A few weeks ago I received a text from my friend Jenny saying that she “left a small present” on my front steps to thank me for the dinner I had prepared the evening before. I was expecting perhaps some flowers, as she had given me a gorgeous rosemary plant back in the spring when …

As I mentioned in one of my early posts “A Taste for Thai Food”, I began experimenting with making Thai Curry Pastes when we lived in Argentina due to the lack of availability of tasty Thai food. Thai Curry Paste is a blend of aromatic herbs, spices and chilies that are pureed to a fine …

Pimento Cheese is another retro item that seems to be in vogue right now. Long a southern staple, and indeed the first time I tried it was a number of years ago when friends of my parents were visiting from LIttle Rock, Arkansas and Kathy whipped up a batch for a snack with crackers during …

Full disclosure, I did not create this recipe, rather I adapted it from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc Fried Chicken from his cookbook “Ad Hoc at Home”. I found several other versions on various websites such as http://www.foodandwine.com, http://www.thekitchn.com, http://www.seriouseats.com which are all slightly different. You can also learn from Keller himself at http://www.masterclass.com. Basically, I …

Is it me, or have you noticed that Fried Chicken is all the rage at the moment? Much like the current obsession with bacon, it seems every restaurant has their own version, even our local Italian restaurant around the corner starting offering Fried Chicken in a Basket before the pandemic shut down restaurants in mid-March. …

My grandmother (Nana) made the most delicious potato salad and it was a staple during summer time meals. Her recipe called for pickle juice, but I use fresh dill here and find I prefer it. My brother, Mark, was always a huge fan of Nana’s potato salad, so it was the ultimate compliment when a …

My brother in law, Brian Kelleher, was the General Manager at J. Alexander’s in Oak Brook, Illinois when I first met Dennis and they used to have this killer coleslaw on the menu. When I asked if he could get me the recipe, he obliged and simply pulled it out of a binder from the …

During a summer of the Coronavirus pandemic where there were so many restrictions on our movements and what we could do in order to stay healthy, it might seem strange to write about it in terms of FUN. As it turns out, the summer of 2020 will hold many fond memories for the relationships that …

Summer is winding down, you can tell by the way the light reflects off the ocean and sparkles like diamonds. The days are getting shorter, the nights cooler and family & friends are starting to make plans to head back to their year round homes. While we were craving a bit of Cape Cod in …

Bringing friends together for dinner is tricky at the moment, but our huge (5 foot square) dining room table is perfect for 4 couples to dine at a comfortable distance, so I offered to cook dinner for some friends. We had a narrow window, with Nell arriving a few weeks later than usual this year …