No matter how I look at it…today I am 44. When I had my last birthday, I must say I didn’t feel much like celebrating. We had just lost Shadoe and I didn’t know how I was going to recover from that pain. I think of it now like a skinned knee with an old …
The Chopping Block Cooking Lab (Flavor)
I have lost count of how many classes I have taken at The Chopping Block over the years. Usually the class has a distinct theme (Thai, Julia Child, Pasta) and an exciting experience of cooking and eating fills my evening. Last night, I went to my first of four Cooking Lab Classes and I knew …
Where Do Chicken Babies Come From?
It is that time of year….deviled egg season. When I started to create this year’s variations, I had to admit something to myself. I don’t know where chicken babies come from. One of our friends brought me 2 dozen beautiful, fresh farm eggs. Talk about authentic…they still had hay and poop on them! (The poop …
Are You Gonna Quiche Me Or Not?
It is funny how things change over time. Behavior that is normal in one decade may be deemed abnormal the next. My grandparent’s generation had very definite roles for men and women. Women were the caregivers and men were bringing home the bacon. My parents generation started to change the roles with women fighting for …
A Writer’s Bacon Block
I’ve got writer’s block. I keep sitting at my computer and I type a few paragraphs, reread it and then delete. It seems relevant as I type but then I hear a little singsong voice in my head going “booooring.” (I really hate that voice.) I think the reason I’m mentally obstructed is that I …
Luck O’ The Leftovers
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Did you get your fill of corned beef and cabbage? It seems like this year St. Patrick’s “Day” went on for weeks. People seemed to have started the o’chatter very early. (See how I added the o’ to make it more Irish?) I actually find the holiday really amusing because most …
Happy Pi Day: Bon Appétit’s March Cook the Cover
Is it irrational for me to celebrate Pi Day this year? Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th (3/14). Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. (Do you remember this from school?) The approximation to 3 digits …
Time is a Changin’ Mac and Cheese
Change. People really have a hard time accepting change. Adjusting to something out of the ordinary seems to throw most people off balance. (I say off balance because it is nicer than calling people crazy.) The time change this weekend is a big one for a lot of people. There are certain people in my …
Curry Worries
Do you every get that feeling that you are getting too big for your britches? (Do you ever really use the word britches in a sentence?) This winter has made me feel that way literally and figuratively. Literally…I am TOO big for my britches and can honestly say my pants are too tight. Apparently the …
Bon Appétit Cook The Cover-February 2014
Zoiks!!! I am cutting it close this month. I’ve been doing great keeping my New Year’s Resolutions but I almost let February slip by without cooking the cover of the February Bon Appétit. I will admit I was procrastinating on this one. It was not that Chicken and Dumplings with Mushrooms wasn’t appealing to me. …