My second piece for The Stranger is an essay on how I came around on Spam--the edible variety, not the annoying junk mail. I discuss, among other things, dishes from Cheeky Cafe, Super Six, and Kauai Family Restaurant. I understand Kauai Family Restaurant's cakes cause people to weep: I will most certainly return at some point, hopefully soon, after I've eaten a decent amount of kale. You can read the article here.This is my third essay drawing on a single two-week family trip to Romania in 1995. The first was "Used to be Schwartz" in The Rumpus, which (not incidentally?) also touches on a troubled relationship with ham. (But hey--to quote my great-grandmother, "If it tastes good, it's kosher.") The second was "Dark Fruit: A Cultural and Personal History of the Plum" in The Los Angeles Review of Books. I'd love to go back to Romania sometime, not just to see how the country has changed (and of course to see family and family friends), but to see how my perceptions of the place have changed and to explore stories I couldn't have possible looked for as a 12-year-old. Ah, someday!