothing is farther from the truth.  The primary ingredient in great food is the love that goes into it, not whether or not the cheese used on the side was organically cultured three miles underground and cased in fine port for seven years. (Though that does sound lovely!)

Art Smith attributes his success as as a chef to preparing the food he loves with all the love he can.  The world seems to agree.  Art is acclaimed for his dishes.  They aren’t fancy.  They aren’t pompous.  They aren’t even gourmet in the fashion that most would consider a meal called gourmet food. They’re just good modern interpretations of good old fashioned Southern American meals.

Take the humble sandwich above.  Today I think nothing of it.  It’s something I might make on any given day.  A simple assemblage of ingredients that are invariably on hand in my refrigerator and pantry. On any other occasion I would have enjoyed it without ever really appreciating it, but the thought of what makes up a truly great dish placed it firmly under scrutiny.

To a foodie it’s a simple sandwich.  To my younger self it would have been a gourmet extravaganza. As a child I had never experienced such things as spicy brown mustard or shaved Parmesan cheese.  Romain lettuce was something you found as a garnish on plates at some of the better restaurants, not something used on a sandwich. Parmesan cheese came in a green shaker can that went in the fridge next to the Miracle Whip and grape jelly.

The sandwich above was as far from my experience as escargot. I wouldn’t have gotten it.  It would have been gourmet in the extreme.

That is not to say w didn’t eat a lot of salami sandwiches.  Growing up in the primarily Italian California wine country gave me the opportunity to eat a great deal of salami.  It was generally enjoyed with sourdough bread from the Sonoma French Bakery and some wonderful aged cheddar from our local delicatessen, with a hint of mustard and all the love my mother could put into it.

I never noticed that it wasn’t up to par.

So to all food bloggers out there, and to any aspiring foodie who may find themselves looking at the ingredients list before they look at the faces around their table. Please don’t forget what the real meaning of great food is.  It’s not the ingredients.  It’s not the cost, nor the complicated French method necessary to create the sauce. It’s the love that went into the making of a dish that gives it value.

So to my good friend Judy I say again; There is absolutely nothing wrong with serving ham and salami sandwiches for dinner.  They may be more appreciated by the younger members of your clan that would a perfect Coq au Vin, they’re a lot less complicated to make and I have no doubt in my mind that when prepared in your household they are infused with all the love in the world.

Food is love.  Let us not forget that in the details.

Read more…

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Grapes.  Specifically the grapes growing on a vine that’s overtaken a manzanita tree in my back yard.  These are just one of the surprises that our new home has given us.  This one is a California foodie’s dream, considering that the leaves can be used for so many wonderful things as well as the fruit that this lovely vine will gift us with for years to come.

The plant is technically my neighbors, but I’ll be encouraging it to grow and spread its vines along a trellis I’ll be building soon.  I’m sure he won’t mind if I foot some of the bill for watering this gorgeous plant either, so I think we’ll be O.K.

This year’s yield was two small bunches, but I’m hoping I can coax a bit more out of it next year if plenty of attention is given and the vines are laid out in a manner that appeals more to the plant.  This is a task I accept gladly, and an endeavor I’ll be sharing with all of you as time goes by.

I’ll let you know if we stumble across anything else really cool in the next few weeks!

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Believe it or not, I haven’t gone anywhere.  I’m still cooking, reading and voraciosly watching food related TV.  unfortunately there are other things in my little sphere of existance that have been keeping me from sharing these things with all of you.

Firstly, my wife and I have been busily house hunting. If that wasn’t a daunting enough task, we’re doing it from 1,700+ miles away from where we’ll be buying.  We’ve already bid and lost a few, but our Realtor has been amazing and we’re loking at several prospects as I write this.  It’s slow going and exhausting.  (I’ll be honest.  It’s stressful enough that at times it turns my brain to mush and I think the guys from the hulu.com commercials are going to pop in and finish me off.)

Secondly, Our son has been progressing at a frightening rate.  This is a two sided coin though, because even though his communication skills are improving wildly, his frustration when he can’t get something across has gotten more pronounced.  This means far more of my day is spent making sure that his wellfare is met. (I’m a dad, it’s my job.  I’m not complaining, just explaining.)

Lastly, I’ve been in the process on writing an eBook on the subject of blogging.  It was an inspiration fueled by my frustration with the information available.  Too many people are publishing utter chaff with the promise of riches and charging an arm-and-a-leg for it.  I intend to put one out that can give both new and experienced bloggers asome valuable hints, tips and directions to follow.

The last has been taking the bulk of my time.  It’s ironic that writing a book on the subject of blogging is keeping me from doing the very thing that I’m writing about, but when your time is limited you have to set priorities and I need to get that prject finished if I want to get back to the full-time business of actually being a blogger.

So if you’ve been worried, don’t be.  If you think I’ve just lost the urge to write about food, cooking and recipes, don’t be silly!  I live for this, I’ve just been diverted for a bit.

Peace, Y’All.  I’m out

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