Category Archives: Uncategorized

  Spring break is here. In a brief, 21-day stretch thousands of high schools and universities across the South will release their students from the weighty chains of homework and term papers and set them loose on any number of chilly beaches throughout Alabama and Florida. Let the madness begin. I’ve never been a bigContinue reading “Spring Break”

  Holidays have been challenging occasions lately, at least in this area. Hurricane Isaac hit the “land mass” known as the Mississippi Gulf Coast a few days before Labor Day. Halloween was the beginning of a 12-week deluge of rain. Thanksgiving brought more rain. The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore was in town Christmas day andContinue reading “Tornado: Week II”

  “If I had ever been here before I would probably know just what to do. Don’t you? If I had ever been here before on another time around the wheel, I would probably know just how to deal… And I feel like I been here before.” In 1970, David Crosby penned those words forContinue reading “Deja Vu”

    1 pound  sharp cheddar cheese, finely shredded 1 pound Swiss cheese, finely shredded 1 tsp dry mustard 1 /4 tsp fresh ground black pepper 1 /4 tsp hot sauce 1 /2 tsp fresh minced garlic 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce 1 cup dark beer   Place all ingredients into bowl of electric mixer andContinue reading “Kentucky Beer Cheese”

  During a six-month journey through 17 European countries I ate breakfast in many different locales. When we were on a fast-paced leg of the journey, and I only had one morning in a certain town or country, I would hit the streets and try to find the best bakery in the neighborhood or vicinity.Continue reading “World-Class Croissants & Mardi Gras”

  Sometimes it’s the smallest things that make a huge difference. When our second restaurant, Crescent City Grill, opened, we added a roast beef po-boy to the menu. I patterned it after the roast beef po-boys I had eaten all of my life in New Orleans. Actually, that’s not 100% accurate. I patterned it afterContinue reading “Pass the Pickles”

When I got in my truck to drive to work this morning, the temperature gauge read 27 degrees. Somehow a Mississippi 27 seems colder than a Colorado or New York 27. Maybe it’s the humidity. Maybe it’s that I’m wearing Mississippi clothes and not Colorado clothes. Driving to work I began to think about howContinue reading “Food + Weather”

    On December 27, 1987 the world was much different than it is today. The Berlin Wall was still standing, so were the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Cellular phones— for the few who might have had one— were large and hard-wired to automobiles (unless you carried one around in a largeContinue reading “One Score and Five Years Ago…”

      When I opened the door to my office the other day the aroma hit me right away.  It took about two seconds to decipher the origin of the smoky fragrance and I hoped it was coming from the room that houses my desk in the back of the building.   The officeContinue reading “The Perfect Gift”