Every homemaker has been faced with the challenge of preparing a special dinner to impress an important guest.  It might be a beef bourguignon for hubby's boss.  For junior's sleepover, it might be homemade cheese pizzetes and cut veggies with artichoke bleu cheese dip.  And we've… Read full post »

For us nervous, indecisive types who gain weight easily and have to become sherpas or Tour de France contestants to lose it again, the question of what to eat is a daily struggle.  One slip-up, and I spend months trying to get back where I started.

 A while back, I tried… Read full post »

Mulled wine sure gives us a lot of reasons to love it: flavorful spices; rich, hearty red wine; sweet oranges (but, sadly, no chocolate).  The problem, for me, is that it is too sticky sweet.  Partaking of the combination of straight sugar with the sweetest, most pungent spices--cinnamon, c… Read full post »

I'm sure I managed to elicit a few groans with that title, a play on the slogan of the Cattlemen's Beef Board.  But, it's not just a play on words:  In Western culture (and probably in others too), we expect a big slab of glistening meat to take center stage on our/… Read full post »

Some boxing enthusiasts say that the left-hook is the most lethal punch in boxing.  According to Expert Boxing, several factors make this a wicked punch.  First of all, it comes from the side, which makes it difficult to see it coming.  It also connects with the side of the/… Read full post »

Most cooks know that peaches and cream go together, like Captain and Tenile, Donny and Marie, Millie and Vanilli, and ... ok, I'm not up on my pop-culture references. 

But, did you know that the peach is related to the almond?  Yes, they are both members of the Rosaceae… Read full post »

 

Collette: I know the Gusteau style cold.  In every dish, Chef Gusteau always has something unexpected.  I will show you.  I memorize all his recipes.

Linguini:  [writing in notebook] Always do something unexpected.

Collette:  No. Follow the recipe.

Linguini: But you j

… Read full post »

I was brought up to be religiously schizophrenic.  My father spent close to 80% of his life praying or reading the Bible, and I'm including the time spent sleeping, washing, walking around, and thinking about other stuff, which still somehow had something to do with God, in his mind. 

&nbs… Read full post »

The first time I met you, it did not go well:  You were soft and mushy, your sublime flavor subdued by a robust, overpowering cheese.  Eggplant parmigiana, they called it.  Although you had top billing, I hardly noticed you were there.  I pushed the cheese aside to try to… Read full post »

The earliest memory I have of my father was when my brother and I visited him at his apartment for the first time after he and my mother announced they were getting a divorce.  

His new place was a downmarket unit in a dingbat-style building on a cul-de-sac… Read full post »

Yet again, Meryl Streep was denied a Best Actress Oscar.  Granted, she does have two awards; however, the last one was 27 years ago, and she's had 12 nominations since then, many of them for roles in which she stretched so far, she has proven herself a veritable character contortionist.  Se… Read full post »