Growing up in the South -- with a superstitious Mom -- we were required to eat black-eyed peas on every single New Year's Day for our entire lives. It didn't matter if you were a grown-up with a job and 3 kids. You still got the call on New Year's Day: "Did you eat your black-eyed [...]
Have you heard about Cook90? I stumbled across it a a few months ago, and thought -- now THERE'S a New Year's Resolution worth doing! David Tamarkin, editor of Epicurious magazine, came up with the great idea in 2015 to start off 2016 by giving his home cooking skills a shot in the arm. He [...]
Nobody is EVER gonna convince me that there's a better way to experience a new country than travelling by car. And to prove it, I'm just gonna show you...... Welcome to France!! OK, well, John might beg to differ. Notice the white-knuckles on the steering wheel. But a little blizzard didn't stop us! [...]
I heard an ad on the radio this morning, proclaiming; "Americans can't sit still!" Wait, what? We're actually proud of the fact that we're over-committed and running from dawn til dusk (or later)? I dunno about you, but after my initial jolt of pride, my practical side kicks in and screams... "ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING [...]
I grew up in a Texas town of about 3,000 people. As you can imagine, my culinary base was built on biscuits, gravy, and steak. The most exotic thing I ate growing up was Patio Frozen Enchiladas. No joke. Our town was so small that I didn't eat in a restaurant until I was around [...]
A "Madrileño" (Madrid) friend stared at me intently. "Seriously, Denise? I can NOT believe that you can be a fan of the Barcelona soccer team. If you knew their fans, those Catalans, you would change your mind in a heartbeat." And there it was -- the raw truth of why we're all a bit testy these [...]
It was colder than I thought it would be in February. Spain is supposed to be the warm part of Europe. Yeah, right... Wait. Hold the phone. It's September in Colorado as I write this. Why are we talking about February? Ah, well, because I just realized that when a student asked about Spanish sauces, [...]