Food & Drink

French onion soup is one of the most warm and decadent wintery dishes imaginable. Rich caramelized onions are suspended in a savory thyme-scented broth and topped with a crusty crouton draped in melted cheese. A quintessential cold-weather comfort food, this bistro classic can be a great addition to any meal plan, unlike many other traditional […]

When the days have grown short and the weather stays cold, people used to say, “It’s hog-killin’ time.” Before we had packing plants and supermarkets, farm families depended on their fields and flocks for sustenance, and the tedious process of whole hog butchering usually took place in cold weather. Breaking down a 200 to 300-pound […]

It’s 5 o’clock on a cold Saturday morning and I’m at Balkan Treat Box in the St. Louis suburb of Webster Groves learning how to make Turkish flatbreads. A chef friend had told me that Balkan Treat Box was one of his favorite restaurants, and suggested I hang out with them. So I contacted the […]

Warm and cozy cocktails are an ideal way to spread holiday cheer even as temperatures drop. Most cocktails were in fact hot drinks until refrigeration became a reality, given how difficult it was to procure ice outside of winter months. What we think of today as a hot toddy likely originated in 16th century Scotland, […]

When my wife dropped me off for my first day of work at The Grey in Savannah, Georgia, and asked “How are ya feeling?” I replied, “Kinda like the first day of kindergarten.” The Grey is one of the South’s top restaurants, and its executive chef, Mashama Bailey, won the coveted James Beard Foundation’s Best […]

I love leftovers. Not simply microwaved on a plate, but as the basis for an entirely new dish. On weekends I’ll often make large batches of side dishes like rice pilaf and mashed potatoes to use later that week in quick dinners like fried rice or potato soup. If you find yourself laden with a […]

It was a cold, windy morning as we took our 40-minute ferry ride from Hilton Head to Daufuskie Island off the South Carolina coast. Daufuskie is a remote and isolated island, inhabited by only 400 people, and accessible only by boat. I was on a mission to learn and write about the culinary traditions of […]

The kitchen at Central Baptist Church will be humming once again this Thanksgiving Day. The historic downtown church has been providing turkey dinners to the Springfield community for over 35 years at its annual Feast of Plenty dinner. “The original intent was to provide a place where people could gather together – we didn’t want […]

When you live in a school bus, without the amenities of central heat or AC, you become closely aligned with the changes of the seasons. When days are long and the weather is hot, I try to keep the heat out of the bus kitchen and plan my meals around what I can cook outdoors. […]