Pinch of New York

Brooklyn brownstones

Pinch of Salt will be coming to you from New York City for the next three months. J and I have swapped our London flat for a Brooklyn studio and stuffed all our worldly goods into a storage pod in Dartford. We're so lucky to have this opportunity - I've wanted to live in New York since I first saw its skyline as a 19-year-old student. I was at university in Rhode Island and took an Amtrak into the city. As the train snaked through suburban Queens, the Empire State, MetLife and Chrystler Buildings shimmered into view. It was love at first sight and I've been very lucky to have great friends here and many chances to visit over the years. Now, over a decade since taking that train into Penn Station, I'm going to live and work here for 12 weeks.

The Manhattan skyline from Williamsburg

Autumn (can't get used to saying 'fall') is a wonderful time for seasonal produce in New York. The grocery stores and greenmarkets are filled with pumpkins, squashes and leafy vegetables  from upstate farms. I'm still getting to grips with the kitchen in our teensy apartment (henceforth known as The Brooklyn Cupboard), but I'm looking forward to creating recipes using all this delicious produce.

Our small but well-equipped kitchen

And of course, I'll be tracking down the best coffee and cake-age the city has to offer for Cafe of the Week.

Hope you enjoy my New York dispatches. In the meantime - can anyone tell me why the oven in our apartment has three buttons: 'bake' 'broil' and 'clean', but no temperature control?