Tag Archives: nostalgia

so I wrote the book…

…and there’ve been commencements too. The baby bird of the family, my “little” Sous Chef, graduated from college last week. We made a final trek to Pennsylvania to witness the deed and move him a few states closer for grad school; happily, I can do a 5-hour drive in my sleep, but 12 was killingContinue reading “so I wrote the book…”

the little things…

…what I found & kept during the pandemic. Did everyone simply forget that the world nearly shut down in 2020? Well I didn’t. We don’t seem to talk about it anymore, which is perhaps a self-preservation response to a really awful couple of years. Global health crisis and political upheaval notwithstanding, the ability to “moveContinue reading “the little things…”

a little fun with fungi…

…music, mortality & mushrooms Throughout the month of February, mushrooms were the cause célèbre of my kitchen – meaning I overbought at the Farmers Market and it was a race against time. I’ve always considered mushrooms woefully underrated and worthy of more attention, for despite their rustic, earthy pedigree, they are delicacies in countless culturesContinue reading “a little fun with fungi…”

a Thanksgiving state of mind…

…memories of grateful & merry gluttony. When I was a very little girl, Thanksgiving in Savannah was a large family gathering at my grandparents’ home on the Wilmington River, framed around the obligatory 2:00pm turkey dinner. It was quite southern: I don’t remember snow, but it was just cool enough for a sweater, and whileContinue reading “a Thanksgiving state of mind…”

cry me a river…

…a first-world sob story resolved in 3 dinners. Buckle in, we are going for a ride. I got a new camera last week. To be fair, I had to get a new camera last week because in late October I dropped my faithful long lens, Big Betty. We were together for 8 years which madeContinue reading “cry me a river…”

everything is perfectly normal…

…um, no it’s not – not even close. Sunday night nearly ended with another dinner disaster due in part to my own ambition and in part to the limitations thereof. Basically, the lazy perfectionist strikes again. I took the báhn cuốn bait set out by my NYT Cooking newsletter and everything was peachy until theContinue reading “everything is perfectly normal…”

time well spent…

…in the company of three dead women. On Sunday I spent the better part of four hours coaxing a simple Bolognese sauce into the realm of the culinary sublime. While the recipe required time and patience, always in short supply, it mostly demanded concentration which I willingly surrendered. I was so intent on losing myselfContinue reading “time well spent…”

a time to embrace simplicity, patience & restraint…

…well, maybe simplicity. Turns out, very little I do is ever simple and yes, that could use some tweaking. My impatience is legendary and the very notion of restraint is wholly antithetical to my disposition. This combination has became lethally unproductive and frustrating this summer. To make matters worse, the dog days of July spawnedContinue reading “a time to embrace simplicity, patience & restraint…”