Cooking is mostly a solitary, weeknight activity for me. At day’s end, I shut down my computer, turn on Classic FM, and start preparing dinner alone. There’s peace in the preparation, satisfaction in the finished product, and joy in sitting at the table with Andy to eat it when he comes home. But I had forgotten

Photo credit: Justin Schwartz, Justcook NYC This is the familiar tale of the physician who offers healing to others, but needs it most herself. Many of you know that Mom, Erika and I host an annual blogger retreat called The Big Summer Potluck, Last weekend we welcomed nearly a hundred bloggers, sponsors and organizers to

Making good homemade strawberry ice cream is time-consuming and tricky. You’d think simply churning fresh berries with custard would work, but it doesn’t. Instead, the fruit ends up icy hard, while the ice cream stays soft and silky—not the ideal texture. With my quick blender method, frozen strawberries pureed with milk and sweetener turn to

I’ve known for a long time that my parents would finally need my help. I just didn’t know how or when. There have been the little signs these past several months, Dad not being able to complete a thought, Mom agreeing—hesitantly—to round four of chemotherapy. On April 27th I got the call. They had decided

I’ve been shopping at Costco for at least a dozen years now, and they’ve always carried domestic white mushrooms. Recently they added creminis, also known as baby bella mushrooms. But the other day  I noticed portabello mushrooms finally made their debut. Costco is my culinary barometer. When they start carrying something, I consider it mainstream.

Cato’s Seafood Market and Steam Bar in Panama City Florida is a relatively new joint; fresh Gulf seafood for sale on one side and a restaurant and bar on the other. To give you a sense of the ambiance at Cato’s – it used to be a 7-11 (they kept the refrigerated drinks cases for the beer

A few weeks ago our family was in Panama City, Florida visiting my parents. After a playful day at the beach, we ended up in the Saint Andrew’s section of town at a restaurant called Uncle Ernie’s, a converted old house that sits on a dock right over the bay. Sun-drained and pink-skinned we washed

Maggy’s been obsessed with pizza for a while, and now I’ve hopped on the pizza train.  When you start to see the base as crisp sandwich bread or an edible salad bowl, pizza gets a whole lot broader! Now I see pizza possibilities everywhere. The other day I was on Pinterest and saw this gorgeous

Sharon and Anthony moved out of their apartment a couple of weeks ago. We’ve all been there, and it’s not much fun. I’d like to meet a couple that didn’t have at least a little tiff on moving day. You’ve just gotta plow through and endure. All I wanted to offer these two exhausted young

WINNER ANNOUNCED: Commenter #49. RJ says “Anything with pork!!” I would have let Mom write the review of Alice Currah’s new cookbook, Savory Sweet Life, but she wrote a review on the back of the book! This is what she says: “Savory Sweet Life is the perfect title for this book. Most of us either cook

I’ve always loved avocados, but three things have made me start buying them nearly every time I’m at the store. First, they’re cheaper. These days I can pick them most anywhere for just a little over a dollar apiece. Secondly, we’ve come to realize how good avocadoes are for us. They’re high in fiber, potassium,

I recently returned from a quick trip to Louisville, Kentucky with General Electrics where we checked out their new Monogram Professional Appliances. The afternoon we arrived, we saw this neon sign in a shop window which perfectly illustrates the myriad ways people pronounce “Louisville”. And everyone has an opinion about the right way. Trying to impress the

A couple weeks ago we went on an incredible sailing trip with six friends in the British Virgin Islands. And for me, the most memorable part of the trip isn’t the beautiful sunsets, the free-flowing Pina Coladas, or the listerine-colored water. The highlight of the trip is that we did not have phones or the

A few weeks back I was pleasantly stunned to read that meat consumption is down 12% since 2007. No one’s sure if it’s just the economy or whether Meatless Mondays is starting to have an impact, but meat consumption is clearly down. I’d like to think it’s all the meatless delicious recipes we’re starting to