January 25, 2025 Tonight my friend Karen and two of her cousins will celebrate milestone birthdays, each a decade apart. I'm helping out with the food; I've made a big pot of my always-requested red beans and rice (the recipe is in the cookbook!), I have 3 pounds of poached shrimp and some spicy cocktail sauce, and have made hummus, baba ghanoush, and a roasted red pepper/eggplant/tomato/LOTS of garlic spread to go with freshly baked pita. And a veggie platter! It will be a fun evening. We sold out of the first p ...Continue Reading

January 17, 2025 I missed you last week- I was in Los Angeles (well away from the fires) for a bridal shower and spent the weekend with family. We sold out of the first printing of my new cookbook, My Louisiana Kitchen, and have just had a second batch printed. They'll be available for shipping early next week; reserve your copy before this round sells out! For the recipes this week, I started with a couple of recipes from Stephen Colbert's new cookbook, "Does This Taste Funny?". First, a sort of decon ...Continue Reading

January 3, 2025 Happy New Year. Our best thoughts go out to the loved ones of those killed, injured, and otherwise traumatized in the tragic attack on Bourbon Street in the early hours of the year. I've been shipping cookbooks all week and failed to muster up the enthusiasm to cook my usual pork roast, black eye peas, cornbread, and collard greens for good luck on the first. I think I'll freeze the ham hocks and sausage I bought, and make the ham bone soup out of the cookbook later this month. For this week ...Continue Reading

One of my favorite cookie recipes, perfect for Christmas, is linked at the bottom of this promotion. It's in my first cookbook, My Louisiana Kitchen, which will ship next week in time for Christmas. Details, a peek inside, and ordering information are below. It will make a great gift for you, and for all the foodies on your list. Order your cookbook by Monday and should arrive in time for Christmas! It finished out at 192 pages and has more than 140 recipes, each with full color photo, a combination of&nb ...Continue Reading

One of my favorite cookie recipes, perfect for Christmas, is linked at the bottom of this promotion. It's in my first cookbook, My Louisiana Kitchen, which will ship next week in time for Christmas. Details, a peek inside, and ordering information are below. It will make a great gift for you, and for all the foodies on your list. It finished out at 192 pages and has more than 140 recipes, a combination of new recipes and reader favorites from over the years. Many of them are my personal favorites, som ...Continue Reading

Big announcement! My first cookbook, My Louisiana Kitchen, is ready and will ship in time for Christmas. Details, a peek inside, and ordering information are below. It will make a great gift for you, and for all the foodies on your list. It finished out at 192 pages and has more than 140 recipes, a combination of new recipes and reader favorites from over the years. Many of them are my personal favorites, some multi-generational. I think you'll enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed putting it together. Click ...Continue Reading

November 29,  2024 Leftovers! One of the best things about a good Thanksgiving meal is that you usually have plenty of leftovers. I had turkey and mashed potatoes for breakfast yesterday, Jim had a piece of his pumpkin spice cake with his coffee. I only made 2 quarts of turkey stock this year because there were just three of us for dinner and now I regret not making more. SO- I'm going to buy some more turkey legs and wings and make another pot, it was that good. This year I've added 1-2 Roma tomatoes and a ...Continue Reading

Big announcement! My first cookbook, My Louisiana Kitchen, is ready and will ship in time for Christmas. Details, a peek inside, and ordering information are below. It will make a great gift for you, and for all the foodies on your list. It finished out at 192 pages and has more than 140 recipes, many of them personal favorites, plus reader favorites from over the years. I think you'll enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed putting it together. Click to order below, or call; drop me a note if you have any questions. H ...Continue Reading

November 22, 2024 Thanksgiving is here!  If you don't have your menu quite set yet, I have compiled a list of suggestions here. We had a big family get-together last month for my nephew's wedding, so Thanksgiving is going to be really laid back. I'm going to brine a turkey breast and put together small batches of our favorite sides. Jim's in charge of dessert; not sure he knows that yet! My key ingredient to a tasty Thanksgiving dinner is a basic turkey stock. It simmers on the stove all night, and we w ...Continue Reading

November 15,  2024 Cooler weather, finally! But I'm not ready to break out the gumbo pot yet. I think we're going to put something on the grill this weekend; it'll be too chilly, and too dark, pretty soon. For the recipes this week, first up, a classic: Leah Chase's take on oyster dressing. Next up, a decadent artichoke and seafood dip that will be more than welcome at any holiday gathering. And finally, true comfort food from the Gibson's, a multi-generation family of shrimpers: Grits a Ya-Ya. It has rich a ...Continue Reading