This Week in A & E

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Published: Sep 21, 2006

I'm a little fickle with my TV chef infatuations. Martha Stewart broke my heart — not by going to jail, but by changing her format. Tyler Florence wore me out with his philandering ways, going in and out of kitchens across the land on Food 911. I just wasn't ready to settle down until I met the Food Network's Ina Garten. Ina is not at all the stern taskmistress that Martha can be (admittedly, I once loved that about her). Whether preparing husband Jeffrey's favorite dish in advance of his return from a business trip, or leaving a midnight snack for houseguest Patricia Wells, Ina is all thoughtfulness and warmth. Hint to Ina: My birthday is in April and my favorite cake is angel food. Can we eat it in your garden?

My father-in-law passed away on Sept. 7 and my husband and I inherited his Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline music collection, which we've been playing nonstop since then. Although "The Don" (as he's known by my husband and his friends) was mostly a fan of jazz and big band music, we found Cash and Cline box sets mixed in with the Louis Prima and the Glenn Miller Orchestra in his apartment. Neither my husband nor I are fans of country music either, but I make an exception for "The Man in Black," and for Cline's haunting, yet warm, vocal delivery. It seems appropriate to play while we're collecting photographs and other memorabilia from The Don's apartment.

Cheese is great. Swiss cheese, muenster cheese, cheddar cheese. Philadelphia is having a love affair with cheese. It's everywhere. Cheesesteaks, cheese sticks, cheese fries. I shouldn't have been surprised when I went into my local TGI Friday's to find a new appetizer on the menu: melted cheese! They call it a Sizzling Triple Meat Fundido. It's described as a combination of sizzling cheeses blended with pepperoni, Italian sausage and bacon. Served with warm bread sticks. Heaven!

I have a huge crush on Bowerbird, an experimental music series in Philly. Since February, Bowerbird has produced dozens of concerts in venues as varied as LAVA Space, Pageant: Soloveev, Nexus, the Broad Street Ministry and The Rotunda. The vibe ranges from ultra serious to the carnivalesque. Bowerbird presents the most unusual and inspired improvised and composed music played by local, national and international musicians. It also presents multimedia performance, video and dance, and has featured six experimental dance improvisers so far. When I came to Philly two years ago, I didn't know where to go for my weirdo music fix. Thanks to Bowerbird I can now hear new, creative music at least once a week, if not more.

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