Kim O’Donnel

Untitled Document The massacre at Virginia Tech has shaken the nerves of this country, and its chilling impact is being felt as far away as India, Israel, and Peru. The story itself has all the makings of a CSI episode that includes a law-enforcement probe into the creepy, mysterious twists and turns of a psychopathic […]

Untitled Document My mother called. She and her man had ham-in-the-can for Easter dinner. Her voice was filled with a mixture of disgust and disappointment. The meal was nearly inedible, she reports, with a foul odor and sci-fi texture that she couldn’t erase from her memory. She would be making ham salad of the leftovers, […]

Untitled Document Imagine waking up one day to learn that your small intestine can’t take it anymore; that wheat, barley, and rye are the enemy; and that you’ve got to go cold turkey on the stuff if you want to stay alive. Specifically, it’s the gluten causing the gastrointestinal uproar, the very same protein network […]

Untitled Document I will go out on a limb and assume that those who bother to read this here column understand and acknowledge the following statement: In the world of doughs and batters, homemade is a route less traveled but infinitely more satisfying. I apologize if I’m preaching to the choir, but I bet some […]

Untitled Document I’m a firm believer in signs from the universe. Nothing is a coincidence. We meet people for a reason, even if they cause us pain and heartache. We fall in love when we least expect it, and we gravitate to certain parts of the world, sometimes without explanation. Thank goodness for Mother Nature, […]

Untitled Document Chico was just some guy I had heard about through my friend Karla. An Aztec dancer     living in San Francisco, Chico had blown into Washington for a night, bunking with our mutual friend. I stopped by to say hello to Karla, and Chico and I met as he was waking from […]

Untitled Document Turkey. Check. Egypt, Ethiopia. Check, check. India, Iran, Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan — check, check, check, check, quadruple-check. This sounds like the stuff of an amazing globetrotting dream — but this list is a mere sliver of the places where a little edible disc called the lentil is like a diplomat […]

Untitled Document I’ve got a newcomer in my culinary bag of tricks, and it’s so clever, I feel like a genius. I can’t take credit for such brilliance, however; the concept dates to Elizabethan times, and in spite of numerous morphings over the centuries it remains a certifiable oldie but goodie. I’m talking about the […]

Untitled Document I grew up in the 1970s, also known as the “good old days,” when eating in a restaurant was a special event, like going to the circus. Fancy restaurants were slim on cuisine but heavy on spectacle and theater. There was the exotic Benihana, where robe-clad culinary magicians would stir-fry steak before your […]

Untitled Document My friend Maura is far from a cook. She’ll tell you so herself. But a baker? Damn straight. So what if she’s a one-hit wonder — Maura makes some mean cranberry-pistachio biscotti. These dried-fruit-and-nut-studded biscuits earned her approval (and, ultimately, love) from a group of people she now calls her in-laws. That was […]

Untitled Document My friend Nan in Chicago made one. So did my mother, who lives in Pennsylvania. All across America, womenfolk were baking pot pies, and I was their preacher. I had found my calling: to spread the good word about bubbling-hot, savory filling and how it can save home cooks from falling into a […]

Untitled Document I have a recurring dream that puts me in New Orleans. In fact, I have the dream often enough that I honestly can’t remember exactly when I was there last. All I know is that my last trip predates 9/11. It’s been a long time, I know, but the dreams, they started after […]