As my wife was reading through past editions of this blog, the ones she hadn’t quite gotten around to reading, (You too? Not to worry.  I don’t read them all either.) she stumbled on a recurring theme: My children are not all that fond of my creations. I am sure that if my eight- and […]

My brother-in-law’s turning 50 yesterday reminded me of the beginnings of my culinary education. I was still in college then, working on degree number two and teaching myself to cook by plowing through all the recipes my mom had made when I was growing up. I made tamale pie (rechristened “tamale slop” by a crew […]

  This week’s soup is pesto.  Not one of those new, nouvelle?, pestos like cilantro, dill or mint (oops), but the classic made from fresh basil. This sauce, a paste really, was one of the first things I ever cooked on my own. Note: I’m not counting that batch of Charlie Brown’s brownies I made […]

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how spring was coming.  The snow was melting, crocuses and snowdrops were blooming and the mercury was up above 50 for the first time in months. False alarm. Chicago will do that to you. Veteran Midwesterners are used to this meteorological bait and switch.  We Californians still […]

Yes, soup is easy and inexpensive to make.  Yes, soup can easily embrace the four food groups in one meal (or all the levels of the food pyramid, if you want to go all Egyptian).  Yes, soup can be a delicious platform to feature almost any ingredient you choose.  But my favorite thing about soup […]