Since early January, King Cakes have been flooding the office break room, daring you to take the chance and try another piece from yet another local bakery that has mastered the brightly frosted

Other than being forced to watch All My Children and General Hospital when my mom came home for lunch, the thing I remember most about being home sick from school was grilled cheese sandwiches. 

Everyone loves the comforting, homey feel and flavor of hot chocolate, but we all have our own particularities on what a good cup entails. Do you like a couple of big marshmallows on top, a bunch of l

 Though it’s a running gag that the only eateries open during the holidays are Chinese restaurants, the reality is not so far from the truth. Naturally, in New Orleans you can indulge in lavish

There´s just something wonderful, even almost divine, about waking up on a Sunday morning to the smell of freshly baked biscuits. I’ll swear on a stack of Bibles that my Aunt Edie made the best homemade buttermilk biscuits on the planet.

You never forget the moment you first bite into a genuinely delicious bagel; the taught, shiny crust and dense, chewy crumb slathered with a creamy shmear and topped with super-thin slices of briny locks, sliced onion and tomato.

Though August in New Orleans means endless, sweaty, hot and humid days where we hide indoors and hope our air conditioners can handle the strain, the word also happens to be a delightful, little adjective.

Red GravyLike indulging in ice cream during the coldest winter months, it’s not unusual to crave something heavy, rich and meaty in the depths of summer...even New Orleans’ summers. If you want so

Though they are likely the most oft-consumed snack, it seems to me that potato chips fall under the “most taken for granted” snack food category. It’s n

Dunbar’s Creole CookingFew dishes epitomize the economical, yet delicious nature of Southern cooking like greens. Whether they be mustard, collard, turnip or kale, greens are inexpensive, tasty and

 This has, so far, been a ridiculously mild winter.  Balmy weather and sunny days gets me dreaming about tomatoes.  I’ve never had good luck with tomatoes in New Orleans, so I’m cer

 For is National Garden Mail Order Month.  This is news to me, although I shouldn’t b surprised because, at this time of year, the seed companies take advantage of us indoor-bound gardener

For the past two years, my chicken flock has foraged over a large vacant lot, scratching the ground for bugs, eating grass and weeds and being very active. They lay the best eggs I’ve ever tasted. B

 If you’re a laissez-farmer like me, you haven’t yet torn out your summer plants and replaced them with the cool season crops like lettuce and healthy greens.  I always feel guilty tearing

I cannot cook without garlic. Sometimes I like to think of myself as an artist in the kitchen, with a palette of ingredients laid out in front

I´ve been away from New Orleans for a good part of this summer, staying on a ranch in the Northern Panhandle of Idaho. There’s 90 acres there, and the ranch has more animals than I would ever want to be responsible for in my normal life: cows, horses, geese, chickens, ducks, turkeys, cats, dogs, and goats.

I grew up in California. Not just California, but temperate, coastal, California where the summer’s highs will reach into the ‘80s, but only for brief stretches because it takes too much effort for the sun to burn through the summer fog that typically enshrouds the Northern Coast of California.

I measure the seasons in what is available to eat, so one of the most exciting things for me about June and July in the South are the blueberries. The delicious berries have been showing up at local f

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The humble parsnip is one of my favorite root vegetables, but it always generates a mixed response among both gardeners and people who like to eat. The white root vegetable, and close relative of the

 The message is short and secret and sends me to a Mid-City street, where I land just shy of midnight. The porch is dark, but a front door is slivered open. A walk through it sends me into the ca

A frat boy asks: “Should I call you in the morning, or nudge you?” Neither, as it turns out, though his luck might have been better if he hadn’t come at me with a neon Sex on the Beach.Years lat

 An anonymous pub, Saturday afternoon: while friends argued over college football rankings, I wandered to the bar and asked for a piña colada, skinny-style. What I got was a shake of Malibu rum,

Apple, pine and smoke are fall’s sensual trinity, reminding me of hikes through northern autumn woods, the sooty smell of a neighbor’s lit-up fireplace, the first ruby apple of the season.New Orle

Lil Jon once sang about Hennessy and Red Bull, an unlikely pairing called “crunk juice.” It’s not as surprising that status-conscious rappers latched onto cognac, given its luxe reputation.

Honey’s role here is much different. Mills says that the honey liqueur adds a “darker, aromatic and alcoholic component”

The drink is based on Goldschläger, a kitschy blend of cinnamon schnapps and real gold flakes made for the 1990s. Ordering it reminded me of manic dot-com kids and bighaired supermodels who wouldn’t leave the house for less than $10,000..

Zombies, MaiTai’s, and even yesteryear local favorites from Bali Hai’ including the Fog Cutter, Typhoon, and Tiki Bowl are all a part of the nostalgic Tiki Movement.

Tea has always been the civilized, bone-china sipper; the granny shawl around your shoulders. The reality is that swirling tea into a cocktail lends it an exotic richness, a leathery depth, a manning-up of flavors. And tea pairs surprisingly well with a range of liquors.

Rum. Sugar. Lime.I think it is safe to say that if you put these three ingredients into a single cocktail glass, the concoction does not scream, “daiquiri!,” especially not in New Orleans. Here, w

 “But a bit of better butter,Better than the bitter butterWill but make my bitter batter better.”Those of us who have twisted our tongues in this particular construction know well the boon of

 New 5:30 a.m. on Mardi Gras morning, and the day’s first parade is about to roll: a string of little red wagons and wheeled ice chests, towing food and drinks. Uptown resident David Berger and

 So you’ve checked into one of those ice hotels—or maybe that’s how your drafty house feels this winter (meanwhile your fir tree, stripped of the holidays, is thriving). This hardy, Nordic

The Breton Sound and CowbellClearly, I owe Jonathan Pretus an apology, but it waits until we meet – with his photographer wife, Julia - at Cowbell, the artsy roadhouse at Oak Street’s end. Jo

One would naturally expect the holiday tables in New Orleans to be filled with dishes like Fried Turkey, Dirty Rice, Duck & Andouille Gumbo, Cochon de Lait, Shrimp & Crawfish Mirliton Cassarol

My mom is well known for her exuberance and unwavering optimism, among her other wonderful attributes, but she is also famous for her cooking. Her knack for adding oomph to the most basic dish is no s

Someday, when Kelly Jacques’ bakery gets a storefront, her first buy will be a bicycle-driven commercial mixer. She’ll invite customers to generate clean power in exchange for her moist cookies or

the thing about ordering a deep-fried Hubig’s pie at Bayou Hot Wings: you get to pluck your pie, still cracklywrapped, from a displa

The holidays are here, and while you’re enjoying oyster stuffing, stuffed artichokes, and other traditional New Orleans favorites,

In February 2010, the Greater New Orleans Chapter of the Louisiana Restaurant Association launched a movement called We Live to Eat. This clever campaign was designed to raise awareness of New Orleans

 The holidays may be over in other parts of the world, but in New Orleans, the party has just barely begun. Starting on January 6, Twelfth Night officially marked the beginning of Mardi Gras and

 The holiday bustle has calmed and a new year has dawned bringing with it the arrival of new restaurants, new chef appointments, mysterious foodie experiments and more! First, the long-awaited Ma

 We’ve been watching since August when Chef Phillip L. Lopez was named by Louisiana Cookin’ Magazine as one of the “Chefs to Watch” and it seems our waiting has come to an end. Just a cou

We have seen numerous restaurants appearing all over town as if magicked there overnight, but there have also been a literal slew of “special” dining options that have popped up as well, conveniently termed “pop-ups.”

With falling leaves and slightly cooler temperatures of fall comes the sudden onset of yet another rabid football season. Millions of people all over the country will be plopped down in front of their television sets, rooting for their favorite team in the only way we know how.

It will be a cinch to satisfy your sweet tooth this fall with two new businesses focusing on delectable desserts. Already baking up a storm in the Bywater, Shake Sugary is a new bakery owned and operated by Pastry Chef Dawn Snead.

Everything is quieting down like it always does at this time of year. It seems the summer heat has seeped into our bones, causing us to move in slow motion and fight with each step not to melt into the sidewalks. Who has the energy to construct comfy booths, re-design kitchens or test new menus in hot ovens or on blistering stove tops?.

 You’d never know were a part of the national economic downturn here in New Orleans where new restaurants are popping up like mushrooms after a heavy rainfall. First, there’s two new addition

It appears that burger-mania has struck the Crescent City and quite a few folks out there are crying “It’s about time!” Brack May’s grass-fed

The abundance of April is upon us in the South.  This year give thanks for our abundance by participating in the 2011 Harvest at Home through the month of April. You may have noticed signs for Ha

Laid back, engaging and friendly, chef Brack May sat with me in his restaurant Cowbell, cracking jokes in a successful effort to make me laugh. His eclectic eatery was bustling behind the scenes, but