March 5, 2020 Note: To unsubscribe or share this email with friends click the links provided at the bottom of this email. March marks the start of spring festival season here in Louisiana, and there are several lined up this weekend, with more to come all month, all over the state. See the calendar of events below if you need some ideas for the weekend. Crawfish season is also in full swing; my local grocery store boils pots full every day, and the line Sunday afternoon stretched most of the length of the store to pi ...Continue Reading

February 27, 2020 Note: To unsubscribe or share this email with friends click the links provided at the bottom of this email. What are you going to do with your extra day this year? I have old friends coming over for dinner this weekend, two that I've not seen in about 18 months, another one I've not seen in years. I need to check in with them today and see what they've given up for Lent, so that I can get dinner planned... And as it turns out, nothing, so I have free rein. I think I'll do an Italian night, one of m ...Continue Reading

February 13, 2020 Note: To unsubscribe or share this email with friends click the links provided at the bottom of this email. Mardi Gras parades start to roll in earnest all over the state this weekend. If you're visiting and aren't familiar with the protocol, here are a few tips to keep in mind. First, check the parade route, and make sure you and your car don't get stuck on the wrong side of the parade. My neighborhood gets boxed in on all four sides; thankfully, there are some grocery options inside the box, but I ...Continue Reading

February 6, 2020 Note: To unsubscribe or share this email with friends click the links provided at the bottom of this email. Happy February! It's my birthday month, and I thoroughly enjoy it. Mardi Gras is creeping up on us, with parades in the French Quarter in New Orleans and Slidell Saturday night, and more rolling in various parts of the state Sunday. You'll find the full parade schedule here; if you have additions or corrections, let us know. As I write this letter Wednesday morning, it's rainy and a muggy 75 de ...Continue Reading

January 30, 2020 Note: To unsubscribe or share this email with friends click the links provided at the bottom of this email.Click to preview the January/February issue (pictured at right). I've heard from readers all over the country, delighted with the variety of recipes; one woman said her husband declared they were going to cook every recipe in the issue! That's a lot of work; I know, because I cooked or helped cook most of them before publishing them. That's the difference between recipes you find in my magazine ...Continue Reading

January 24, 2020 Note: To unsubscribe or share this email with friends click the links provided at the bottom of this email. I turned to cookbooks for this week's recipe selection-- including one that's been in my collection since 1997. My mother was a great cook, but she wasnt' an adventurous cook. I left home knowing how to make biscuits and cornbread, fry catfish and shrimp, make a great roast beef with gravy and potatoes, an outstanding pot of vegetable beef soup, decent chile, and, in retrospect, avery pedestrian ...Continue Reading

January 16, 2020 Note: To unsubscribe click the link provided at the bottom of this email. Congratulations to the LSU Tigers — they beat Clemson in the college football national championship earlier this week, finishing the season undefeated. The LSU quarterback, Joe Burrow, was awarded the Heisman Trophy back in December— it's been a great year for LSU football. The remainder of the month is scheduled to be fairly quiet; the last "calm before the storm" of Mardi Gras. Here in New Orleans, the Phorty Phunny ...Continue Reading

January 9, 2020 Note: To unsubscribe click the link provided at the ottom of this email. Happy New Year! I've had a nice long break; hopefully you have too. Back to work this week! I'm deep into recipe development for the upcoming March/April issue and, as always, it includes a lot of crawfish recipes. The news coming out of Breaux Bridge (the crawfish capital of the world) this week is that the season is off to an early start, and that it's going to be a plentiful harvest. Now is the time to submit requests for anyt ...Continue Reading

December 19, 2019 Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year- This is my final newsletter of the year; we're heading out to visit family in Los Angeles this weekend, and there will be children! They add so much excitement to Christmas. This has been a long year, and I'm looking forward to this much-needed break. We'll send out a short note next weekend with links to a New Year's Day menu for Health, Happiness, Luck, and Wealth, then will be back to our regular schedule starting the first full week of January. Many thanks to ...Continue Reading

December 12, 2019 Note: To unsubscribe from this email or to forward email to friends use the provided links at the bottom of email. I had lunch with an old friend yesterday, a woman I met not long after I moved to San Francisco (1992 or 1992). I was in a bar after work one afternoon, and this stranger approached and drawled, "Are you from Mississippi?" She'd overheard me talking and caught the accent. Turns out we were born about 30 miles apart. She lives in Manhatten now, but we get together on her wa ...Continue Reading