August 17, 2008 | Filed under: News & Notes
As many of my regular visitors have already realised by now, I have not posted here in weeks. I just popped in to let everyone know that I am still alive and well, just haven’t been cooking much lately. I’ve been a bit preoccupied with my off-line life and a couple of projects that have required the majority of my time and attention these days and I do not see things changing for several more weeks. That being the case, I’ve decided to extend my hiatus for the remainder of the summer. I’m not exactly sure when I will resume posting, but I’m guessing it will be some time around the end of September, perhaps the beginning of Oct. But fear not — I will be back. Mos def!
Thank you to all who have visited and supported me here on diva:flava. I look forward to posting again soon and catching up with many of you. Until then, have a great summer, everyone!
July 15, 2008 | Filed under: Etcetera, My Favourite Things, Videos

I am a huge lover of quality movies, with a special interest in foodie movies. Sadly, very few of the mainstream movies produced in the US attract my interest, let alone hold it, which is why my collection of foreign films is ever expanding. While I will not bash the US movie industry, I will say that many films made in other countries are, in my opinion, simply superior with regard to writing, acting and direction.
For those who are not aware, No Reservations, the chef/restaurant-themed romantic comedy (starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart) which opened in US theaters in late 2007 and released on DVD in Feb 2008, is actually a remake of the 2001 original German film, Bella Martha (translated Mostly Martha in English, starring Sergio Castellitto and Martina Gedeck). I will not attempt to provide a review of this movie (there are others who are far better at that than I am), I simply want to express myself (albeit a bit late) on this Mostly Martha versus No Reservations issue, which has been on my mind for some time now.
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July 13, 2008 | Filed under: On the Side, Vegetarian

I’ve been experimenting again! Actually, I was cleaning the kitchen this afternoon and realised I needed to either use or lose some things in the fridge and veggie bend. I also wanted something light and tasty for lunch and this is what I ended up with. I love potatoes, all kinds, all ways, especially smothered with yellow onions and a bit of bacon (a dish that I make for breakfast occasionally), but sweet potatoes were the only ones I had on hand.
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July 12, 2008 | Filed under: Appetizers & Salads, On the Side, Vegetarian

My apologies to all of my readers for the abrupt pause in posting since June 29. I’ve been in St. Louis with my family and friends for the past week. Unfortunately, my 93-year-old, beloved grandmother passed away unexpectedly on Friday, June 27. I did managed to make my last post a couple of days after receiving the news, but haven’t felt much like cooking or posting anything until now.
I don’t know about others, but I tend to develop what I call situational or activity-based cravings for certain foods. I’m not sure that I can explain this phenomenon in a manner that makes sense, but I’ll give it a try. For example, I watch a foreign film or read a book or see a magazine article about a certain culture and before I know it, I’m having this intense desire for foods of that particular culture. This happened to me this week when I ran across a recipe for tabbouleh in the July issue of Gourmet magazine. I had discussed making tabbouleh and hummus a couple of weeks ago with a coworker and seeing this recipe brought back the most wonderful taste memories. That was all I needed to prompt me to action. It’s been quite a while since I’ve enjoyed flavours of the Mediterranean and this recipe seemed the perfect way to kick things off.
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