The Rabbi Report 3.0: Notes From "Out East"

Wow. I just looked at my blog and realized that it's been more than six weeks since I posted an entry! I have sort of an excuse seeing that I was homeless for a few week, looking for a place to live and then a major move to East Hampton, but still, six weeks? LAME! So here I go. Rabbi Report 3.0 starts....NOW.

I seriously don't know what the next 11+ months is going to bring for me, but suffice to say, this isn't just the rebirth of the blog. Over the past 4-5 years I've lost both parents (insert Importance of Being Earnest ref. here) lived in LA, New York and now East Hampton, worked in a variety of positions, including film festivals, freelance writing, blogging for an award-winning ad campaign and I've been a character in an ARG. And now....country squire? We'll see. For now, I am busy planting a vegetable garden, buying bird feeders and keeping the neighbor's cat away from my birds and bunnies. That and whipping the house into shape with, I am relieved to say, a little help from my friends! God knows what it would look like if I was left to my own devices.

At any rate, I'm back. There's likely to be a lot more about food and cooking, here from now on. I won't be skimping on other things, but my nine week trip through the south this Spring inspired me as a cook, as a writer and as someone who is concerned with what we're eating and drinking as a nation. I was introduced to the work of some outstanding chefs and food luminaries in my travels, including "eater/writer/educator" John T. Edge and chef John Currence in Oxford, MS; chefs Donald Link and Stephen Stryjewski in New Orleans; chef Frank Stitt in Birmingham, AL and chefs Sean Brock & Mike Lata in South Carolina. All of whom you'll be reading about, along with many more in the coming days and weeks, complete with mouth-watering pics from their establishments and maybe even some examples of my own experiments with Southern-infused Long Island cooking. Stay tuned!

Until next time, here are a few pix of my new (rented) house (after the jump) in East Hampton and a couple of yummy goodness!

Yours from Northwest Woods,

Mark