Farmers' Market Share: Pumpkin Soup and Pretentious Media

I'm not sure when I first became obsessed with food, but I can tell you about my history with pretentious media. On both counts, I blame my parents.

My mom is an awesome cook. I have to give many thanks to her ability to accommodate my vegetarianism throughout high school and college, and her subsequent ability to adapt to my father's turn as a vegan a few years back. One day, I'll want to cook a brisket, and when I ask my mom how she does it, she will tell me some sort of vague instructions that have no times or requirements, only intuition.

I started reading the New Yorker when my parents first subscribed. It started off slow, with the cartoons that make you go "heh" instead of "ha!" Then, I moved on to the fiction, where I first discovered some of the authors who would become my very favorites. At some point, I shelled out for my own subscription. Now, I'm totally obsessed. This week, I got the food issue, which I consider exceptionally well-timed, considering we're entering the month of complete food obsession.

My early NPR experience was trying to listen to WBUR through the static in the car with my parents. I guess we can count the Car Talk column that ran in our local paper, too. But it really took off sometime after moving here, since we never got cable. Anyway, I really love Lynn Rosetto Casper, host of the Splendid Table. She's like my mother calling to tell me about the fennel salad she made and how great it was. I love Casper's ability to pull recipes out of her ass when callers need advice for ingredients like juniper berries or rose water. Because those people are me when I go shopping at Jay's International while hungry.

We all have our detested NPR personalities, though. I draw the line at Zorba Paster, because he has an annoying voice. I'm also not a huge fan of Terry Gross -- although she did have Ruth Reichl on right after Gourmet folded, and Reichl shared her pumpkin soup recipe.