The Crabby Cook - by Jessica Harper

Okay, so Tuesday I posted something on my Blahblahblog about the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile and then Wednesday, there it was: a piece I the New York Times Dining section about…Oscar Meyer. I know, I’m prescient, right? OMG.

Specifically the article was about the dozens of hotdogueros (hot dog vendors) in Tuscon, who sell Sonoran-style hot dogs, which are wrapped in bacon before grilling. Supposedly the bacon dog was invented by our pal Oscar, back in the fifties, in an attempt to sell more of his piggy product. Somehow, Mexicans picked up on this idea, and it evolved into a thing Mexican-Americans call their own: a bacon-wrapped dog topped with beans, chopped tomatoes, salsa verde and a squirt of mayo. Read More

I don’t now about you, but, as I’ve gotten older and more visually challenged, measuring liquids has become more challenging (meaning, irritating). I pour water, say, into a Pyrex measuring cup and for the life of me, I can’t read the markers. I hold the cup up to the light, look at it sideways and then from the bottom, I wiggle it around, I speak to it (not in a nice way), and finally just think to myself, in my inimitable crabby way, that whatever the hell is in there is close enough. Read More

As I write this, I’m in Cape Cod, and I just found a casaba melon at the market. I seldom find them in Los Angeles. I suspect they’re too busy with other pursuits to be hanging out at Ralph’s. (If you are wondering what other pursuits a casaba melon could possibly have, well, my friend, click here and your appreciation of this lovely fruit will deepen, trust me.)

Anyway, whatever their other agenda, casabas apparently like to summer in Cape Cod. I took one home and stared at it for a while, wondering how I could mess with it, turn it into something more interesting than just a juicy slab on a plate. I had basil and a lemon. Some Recipe Angel whispered in my ear, telling me to go back to the store and get a cucumber and some feta cheese. I did that, on a bike. Then I started chopping. Read More