{Skirt Steak is a book about female chefs, but rather than ask why so many “gals of the galley” leave the culinary profession (Duh, motherhood is a deal-breaker.), author Charlotte Druckman takes a fresh approach to gender studies and investigates how some women have charted successful careers as chefs. Interviews with Gabrielle Hamilton, Stephanie Izard, Anita Lo and 70 other distinguished women chefs shed light on how they’ve withstood heat in the kitchen and remained on their feet.}
{Fizzy with the tart-sweet flavor of mandarin juice, the zest of Seville oranges and a zing of ginger, Fentimans Mandarin and Seville Orange Jigger is akin to a nonalcoholic mimosa. I’m happy to be a teetotaler if I can have a bottle of this fermented soda every day – or at the very least for Sunday brunch.}
{A spoonful of the mango sorbet at Prasino takes me back nearly two decades to my honeymoon in Puerto Rico, where I had my first bite of truly ripe mango. The juices dribbled down my chin and made my clothes sticky-wet, but who cared because the taste was heavenly. The texture of this house-made sorbet is so smooth, the mango flavor so intense and unadulterated. Oh, newlywed bliss! And I can relive it simply by exiting I-70 at Fifth Street in St. Charles.}
This article appears in July 2013.