Purple sage and colorful cauliflower
I’ve been leery of cauliflower for most of my life. Despite my early penchant for devouring white foods, there was just something about cauliflower that seemed a bit wrong. To…
Side dish recipes
Mexican corn on the cob: A light in August
August can make me grouchy. Doubtless it’s because I’m jealous that I’m stuck in hot, humid New York City when half the world seems to be relaxing on the beach…
Refrigerator dill pickles
Working for a weekly magazine, my Friday nights at the office are very late. We don’t put the issue to bed until 9:30, so I often don’t get to leave…
Uncle Albert, Juneteenth and lima beans
On June 18, 1878, my great-great-great-uncle Albert was sitting on the front porch of his lovely Austin home, Las Ventanas, surveying the bounty of his garden. In a letter to…
Jalapeño coleslaw
The room was silent. Barbecue expert and writer Lolis Eric Elie, author of Smokestack Lightening, had just been asked what he thought about New York City barbecue. He paused for…
Refried beans recipe: a life pursuit
I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, and it was filled with a heaping serving of refried beans. OK, the spoon may not have been exactly silver,…
Cranberry poblano salsa
Cranberry sauce for many means this: a tubular, red, gelatinous substance that slithers out of a can, shiny ridges included free of charge. You’d think with so many people interested…
Lunch ladies and fried okra
School lunches are a hot topic du jour as the school year has recently begun. Everyone from The New York Times to the New Yorker seems to be weighing in….