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“Cats look down on us, dogs look up to us, and pigs are our equals.” –Winston Churchill I am about to become a pig farmer. There will be some who read that sentence— my literary agent in New York, my editor on the Upper West Side, and others, from Peoria to Portland, who find thisContinue reading “Pig Farmer?”

Purple Parrot Café gardener, Micah Pogue, just placed 96 Roma tomato plants in the ground. Several weeks ago we planted potatoes, onions, carrots, and cucumbers. Pretty soon we’ll plant sweet corn, watermelon, okra, peppers, zucchini, and lots of other fresh vegetables and herbs for our restaurants. Last year was our first year to grow aContinue reading “A Planter?”

I am in the process of opening a new restaurant. For those reading this who have never been through that particular form of personal persecution, let me state here and now, you are an extremely smart individual to have chosen a field such as medicine, law, poultry processing, or waste collection. For those born withContinue reading “Cream of Tartar Sauce?”

This year I will celebrate the 21st anniversary of my 29th birthday. Over the weekend, I attended a collective birthday party for Hattiesburg High School alumni who will reach their fifth decade this year. Even though I didn’t attend Hattiesburg High, I figured since I had gone to elementary school with most of them, theyContinue reading “Numbers”

As I write, I am a week or so away from opening a new restaurant. I was a part of three new restaurant openings early in my foodservice career, and this will be the twelfth restaurant opening I’ve been a part of— as an owner— in the last 24 years. So, for those who areContinue reading “San Marzano Tomatoes”

The food business is seasonal. There is a specific time when vegetables are at their peak. No matter where they are being grown— Florida, California, our your backyard— there is a certain time of the year they will reach a pinnacle in flavor and bounty. One would think that meat isn’t seasonal, but beef pricesContinue reading “King Cake Bread Pudding”

I grew up, and still live, in a small town in South Mississippi. It’s a college town that has a surprisingly diverse population for a relatively small municipality in the Deep South. I often wonder how people who weren’t born here wound up here. Out of all of the towns from coast to coast, howContinue reading “Jutama’s”

Modern-day disasters are highly publicized these days. In an era of 24-hour news cycles and instant reporting via the Internet, we know way more than we even want to know about the destruction a natural disaster can bring to a town, city, or region. Strangely, there is a recent disaster that hasn’t received a lotContinue reading “The Big Freeze of 2011”