Getting My Just Desserts in Southie

It hit me when I walked in the door of the kitchen: the smell of eggs boiling on the stove. My stomach flipped. If this was how I was to begin my Tuesday cooking stint at Paraclete Academy, I was in for quite a ride. As readers of this blog are well aware, eggs are […]

I’m Greens With Envy

I’m dying for a salad. Any kind of salad – Greek, Caesar, Cobb (sans egg), spinach, mesclun… At this point I’d attack a wedge of iceberg like it was an apple and I was a starving rabbit. True confession: I actually mewled when I passed by the salad bar at Whole Foods the other day. […]

Why Break with Routine? Just Cook Clean!

Like our two spoiled silly cats, my husband and I are creatures of habit. We each drink our coffee out of the same mugs every morning and he must have a snort of single malt every night. My standing Starbucks order is a “venti non-fat one Equal latte.” No shots, thangyouverymuch. At our local Asian […]

Need to Shovel (More) Snow? Whip Up a Little Garten!

It took me a pot of chicken soup, six large crab cakes and a pan of the Barefoot Contessa’s Salted Caramel Brownies to avoid shoveling the driveway today. I could have squeezed in an apple pie but I prefer to do back-breaking work in the daylight. “You haven’t shoveled yet,” asked my husband during an […]

Food Snobs May Ruffle Feathers at Wright’s Farm

Our waiter couldn’t believe it was my family’s first time at Wright’s Farm. “You’re kidding me,” said Dan as he scanned our table of 11 this afternoon. “You’ve never been here?” Nope. Guess it was about time! Wright’s Farm, located in the village of Harrisville, is a Rhode Island institution that has served up family-style […]

“Excuse Me, Officer, But Your Pasta is Overcooked.”

I’ve judged dozens of contests in my day. Whether it was choosing readers’ best Christmas cookies, the hunkiest bachelor or crowning that year’s “Boston Pride Idol,” it was always serious business for me. Of course, I also got a chance to be on the other side of the judges’ table as a contestant on the […]