A hearty, stick-to-your-ribs recipe for gumbo stew, packed full of smoked sausage, shrimp, okra, and served over rice. There is something you should know about me. I am slowly going insane because I used “gotta” in the title above. Gotta is not an appropriate way to say anything, but “When You Have to Gumbo” is lacking the musical alliteration quality of the current title. Please overlook this grammatical foible as a form of creative license. foi•ble, noun : the part... more

Beat the heat with these Vietnamese-style shrimp spring rolls, with honey-soy marinated shrimp. Fresh, cold, and crunchy, they make an ideal hot weather food. I hope you’re in a forgiving mood. It’s Thursday. The week has flashed by in a flurry of phone calls and well-laid plans gone wrong. It rained on the one day I needed it to remain dry, and it was hot and unforgiving as I hid out in a hospital room, holding the hand of my daughter as she had a golf ball that isn’t actually... more

This one-skillet Portuguese-style pork and clams dish is so easy to prepare, you’ll be surprised at how quickly it comes together. It’s a great entertaining dish, served with warm bread to sop up the juices. Guests will think you slaved, but really you just tossed it together in a matter of minutes. Last weekend I headed out to Seattle for BlogHer Food ’12, as well as a few parties, a dinner at Lake Chelan, and as many minutes as I could squeeze in visiting my friends, Niki and... more

Leftover fish and rice find themselves transformed into a cilantro-lime fish cake topped off with a spicy sriracha lime mayonnaise. Do you ever feel like you’re walking around with a sign on your back that says, “Not cool enough?” I suppose it may just say, “kick me,” and the “not cool enough” factor is inferred. It is on my back. I can’t see it all that well. I like to imagine the sign changes with each person who sees it. While one person may look... more

Grilled scallops are covered in fresh rosemary and placed atop a pillow of creamy Gruyère polenta. This is backyard barbecue at the next level. For the seafood haters, we’ll have grilled lamb chops to grace the polenta, too. Don’t you fret. There’s this panic that’s sort of lurking in the background, almost like a lump in my throat. The house that never seems to be picked up is, and yet I still focus on all the things that still need to be and should be done like vacuuming... more

Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner, and with the weather warming, it’s the perfect time to take out the grill for fish tacos and make yourself a margarita. On our block, we joke with the neighbors that once the snow falls, we don’t see anybody for five months. People park their cars in the garage in an attempt to keep warm and stay dry and only poke their heads outside to get the mail or shovel the walk. Fortunately, every spring we emerge and get reacquainted with our friends... more

A white pizza sauce made with garlic and oil graces leftover naan and is topped off with green onions, black olives and shrimp for a quick and easy pizza night or a stunning appetizer tray. Sometimes life has a way of sneaking up on you. It’s the random phone calls, doctor appointments that take longer than usual, an opportunity you can’t pass up and things like spring break, a daughter who needs some one-on-one time or a spring snowstorm that sends you out to shovel for a few hours... more