• In which a tree falls on the barn

      Here in my neck of the Virginia woods the rain has been far more than plentiful over the summer. The rain soaks the soil and the least wind drops any dead tree standing. In my case that means the…

  • Finding a good solution to my stacks of old magazines

    IMAGINE A PICTURE HERE of too many stacks of magazines on very crowded bookshelves! You really don’t want to see it! Those who know me well know I’ve been a magazine hoarder for many years; especially magazines about food or…

  • Celebrate Black History Month with Dinner at Indigo House

    Celebrate Black History Month this year with a Southern Sunday Supper on a Saturday Night. On Saturday, February 24th, 2018 this dinner for eight will feature iconic African-American and Southern dishes. After a 1st course of “Pot Likker” soup accompanied…

  • Ultimate Winter Comfort Food: Split Pea and Ham Soup

    Split Pea soup is one of my favorite soups. When I was a little girl in the early 1950’s it took almost 18 hours to drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco on Highway 101.  My mother and stepfather and…

  • Monticello Hearth Cooking at the Heritage Harvest Festival 2016

    This coming Friday (Sept 9th) culinary historian Michael Twitty will join me at the Monticello kitchen hearth for a celebration of enslaved cooks Edith Fossett and Frances Hern; their skills and their lives. We will prepare a menu of recipes…