One would think that someone with a cookbook collection like mine – particularly one with a solid Southern bent that includes a number of church, Junior League and similar collections as well as some Southern classics – would have a solid tomato pie recipe or three among them. And yet, after recently combing through the ENTIRE collection, I realized the TWO I come up with in no way resemble the pies I’ve had in the past that I know had some sort of tomato, mayo, cheese mix.
We’ve spent what felt like the better part of October into November battling a nasty cold going around, which means lots of chicken soup. Due to our habits of being good at not all being sick at the same time – we just take turns with it – there is always someone who is comforted by chicken soup, while at least one of us is slightly over it (because we’ve had some form of chicken soup for weeks on end). Thankfully, I have a small repertoire of soups I make specifically when we are ill – all based on chicken broth with lots of garlic – that are soothing while not being too heavy or fancy so that we don’t get burned out on the idea of chicken soup. Continue reading
One of the perks of going to college 1000 miles away from where your family lives is that friends would often take pity upon me on long weekends and invite me to come home with them. I found myself with a group of friends that had all gone to high school together, so I’d get invited home by one, only to find myself being transported around town all weekend to have dinner with another friend’s family and then brunch the next day with yet another. Southern hospitality at it’s finest y’all. Over the years I accumulated a number of recipes from these friends’ mothers, all of which are written down in my notebook as Mrs. blank’s _____________, like Mrs. Cape’s Pimento Cheese.
I realize the need we all have for light reading and pleasant distractions at the current time, I’ve just had a hard time finding the space in which to be the person who writes it. Continue reading
Now that the farmers market is flush with fresh, local greens again, I find myself buying several varieties from various vendors weekly. Every meal has some sort of green worked into it, but towards the end of the week, I find I need to start getting creative with the slightly fading greens. Continue reading
I recently made a batch of chicken broth with a carcass I had stashed in the freezer. You do this, right? Have a stash of roasted bones in the freezer just for making stock? So anyway, I was down to my last jar of broth and needed to make a batch. There was just enough meat that came off the bones to make a pot of soup, but I sensed by my family’s reaction that one more pot of straight up chicken soup – or really, any variation thereof to be honest – might be one pot too many for this winter soup season. That’s when I realized I hadn’t made Dorie’s White Chili in some time and that might be a nice change.
See the reflection of my bedroom windows on my lap top screen?
It has been pointed out that I haven’t written a post here in too long – by none other than my own offspring, who apparently uses this blog for her own reference from time to time. Who knew? I certainly did not.
Before we get too far from the holidays and into the cold frozen bleakness of January, we need to talk about cinnamon buns. Continue reading
There was an absolutely lovely party this past summer, the sort that felt like everyone who was still left in town had to have been in attendance, where at least a few of the worlds of Charlottesville collided. And as happens as these things, there was much chatter about how we – me – should invite people over for wine to continue the worlds colliding fun. Because apparently, this is a thing I do – have random gatherings with cool people where they met other cool people.
Of course I obliged, sending out an email to inquire as to when people might be free in order for us to have a ladies wine night. As it turns out, working moms are busy people and the best time for all of us to gather for drinks was Sunday morning. And thus came the inspiration for “Ladies Who Brunch”.
My friend Leni has been cooking her way through the classic Mary Randolph cookbook “The Virginia Housewife“. As part of that project, she hosted a dinner at her home recently featuring recipes from it. She asked if I would come lend a hand serving and ensuring everything went smoothly. I absolutely said yes because not only did it involve quality time cooking with my dear friend, it also meant quality time talking old cookbooks and food history with someone who shares my enthusiasm on the subject while also being incredibly knowledgeable on the subject.
