In November 1997, I was living in Dijon, France and starting to feel rather sorry for myself as the traditional American holiday season approached. I'm a {bit} of a devotee to tradition, and I knew that all across the U.S. families were making plans to gather together for Thanksgiving. I would be heading home four weeks later just in time for Christmas, but it was little consolation as the fourth Thursday in November approached. Compounding the feeling of impending doom were a ... View Post
Comfort. Food.
Those two words are pretty good independently, right? But together... they take on a luster that is most likely appealing to every human. The neat thing is the way we interpret "comfort food" to meet our own distinct definition - unique to each of us and not necessarily even shared among notoriously close duos like spouses, siblings and crime-fighting partners. Our opinions on what constitutes comfort food are our very own. The other neat thing is the way that food can deliver comfort. I've ... View Post
Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries
I can't claim to have ever been a particularly enthusiastic maraschino cherry consumer. They've really only made a few notable appearances in my life: most frequently (annually) in Mom's famous rum cake. That recipe will never appear here, by the way; she would slaughter me. I'm honestly shocked I have a copy of it. As my Dad says, though: "Having the recipe doesn't matter - nobody makes it like Mom!" The other memorable experience I've had with maraschino cherries was at an unnamed place in ... View Post
(Foodie) Life Lessons Learned from Mom – Part 5
If you've been landing at www.littlemagpie.org and then exploring my series of (Foodie) Life Lessons Learned from Mom here on The Food Adventuress, thanks! Here's the fifth (and final) obsession installment: I've mentioned the life lessons of no special treatment, preparation, reading the instructions and proceeding slowly, seeking inspiration and embellishing. Finally, life lesson five: honor tradition. Honestly, my family is fairly certain they've bred a monster in me. Straying in the ... View Post
