OK, my sincere apologies to whoever actually reads my blog. I took an extended hiatus from Spring through Summer. Work has overwhelmed me and so has life. But I've started to come out of the doom and gloom and I think I'll have time to post here again - probably not as often as I would like, but still often enough.

Naturally I haven't given up cooking in the time I've been away, but I have been doing less. New areas of exploration have included really getting the hang of home coffee roasting. All I can say is that I wish I'd known about it years ago. It is more fun, cheaper and you get better coffee. And it isn't hard. Right now I am enjoying a lovely shade grown organic Costa Rican coffee that is nutty and rich and almost overwhelming in the complex aromas of fruitiness and even whiskey. It cost me $4.25 a pound.

Other standouts have been grilled peaches wrapped in bacon, cooking potatoes and onions in foil packets on the grill, some lovely vegetarian pasta dishes made from really fresh ingredients from my CSA organic box.

I am also going to relaunch Paper Chef. Probably with some changes to make it more accessible. Let me know if you have any ideas. It's good to be back....