Dianna Marder

Dianna Marder was an award-winning investigative reporter, covering courts, crime and City Hall for 18 years, before turning her talents to writing features about food and romance (which are not mutually exclusive topics). Look for her stories in the Image, Food and Daily Magazine sections of the newspaper.

Email Dianna at dmarder@phillynews.com

Instructor Betty Kaplan shows the right way to hold a knife.

Staying sharp

A class teaches how to become one with a fine-quality knife - to slice sleekly, dice deftly, mince magnificently.

By Dianna Marder, Inquirer Staff Writer

Posted 07/08/2009

Whenever I was allowed to sleep in on the Saturday mornings of my youth, I'd listen for the peddler with the sharpening stone. "Knives and scissors," he'd sing-song his way through the alley behind our rowhouse. Unfortunately, my mother was deaf to his calls. To her, cheap knives were good enough. And to my knowledge, she never had hers sharpened. Thus, I came to cooking inadequately armed.

Video: Philly Uncorked, Barbecue Wines
Putting on a banner barbecue in lean times
Chocolate pinnacle: Max Brenner's new place takes the treat to a new tier

A pub, grub, and memories of misery - 06/23/2009: By Dianna Marder, Inquirer Staff Writer

When does a name go from outrageous to edgy? Conditions at the 13th-century English insane asylum Bedlam were so horrific that the name became a household pejorative. Fast-forward 900 years and, sure enough, there's a Bedlam Bar in London, Bedlam Theatre in Minneapolis, and Bedlam Bar-B-Q in Oklahoma City.
Some who went astray return to help - 06/22/2009: By Dianna Marder, Inquirer Staff Writer

In neighborhoods like Strawberry Mansion, where so many young men end up killed or incarcerated, Eric Skelton is an old-head at 43.
'A Letter To My Father' at creative workshop - 05/22/2009: By Dianna Marder, Inquirer Staff Writer

For years, Tina Smith-Brown was the person on the other end of the line at a public telephone who returned your quarter when your call did not go through.
Milestone in writing - 05/22/2009: The Celebration of Black Writers Festival marks 25 years. Page xx.

By Dianna Marder, Inquirer Staff Writer

It took a hefty dose of chutzpah for a white guy to start the Celebration of Black Writing Festival. But independent bookseller Larry Robin is not your average guy.
Sketching success - 05/19/2009: Jerry Pinkney, who grew up in Philadelphia and went on to achieve acclaim as a children's book illustrator, is returning to be honored at the Celebration of Black Writing Festival.

By Dianna Marder, Inquirer Staff Writer

As a boy in 1951, he worked part time in a newsstand outside Rowell's department store at Germantown and Chelten, where, from behind the counter, he'd sketch the displays in the shop window.
Quinoa is a seed that'll grow on you - 05/07/2009: By Dianna Marder, Inquirer Staff Writer

Let us now praise quinoa, sacred crop of the Incas. The seed of a leafy plant grown for centuries in the Andes, quinoa (keen-wah) cooks like a grain and tastes like a nut.
Rising to the occasion: King Arthur class for bakers - 04/15/2009: When the storied Vermont flour company offered instruction in Cherry Hill, it was an opportunity neither beginners nor experienced hands wanted to pass up.

By Dianna Marder, Inquirer Staff Writer

When they were growing up in the Far Northeast, the Stahl sisters grabbed every opportunity to accompany their father, an accountant, on his client calls - especially when those visits were to neighborhood bakeries.
Their words, coming alive - 04/14/2009: Student monologues will be staged.

By Dianna Marder, Inquirer Staff Writer

Tomorrow morning at 11, actress Anjoli Santiago of Sharon Hill will perform a short monologue on stage at the Adrienne Theatre, 2030 Sansom St., in the high-pitched, demanding voice of a spirited Yorkshire terrier named Princess.
Finery, prayer, and zombies for Easter - 04/13/2009: By Dianna Marder, Inquirer Staff Writer

When the clouds parted early yesterday, praise resounded from the white-clad choir at Bright Hope Baptist Church in North Philadelphia. Henri David reigned over a promenade of tots in frills and polka dots at Headhouse Square. Children sprinkled glitter on confetti-filled eggs at a newly opened art gallery. Termini's Bakery in South Philadelphia sold every last bunny-shaped pound cake. And as night drew near, ghouls began to gather on South Street for the third annual Philly Zombie Crawl.
Area Cooking Classes - 10/02/2008: What follows is a selection of cooking classes in the region, a list by no means complete. Be sure to check each organization's Web site for additional class offerings and details.