Last September I lived for 30 days as a vegetarian. During that time, Ingrid Newkirk, the president of PETA, challenged me to take it one step further and go vegan. This year I did. A quick recap: Lacto-ovo vegetarians don’t eat anything that— at one time— had a face or a tail (some break it [...]

In 2009, I spent the entire month of September as a vegetarian. The impetus for the month-long lifestyle change was in response to a billboard campaign in Florida in which the controversial animal-rights outfit, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, posted a picture of a very large woman with the tagline, “Save the Whales, [...]

I catered a big party in Jackson over the weekend. It was a fundraiser featuring the cast and crew of the movie “The Help.” The actresses, actors, director, and producers took a break from filming in Greenwood and were all bussed down to the event site in Madison. We created an elaborate spread for the [...]

MEMPHIS— I am up here on a blow-in-race-out trip for business. After arriving at my hotel late on a Sunday evening, I was looking for something quick and close so I could get back to my room and watch “Mad Men.” I was also hoping to stay in the Italian genre. My first two choices [...]

POINT CLEAR, AL— In a journal on my bedside table, I keep of list of things I hope to see before I die. 1.) My children graduating from college with graduate-level degrees 2.) The Louvre 3.) Victoria Falls 4.) The Caribbean Islands by sailboat 5.) The Great Wall of China 6.) Fiji 7.) Canada by [...]

Mississippi is moving up. For too long Mississippi has been last in the good categories and first in the bad categories. A few years ago, we topped the list in food insecurity. That’s definitely a bad one. No more. Today, Mississippi is No. 6. Granted, that’s still near the bottom, but it’s not the bottom. [...]

This spring, we planted a two-acre garden to supply our restaurants with fresh, organic produce. We’ve had some wins and a few losses in the garden, so far. Almost 3/4 of an acre, in a second plot a few hundred yards away from the main garden, was planted in corn and cucumbers. They didn’t make [...]

I am dieting again. Well, actually, I’m not dieting; I’m just eating clean for a while— very clean. Low fat, high protein, good carbs, no sugar, no starch, five meals a day, 2,500 calories, yada, yada, yada. Welcome to my world. Every time I have ever dieted, I reach a stage— usually three weeks in— [...]

I grew up in a woman’s world. Males tended to die young in my family. My father died when I was six-year’s old, my paternal grandfather, five years before that. For most of our childhood, my brother and I were the “men” of the family. My mother was a fanatic about manners. She was a [...]

For the fifth year in a row Mississippi has been named the fattest state in America. I guess there’s something to be said for consistency. While researching this development, I wound up at www.health.com where Sarah Klein wrote a piece entitled “The 50 Fattiest Foods in the States” where she selected regional high-fat content favorites [...]