Trendy twists for the holidays

December 15, 2011

It’s the same every year. I want to make the nostalgic holiday foods that the season inspires, yet I also want to branch out, jazz things up, and enjoy dishes other than the same-old, same-old.

According to the National Pork Board, I’m not alone. Their recent “Holiday Table Trends” survey revealed that, while tradition is important, it’s continuing to take a back seat in holiday cooking. The survey went on to identify six food trends for the season – and not too coincidentally, they asked me to develop a recipe to celebrate each of them.

Great Cookbooks for Holiday Gifts

December 6, 2011

Welcome to my virtual holiday potluck. Well, not my virtual holiday potluck, but our virtual potluck—meaning you, me, and a bunch of my cookbook author pals.

The idea is, to help celebrate and promote each others’ books, we each write about another’s book , including a recipe and links to all the others’ posts. So you get to virtually experience a potluck of recipes and, perhaps, become inspired to add one (or more) of our books to your holiday gift list.

Cool, eh?

Yay for Chardonnay

November 8, 2011

Chardonnay is kind of the Coke of wines. It’s popular. It’s easy to drink. And it goes with a lot of great foods.

That popularity, however, has led some to look down on Chardonnay. I think the logic is that if it’s that popular, it couldn’t possibly be cool.

The great pumpkin!

October 24, 2011

One of the easiest ways to make your cooking festive is to use it to celebrate what’s in season – serve asparagus in the springtime, tomatoes in the summer, and citrus in the winter.

To me, nothing says fall like pumpkin. And it’s delicious in so many dishes, savory and sweet. Pumpkin also comes in several different forms, giving you plenty of opportunities to include it in your fall cooking.

6 delicious ways to enjoy tomatoes

September 2, 2011

At my house, this is the time of year when you’re not allowed to eat a meal that doesn’t include tomatoes. We usually have so many, we can barely keep up with them. Here’s how I’m liking them best:

Rootin’ tootin’ Zinfandel

August 24, 2011

As the window on summer begins to close, I’m craving barbecue. I guess I’m wanting my fill before it gets too cool to grill. And with barbecue cravings come Zinfandel cravings – it is most definitely a wine for all manner of smoky, grilled, charred meats.

For Father’s Day, take a tip from Dad and grill

June 16, 2011

My dad is a master of the grill.

When I say that you might picture a funny-pages version of dad-as-griller, an only-on-weekends, back yard cook who humorously and consistently builds an unnecessarily huge fire, grills only the simplest of steaks, chops, and burgers, and serves them all just this side of incinerated. My dad, that is not.

Video: Introducing 100 Perfect Pairings: Main Dishes!

April 19, 2011

Today – yes, this very day – my second cookbook, “100 Perfect Pairings: Main Dishes to Enjoy with Wines You Love,” is officially released! To celebrate, and to give you a sneak peak, I’m sharing a video I made to support it.

How to make perfect pasta in 9 easy steps

January 20, 2011

I know, I know. Cooking pasta is, literally, as simple as boiling water.

But the truth is that a lot of people have a lot of questions and a lot of misconceptions about it. So, in the interest of perfect pasta, let’s take it one step at a time.

A roast to toast to

December 21, 2010

Funny thing happened the other day. I was talking to my mother-in-law on the phone, helping to plan our Christmas Eve dinner. She has a pork loin roast in the freezer and wants to make it on Friday. So she picked out a recipe, and was reading it to me. And it sounded really familiar.