OH those first tomatoes; the kind, we eat out of hand (from our own garden, if we are lucky, a tomato eaten as one would a piece of fruit, parting that hairy aromatic foliage to find that first globe, still-sunwarmed). These are the tomatoes we wait all year for; even after we tire of them plain,…
THE ONLY SUMMER SOUP RECIPE YOU WILL EVER NEED. FORGET GAZPACHO. SAVE YOUR GORGEOUS SUMMER-RIPE TOMATOES FOR SOMETHING ELSE. BECAUSE, FRANKLY, THIS LEAVES GAZPACHO IN THE DUST. To jump directly to recipe, click here. Deniers gonna deny, which the rest of us are pretty clear on (extreme weather events, such as record-smashing heat caused by…
WHAT DO WE DO WHEN, IN THIS SEASON OF RENEWAL, LIFE STILL FEELS LIKE A LIFE-SENTENCE? HOW DO WE GRIEVE AT A TIME WHEN EVERYTHING (EXCEPT THE PERSON WE LOVED) SEEMS TO BE COMING BACK TO LIFE? Easter. Passover. Spring. The days lengthen, grow warm. Everything seems to come back to life. Everything, that is, except…
IT’S ALMOST ST. PATRICK’S DAY, SO IT IS TIME FOR ME, AGAIN, TO OFFER YOU THIS GUINNESS STOUT CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE. IF YOU’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR AN IRISH-ISH DESSERT THAT IS A KNOCK-YOUR-SOCKS-OFF WOW, THIS MAY IS IT. IT IS (SHE SAID MODESTLY), ONE OF THE THREE BEST CHOCOLATE DESSERTS I EVER CAME UP WITH,…
CARPE DIEM IS NOT JUST A REALISTIC IMPERATIVE (BECAUSE, TRULY, WE NEVER KNOW HOW LONG WE HAVE). IT’S A VIBRANT INVITATION. WILL YOU RSVP? HERE’S THE STORY OF SOMEONE WHO DID. Here in the South, it’s the tail-end of winter, and the start of spring. As ever with the change of the seasons, I think…
IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH. TIL DEATH DO YOU PART. THESE WORDS, ALWAYS SOLEMN, ARE VERY DIFFERENT DEPENDING ON WHEN YOU UTTER THEM TO YOUR PARTNER: IN YOUTH, WHEN YOU ARE UN- OR LESS-TRIED? OR LATER, PERHAPS MUCH LATER, AFTER LIFE HAS BEATEN YOU UP A FEW TIMES? THIS IS MY HEARTFELT VALENTINE TO LATE-LIFE…