I warn you, it's a little off the wall

I would hang this picture on my wall.

I started a seasonal tumblr and you can find it here. You could call it a "pop-up" tumblr as it will only last until the end of the year, or until inspiration runs out. It started when I began trying to figure out food photography a few days ago and realized there was one subject I wanted to photograph more than any other. I may have found my muse!

We finished Burma last night. More on that later, maybe even later today. 

Splendid Table: Risotto

Stir, stir, stir, stir. That is risotto. I never order it in restaurants because, however tasty, it is not exciting to eat. Every bite is the same as the last, like porridge. 

While stirring and stirring Lynne Rossetto Kasper's classic white risotto last night, I was mentally preparing a crabby essay about risotto, how it's overrated, not as good as pasta, gruel with a pretty Italian name. And so on. 

Except this risotto was (of course) beyond delicious. Beyond beyond. Credit goes to the broth I simmered for 14 hours, plus the mountain of Parmesan cheese that I grated by hand. One of the most hateful kitchen tasks, hand-grating a mountain of Parmesan cheese.

But worth it. It doesn't matter if every bite of risotto is just like the last if you can taste, in every bite, meat broth, butter, onions, and Parmesan cheese, enormous flavors all somehow contained within each plump little grain of rice.

Miracle dish.

Also, in case anyone was worrying, I found candied citron. Cal-Mart the supermarket of my childhood, had some stocked high on a remote shelf. I had to ask a surly grocery clerk to bring a ladder and get it down for me. He seemed very put out. At this time of year, shouldn't the glaceed fruits be prominently displayed? Cal-Mart is where the preppy seventysomething matrons of Pacific Heights all shop and if even ladies who wear plaid skirts and headbands in their graying bobs have given up on fruitcake, is there any hope at all? 

Splendid Table: Citron Shortage

I've never had trouble finding candied citron before, especially around the holidays. But I've now visited all five of the markets in town and none is carrying citron this year. The closest I came was a display of green cherries (um, disgusting) at Safeway.

This bodes ill for the fruitcake, which saddens me. I understand why fruitcake fell into disfavor, but think it has more to do with the pitiful quality of candied fruit in this country than the cake itself. A few years ago I discovered some juicy, gorgeous Australian candied fruit at a shop in New York City and am convinced that if we baked fruitcakes with THAT there would be no more jokes. Plus: panforte? Why is no one laughing? Perhaps because it contains no green cherries and is delicious?

Every year I plan to throw a fruitcake-tasting party, but every year, flake. Mark your calendars: December 2009. 

Back to citron: How are you supposed to make German Christmas cookies without citron?Moreover, there are three Christmas cakes in The Splendid Table, all of which call for citron, all of which I want to bake.

I'm going in to San Francisco today so this means I'll be making the rounds of the supermarkets there. Such a wise use of my time.