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National Book Festival: Food Focus

The 2025 National Book Festival was a treat. I’ve been going for years, and while the mix of authors and subjects has evolved, it’s always full of interesting panels and activities. Continue reading

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It’s a Two-Bakery Town, and That’s All Right with Me

At the grand opening of the Classic Bakery in Olney, the crowd was full of carbs and enthusiasm. Friends and family mingled with local government representatives and Chamber of Commerce members. They admired the shiny new space, the outdoor seating, and the cakes and pastries in the display cases. Continue reading

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Famous Authors and Food Writers at the National Book Festival

This year’s National Book Festival is almost here. It’s one of my favorite events, and another thing I love about living around here. Continue reading

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The Cultural is Culinary: Review of Braided Heritage

Jessica B. Harris’ new cookbook is both intensely personal and broadly encompassing, a fine addition to our understanding of American culinary traditions.  Continue reading

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Haven’t I Seen You Somewhere Before?

Watching Kim’s Convenience, the new production at Olney Theatre, is a strange exercise in déjà vu. Those who have seen some or all of the five-season TV series derived from it can’t help but run mental comparisons, but they’re still in for a good time. Continue reading

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Two Lives in Four Quarters: King James at the Round House

We are invited to consider an unlikely pair of obsessed fans in scruffy Cleveland bonded by love of basketball and LeBron James. You don’t have to know a thing about the last two to enjoy this play. Continue reading

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Presents From the Past: Little Beasts at the National Gallery of Art

Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World is on view at the National Gallery West Building Here’s an opportunity to see three-dimensional specimens juxtaposed with representations of them by curious minds of the 16th and 17th centuries, when the study of natural history was just beginning to be codified. Continue reading

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Review: Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with live and active cultures!)

When I saw the notice for Woolly Mammoth’s current play, Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with live and active cultures!), I thought, “Oh, boy!  Another play using food as metaphor!” and I wasn’t wrong. Continue reading

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Suzy Creamcheese Doesn’t Live Here Anymore

Mark Kurlansky is known more for his deeply researched nonfiction on single subjects (cod, salt, milk, onions) than his fiction.  Cheesecake marries the two genres in a highly entertaining novel incorporating the oldest written recipe for its namesake into a tale about the gentrification of the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Continue reading

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The Right Words Can Change The World: Review of Bad Books at Round House

Wit and irony sparkle from the start of Bad Books, as Kate Eastwood Norris and Holly Twyford engage in a face-off about control of children’s reading. Continue reading

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