Queering the Kitchen

There’s a bit of a food obsession going around the world of LGBT women at the moment. Since parenting and food seem to go together like peanut (or soy) butter and jelly, I thought I’d do a quick roundup.

• After Ellen has a lengthy feature piece on Iron Chef and lesbian mom Cat Cora.
• Author, performer, lecturer, and bisexual mom Susie Bright, best known for her writings about sex and politics, has launched a new blog, Little Susie Homebreaker, “Good Cooking, Fine Sewing, and the Leisure Hours.” Although her focus is somewhat different in the new venue, she brings as much passion and edginess to food as to sex—and anyone who suggests adding diced fennel bulb to Thanksgiving stuffing or starts her recipe for The Best Spaghetti You Ever Had with homemade roasted tomatoes and peppers (“roasting like fallen angels”), is clearly no novice in the kitchen. Lots of fun.
• Out lesbian and former Top Chef contestants Josie Smith-Malave and Sandee Birdsong, as well as bisexual Tiffani Faison will be appearing on Bravo’s Top Chef Holiday Special, Thursday, December 6 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Another Sapphic chef, Elizabeth Falkner of Citizen Cake in San Francisco, will be one of the judges. (On a more somber note, police arrested two women just before Thanksgiving for a September anti-gay attack on Smith-Malave.)
• Maybe it’s this culinary vibe that made me buy my new mixer last week. (It works great on this recipe for Raisin-Pecan Bread by King Arthur Flour—though in a seasonal spirit I substituted dried cranberries for the raisins, and just used more rye flour instead of pumpernickel. It also makes whipped cream in about three seconds flat. Yee hah.)
• Several of you have also been active in the kitchen, as evidenced by your contributions to my Holiday Recipe Exchange: Riding the Gus Bus makes turkey with fresh herbs and pancetta; Jero at House of Jero does a traditional green-bean casserole as well as bacon-wrapped green bean bundles; and Jen at Addition Problems whips up simple, savory sweet potatoes. I did variations on cranberry sauce in my original post, so it looks like we’re well on our way to a complete holiday meal. Anyone care to share some pie recipes for dessert? Or holiday cookies?