Category: Cooking & Entertaining

 Easter was a spendid success, with all the family getting together for our usual brunch.  We had a couple of young men contributing to the food and drink this year, which added an even more fabulous element to the party.  My nephew Eric made Bloody Marys and Grey Hounds, two very wonderful cocktails.  Eric also […]

Blueberry French Toast 1 loaf French bread, sliced and cut into 1 inch cubes 2  8 ounce packages cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes 1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed 12 large eggs 1/3 cup maple syrup 2 cups milk Grease 13” pan.  Place half the bread cubes evenly in the pan.  Scatter cream cheese […]

 It is supposed to be good luck to start the New Year off with a dish of Hoppin' John, a concoction of ham, blackeyed peas, rice and veggies.  It is a delicious dish, and deserves not to be relegated to just the New Year.  My version has red and yellow pepper, jalapeno, onion, garlic, and […]

I am not a baker.  I am not a baker.  I am not a baker. This unbelievable mess is the cheesecake I was making for Christmas dinner.  How could such a thing come to pass?  Well, I'll tell you.  Someone put my spring-form pan back together after it was washed, and got the bottom section […]

 OK, yes, there are a few things I am pretty good at.  Skilled even. But not baking.  I told you all I had given up Holiday Baking in an effort to make my life more sane during the Christmas season.  Well, that wasn't all of the story.  I gave up Holiday Baking because it was […]

 Hello.  That got your attention, I bet. That is not my cheesecake.  It will be, as soon as I make mine, but the photo is from The Pioneer Woman Cooks website.  If you have not discovered Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, you need to do so without delay.  And be prepared to lose many hours […]

Remember that line from the movie LA Story?  Steve Martin is having an interview with the Maitre D' at a posh restaurant to determine if his finances will allow him to have dinner at the establishment.  It was determined that he "cannot have zee duck".  He "can only have zee chicken".  Well, we had our […]

Thanks guys, for all your kind words of support yesterday.  So I guess my boring life is actually entertaining to some of you…  I think some people forget that an individual's blog is a journal of sorts–a record of that person's interests and a diary of their activities.  If it ends up being enjoyable reading […]

The Europeans have a great idea when it comes to dining alfresco.  They do it every chance they get.  When I have traveled in Europe, one of my favorite things was to notice how many ways people ate their meals outside.  An Italian family, spied from the balcony of my hotel room in Pienza–in their […]