Congratulations to lapadia, who won this week's contest for Your Best Autumn Pie with her Himalayan Blackberry Pie.
Q&A with lapadia
Describe an early food experience that has influenced the way you think about food and/or cooking.
Every August, my Italian grandparents would enter what they grew in their garden to display at the county fair; always blue ribbon winners. One year, I was probably 8 years old, my grandmother says in her Italian accent, “ Ima gonna teacha you the winning cookie to taka to the fair.” So, I learned to make sugar cookies and I won the blue ribbon! Anyway, after that, to this day whenever I cook, I always strive to make a good first impression, because I can still hear my grandmother saying, “the eyesa, they eata first.”
What's your least favorite food?
Lamb and venison, it’s a tie! Also, I am not a fan of arugula, but tolerate it to see if I can prove myself wrong.
What is the best thing you've made so far this year?
All the double crust pies made during the food52 pie contest. Each year I make a blackberry pie (maybe two if I am bribed) and a butternut granny smith pie for Thanksgiving, other than that, I usually shy away from double crust pies.
Describe your most spectacular kitchen disaster.
Hmmm, a disaster… the time my husband made a double batch of meatballs in marinara sauce while I was at work. After getting home I began to set enough sauce and meatballs aside for our dinner, and he began to spoon the remaining into a container to cool. Next, all I remember is him holding up the filled container and asking me if it was ok to use, when all of a sudden the bottom dropped out sending the sauce and meatballs all over the kitchen floor! It was quite spectacular looking and quite a clean-up. Luckily I had some set aside for dinner, because the rest needed to be trashed.
What is your idea of comfort food?
Spaghetti & broccoli with garlic, oil & pecorino cheese.
Apron or no apron?
No apron, even though I have a couple.
What’s your favorite food-related scene in a movie?
Annie Hall… the famous lobster-cooking scene, Annie & Alvy are trying to get the live lobsters into the pot but they are crawling on the floor; Alvy picks up a paddle, trying to get at them, he ends up knocking over dishes and hitting the chandelier, saying maybe we should just call the police, nine-one-one the lobster squad. Later Annie says there’s a big lobster behind the refrigerator, maybe if I put out a little dish of butter sauce with a nutcracker it will run out.
If you could make a show-stopping dinner for one person, living or dead, who would it be?
My 89-year-old mother, who has been living out the rest of her life with Alzheimer’s for a while now.
You prefer to cook: a. alone, b. with others, c. it depends on your mood
I like to cook with others hanging around the kitchen island.
When it comes to tidying up, you usually: a. clean as you cook, b. do all the dishes once you've finished cooking, c. leave the kitchen a shambles for your spouse/roommate/kids to clean.
Both a & b.
- Lapadia's backyard garden, which she calls her "Kitchen with a View"
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You know how we have wild blackberries growing all over the Pacific Northwest? Every year starting in August, I pick buckets of them from the woods behind my work for jams and pies and sauce. But this year--bleh. Nothing but canes. The berries at Tacoma Boys and Fred Meyer cost way too much for how bad they looked. I'm going to try it with frozen berries, so wish me luck. Have you ever used frozen berries?
Beautiful garden, too.
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