Today is my Uncle Richard’s 89th Birthday. To honor him, I’m posting my most prized possession, my video of him showing me how to make meatballs and sauce. (It’s at the end of this post.) It was the highlight of my year! Most people’s bucket lists are filled with things like: Stay in a Scottish castle, or dance in the sand in Greece. But at the top of…
I was at work last week, fighting a nasty bout of bronchitis and kept nodding off at my desk. I thought I was being very sly, but someone walked past, noticed and mentioned it to me. He said it looked like I was in deep thought, but I think he was just being kind. I know what I look like when I’m nodding off and it is definitely…
I’m a great housewife, if I say so myself. Nothing thrills me more than inviting people for dinner and being hostess for an evening. I love gardening, fixing up houses, even cleaning them. Correction — I love how I feel when they’re clean — big difference. Having all day to frame my favorite photos and decorate my living room would be a dream for me, but it ain’t…
I was talking to my Uncle Richard over the weekend. He was telling me how he misses the days when his grandkids were little and he used to cook every Sunday. His lucky daughter, son-in-law and their kids, along with my dad, were invited over every Sunday to eat pasta. He’d make a different pasta every week, including rigatoni, linguini with clams, gnocci, lasagne, aglio olio and others,…
I’m still recovering from a week of food preparation and a day of serious hostessing. The heavens smiled on me and food magic happened, which means all my food turned out great, except for the gravy, which was a little iffy. From now on, it’s only flour, no cornstarch in my gravy. My guests were wonderful, there were no awkward pauses in conversation, and my kid’s friends turned…
You can either live life, or write about it. This year for Christmas, I lived it. The great thing about living is you notice things like little Christmas miracles you might have overlooked. (The bad thing is your blog is late.) I lived it so well that I now have one mother of a head-cold that only responds to hot tea with lemon, honey and Rock n’Rye. I’m…
I just read an article in the LA Times about an Austrian chef who re-creates Christmas dinners like those in his homeland because he has such great memories. I loved that, instead of sinking into a depression over what he’s missing, he’s re-creating it with braised duck and roasted chestnuts. I remember forcing myself to do that the first year I spent Christmas Eve away from my large,…
I promised news of the victory in the Annual Cutthroat Tunno Pie Competition and I’m delivering it, but it’s not a surprise. Yes, my nephew Chris somehow pulled off another win. (If we find out he’s putting controlled substances in his pies to make everyone vote for him, he’s in big trouble.) But the big news is the First Runner Up. In second place, was my great-nephew Nate!…
Remember the nice story I wrote last week about my family loving each other because my mom was a great cook and so nurturing and wonderful? Most of the time that’s true, until it’s time for the cutthroat Annual Tunno Pumpkin Pie Contest. It commences right after Thanksgiving dinner, which is a good thing because we’re all too full to move, let alone hurt each other. I’ve only…
I can’t believe it’s already November. To make it worse, everywhere I look the poor turkeys are being squeezed out by the holiday stuff. What the hell? It’s too bad because a holiday devoted to being thankful , and FOOD is my kind of holiday. I’ve always loved it — so much, that in college, we made Thanksgiving dinner and ate on two mattresses on the floor because…