Ari LeVaux

Jan 23, 2025 | randomlengthsnews.com | Ari LeVaux

By Ari LeVauxIn Genoa, Italy, the birthplace of pesto, it goes without saying that the sauce is made with basil — Genoese basil, to be exact. Pesto is so big in Genoa that the airport had to loosen its rules, allowing travelers to bring more than three ounces of the liquid in their carry-on baggage. They screen it with the machine used for medicine and breast milk. The further you get from Cristoforo Colombo Airport, the looser the rules of pesto are.

Dec 16, 2024 | shepherdexpress.com | Ari LeVaux

The dark days of winter solstice have a way of making human beings hunger for light. That is probably why, whatever your creed or culture, you have a tradition that involves casting some kind of glow during the period we call “the holidays.” Perhaps you have a lit-up tree, or a menorah on the windowsill, or maybe a string of lights strewn about your house. But sometimes pretty lights alone might not do it. If perhaps we are bidding farewell to a particularly flamboyant dumpster fire of a year.

Dec 11, 2024 | lansingcitypulse.com | Ari LeVaux

As we cruise toward the winter solstice, fresh produce is starting to feel like a faded memory. The tomatoes are anemic, and the lettuce has jet lag. But the pomegranate harvest has just begun, and this ancient fruit adds a zest to food that’s as fresh as a daisy. The bright red orbs dangle like ornaments from their bushy trees. Native to Central Asia, some historians believe them to be the fruit of the biblical tree of knowledge.

Nov 27, 2024 | montrosepress.com | Ari LeVaux

If a famous chef hands you a caviar’d cracker, it doesn’t prove anything. Like, of course it tastes good. It’s freakin’ caviar. True culinary brilliance is revealed by the creation of extraordinary food from the most humble of building blocks. For example, the butternut squash ravioli that stole the show at the Whitefish Food and Wine Festival last month.

Nov 20, 2024 | lansingcitypulse.com | Ari LeVaux

The most popular New Year’s resolutions each year, according to polls, relate to diet, exercise and weight loss. It makes sense that people would resolve to turn the ship around after finding themselves at the end of the holiday season. Alas, by the time New Year’s Day rolls around, the damage has already been done. Losing weight is a lot harder than avoiding it in the first place.