Category Archives: Uncategorized

Over the course of the 15 years that I have written this weekly column, I have always ended the year with a list of the top-10 dining experiences I enjoyed over the previous year. Some years I am on the road a lot, others are spent close to home. The work schedule usually dictates the travelContinue reading “Robert’s Top Ten 2014”

Sometimes it’s better to receive than give. Certainly that falls contrary to everything I have been taught all of my life. In my professional career I have tried to live by a 30-year commitment of giving back, but if one is affiliated in any way with a charitable organization then being on the receiving endContinue reading “Give Or Receive?”

This children’s book stuff is a blast. It’s a welcome diversion. I have written 10 books over the past 12 years. Six of them were cookbooks and three were non-fiction. This newest book is a children’s book and I have been having the time of my life on the road touring schools, bookstores and librariesContinue reading “Notes From the Road”

Popcorn is 4,000 years old. That amazes me. If someone ever asked me when I thought popcorn was invented, I would probably answer, “In the mid to late 1800s.” That seems about right. I would have imagined that there was probably some Midwestern farmer out on the new frontier who left a few ears ofContinue reading “Food Firsts”

Thanksgiving is almost the perfect holiday. The food is good, family members are gathered, friends are always invited, and football is on the tube all day long. When I look back at Thanksgivings through the decades of my life I have nothing but fond memories. 1960s The Thanksgivings of my early youth were spent inContinue reading “Thanksgiving Through The Years”

I am in the middle of a book tour. This is the 10th time in 12 years that I have crisscrossed the state signing books at independent bookstores and gift shops. Since this is a children’s book I have also been visiting elementary schools and libraries. It has been a blast and I love reading toContinue reading “Mississippi”

The oatmeal cookie is my cookie of choice. If it has raisins in it, that’s a bonus. I was eating an oatmeal-raisin cookie the other day and noticed a strange tang in the flavor profile. I had tasted oatmeal cookies like that occasionally, through the years, but it had been a while— maybe it wasContinue reading “Coconut”

Sitting in a Paris bistro this summer I was taken back to my childhood. The small café was straight out of central casting for a Parisian restaurant. It was tucked away a few blocks from the Seine on a side street and the atmosphere and menu hadn’t changed since our boys liberated that town inContinue reading “An Lifetime of Frogs”

I love bread. I really, really love bread. I probably love bread too much. If there were a twelve-step program for bread addiction, I would be chairing the meetings. Earlier this year I went gluten free for Lent. I will admit that I felt better during that long and tortuous season— and I lost weight—Continue reading “Ode to Bread”