She shows up in my mind unannounced, especially in May, the month for mothers. With her hand on her hip and head cocked in a question mark with its slight tilt and hair piled high, her soft smile betrays the set of her body. My mother loved strays and tall flowers. We never bought a […]
Foodies and Friends – My Mother Read More »
THIS STORY AND scenario came to mind as I looked back on how the tricentennial of the City of New Orleans might have happened 32 years earlier. In the fall of 1996, I found myself standing on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico at Matagorda Bay. My heart raced. I took in slow deep
La Salle and La Belle Read More »
THERE’S USUALLY A line outside the Swan Oyster Depot restaurant on Polk St. in the tony Nob Hill neighborhood of San Francisco. And it was no different when my cab driver, Jonathan from Cameroon, dropped me curbside at 11 a.m. for lunch on a bluebird day in late winter. I was sandwiched between an auto
The Quest for Crabs Read More »
Ingredients: Directions: 1. Place whole poblanos rubbed with vegetable oil on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes in a 450 degree oven. Turn every five minutes until evenly charred. Cover with plastic wrap in a bowl for 15 minutes. Then peel, seed and chop. 2. Peel the shrimp, put tails aside in fridge
Corn, Crab, Shrimp and Poblano Bisque Read More »
As journalists, those were our darkest days. There were no lights, no phones, no power—anarchy ruled the streets. Flames floated on water from broken submerged natural gas lines. Tall, black columns of smoke rose from burning, flooded buildings. Citizens roamed the elevated highways pushing shopping carts of children and possessions. It was eerie, dystopian. But
Foodies & Friends – On Anniversaries Read More »
Well, the upside was I didn’t have to call the fire department. Grilling is the caveman of cooking. I believe a pyromania gene is embedded in the DNA of most boys. The love affair of boy meets grill as a rite of summer is evident. I don’t know a man who doesn’t own and
Foodies & Friends – Boy Meets Grill Read More »
THERE WERE TIMES in my youth I thought Santa lived with my grandmother. I grew up across the street from my maternal grandparents. It was on a day I was sick at home from school, busy building a tent of sheets over a collection of chairs in the living room, when a sixth sense gave me pause. Just as
Believing in the Holiday Spirit Read More »
RECIPE by ANNE MORVANT This dish was supposedly invented in New Orleans at Pascal’s Manale. This particular recipe was given to us by our dear friend and neighbor, Anne Morvant. Anne always serves the BBQ shrimp with boiled red new potatoes and of course, crusty French bread to soak up the buttery spicy seafood broth.
January 15, 2015: 88 cookbooks and counting… There is always a lot of hype this time of year about the hottest cookbook from 2014. Prune; A Boat, A Whale, and a Walrus; The Slanted Door from famed Vietnamese San Francisco restaurant of the same name; Bar Tartine and more. What’s your favorite cookbook from 2014?
88 Cookbooks and Counting Read More »
