Cooking Articles

A Sweet That Really Says Something

The candy canes have hardly been cleared from the shelves each December when the vacant spaces begin filling with the saccharine symbols of Valentine's Day. The red and green of Christmas are swapped out...

President's Day is Full of Beans

As promised, this week I am writing a very special edition of Real Meals. It is a historical and patriotic tribute in recognition of the upcoming President's Day holiday, and because February is a time...

Kids Cook Breakfast

Hey, kids! For Valentine’s Day, forget the candy . . . how about cooking breakfast for someone you love today. . . what better way to say I Love You? Breakfast. It’s the first meal of the day...

How About Some Mid-Winter BBQ?

One dark, cold night last week, I came home from being at work too late, and as I climbed the stairs to my third floor apartment (who had the brilliant idea to have a third floor apartment, anyway?), I...

Just a Little Bit Sweet

Whatever your thoughts on Valentine’s Day (i.e. Celebration of Love or Hallmark Manufactured Holiday), it just wouldn’t be celebration at all without something sweet. From my milk chocolate loving...

Valentine's Dinner Chez Vous

Like many of you, I do not much care for Valentine's Day. Although I am happily married with a loving family and friends, I find the whole holiday forced and overblown. Restaurants set overpriced prix...

Gumbolicious

Last week I toured Louisiana in search of friends, love, and beads. Along the way I bit into a plastic behbee eating King Cake (ouch), drank some Bloody Marys, saw a bare breast or two among the Mardi...

Getting (Your Hands) Dirty on Valentine's Day

Almost everything about Valentine’s Day is dainty and fragile: balloons that pop, flowers that wilt, chocolates that melt, hearts that can fill with hope and moments later crush with disappointment....

We Heart Soft Pretzels

Every time we take a trip to the local shopping mall, my two sons beg for the pretzels at the little stand that you find there. You know, the one with the blue checkerboard logo and aromas that travel...

Gumbo For Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras is a celebration that occurs around this time every year, between February and March, to mark the beginning of the Lent season leading up to Easter. Traditionally it is always the day before...

Tasty Veggies In or Out of Season

For us vegetable eaters out there or those just those trying to eat better, this can be a frustrating time of year. The long winter seems to drag on and on, with spring just far enough away to make one...

Is That Peach Butter or . . . Sauce?

When I came home with the cookbook Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker recently, I did what I normally do with cookbooks: I flipped through it the first chance I had. At breakfast, at bedtime, whenever...

The Best Kept Secret to Professional Pasta Sauce

Pasta, the simplest of meals, would seem one of the easiest dishes to make at home to rival the professionals. Yet again and again I find myself humbled in the hands of a chef who presents a plate of...

A Homemade Day at the Spa

Is this long, cold winter dragging you down? As we face a couple more months of chilly and cloudy weather, a day at the spa sounds heavenly. But if you have no professional spa treatments in your plans...

A Plea For Greens

Um, hello! Yeah, hi, this is your body speaking. Remember me? Yeah, I know, it's been a while. If you don't mind putting down that Venti Pumpkin Spice Latte Extra Whip for a second, I was wondering...

Presidents' Day and PB & J

Some of us may have grown up eating it every day like clockwork for lunch—and never want to see it again.  Others of us are still enamored with the classic taste of that creamy peanut butter and sweet...