Some of my earliest memories are centered around meat and potatoes. Every Sunday my family would pile into the car and head over to my grandmother’s house for dinner. Without fail she’d always serve a roast alongside a mountain of mashed potatoes. My sister was a roast beef kind of girl, but I was in it for the roast pork. I loved that roast pork not because it was brined or smoked to rosy pink perfection. My grandmother wasn’t that kind of cook. She grew up on a farm, fussing was not in her DNA. No, what I loved about her roast pork was the applesauce that accompanied it. It was one of the first times fruit and meat crossed paths on my dinner plate and it was certainly not the last. Today’s Apricot Stuffed Pork Chops are just another by-product of a food obsession hatched in my formative years.
Oh! Tiki culture, you morally confusing beast. I love your bright colors and unabashed tackery. But I’m troubled by your cultural appropriation of Polynesian mythology and imagery. To say I’m conflicted about tiki culture would be an understatement. But having said that, I have to admit it fascinates me. It’s a bizarre mash-up of misinterpreted cultural symbols and mid-century American aesthetics. It’s strangely beautiful, there’s no getting around it. So, when you isolate tiki culture from the unfair stereotypes it places on a minority, it’s not difficult to see its charms. But is it a given that it should be seen as its own stand-alone cultural phenomenon? No, not necessarily. So, before we get to the frothy, blue fun that is Blue Hawaii Granita let me be clear: Tiki culture is not to be mistaken for Polynesian culture. Okay, I feel marginally better, let’s press on.
Brunch is a funny meal. It is one of the only meals that confronts you with a very difficult choice: sweet or savory. Think about it. How often do you ask yourself this question when it comes to lunch or dinner. Sure, tea time can mean anything from sandwiches to 
Would you get a load of that recipe title? Sorrel Falafel Collard Wraps with Turmeric Tahini Sauce. Sounds kinda healthy, right? No, this blog has not been hacked and no, I’m not currently in the throes of an identity crisis. I just thought I’d make something healthy for a change. I finally realized that life is about balance and sometimes- Oh! Who am I kidding? These green falafels are wonderfully and unabashedly deep fried and I’m not the least bit sorry about it. They’re crispy and delicious and that’s where my priorities lie, I’m sorry. There’s still plenty of green action to be found in and around these wraps, which means vitamins, which means health, right? Right?!