Category Archives: Uncategorized

Yesterday I drove a carload of kids— under the age of 12— on a seven-hour trek that ended in Arkansas’ Ouachita National Forrest so they could attend summer camp. Early on, the van was relatively calm. Most surprising, the van was quiet. I think it’s because my wife packed the snacks. The kids were munchingContinue reading “The Piney Woods Challenge”

For the last few months I have been hearing about a dish called “Praline Bacon.” It was popping up in conversations, in emails, on websites, and inmagazines. I had never heard of Praline Bacon, so I took these randomoccurrences as a Celestine suggestion, and made a decision to lookinto this strange new food product. OfContinue reading “Praline Bacon”

My grandmother made the world’s best biscuits. She passed away 20 years ago and I have been trying to replicate them ever since. Her biscuits were small, light, and slightly salty with a hint buttermilk. She never followed a recipe, yet they were consistent every time she made them. I could eat a dozen overContinue reading “Is That A Piece of Cornbread In Your Pocket…”

A couple of weeks ago The James Beard Foundation Awards ceremony was held in  New York to honor the nation’s best chefs, restaurants, cookbook authors, and food journalists. The James Beard Foundation Awards are the Academy Awards of the food business and my home state of Mississippi was  represented well. John Currence, chef/owner of CityContinue reading “James Beard Foundation Awards”

I stirred up a lot of trouble when I was a kid. Possessing an overactive imagination and a hyperactive disposition, I was responsible for a fair share of the havoc created in and around my school and neighborhood. Most of the parents in the neighborhood had, on at least one occasion, found the need toContinue reading “I Am Not On Al Gore’s Christmas Card List”

Yesterday I ordered a pizza online. I didn’t get in my car, I didn’t pick up the phone, I never even spoke to anyone. I just logged onto my laptop and 30 minutes later, I was shaking crushed red pepper flakes over my thin-crust pepperoni. The ordering of the pizza and the ingredient selection wasContinue reading “Pizza”

WATERCOLOR, FL— The older I become the more I appreciate substantive dinner party conversation. I am on the second leg of a Spring Break sandwich that started in the rapidly melting Spring snow of Colorado and has ended on the sugar white sands of the Florida Panhandle. I am here with my family on aContinue reading “Dinner Party Conversation”

Salads The weather is warming and salad sales in the restaurant are booming. I like salads, but I am not an entrée-salad eater. I like a salad as a small course or as a component or accompaniment to a main course. When I am entertaining friends at home, I rarely serve a salad. Sometimes atContinue reading “Salads”