With summer beckoning its hot, lazy days so temptingly ahead, my mind is lured into a state of vacation. I close my eyes and am transported to a place of aloha, where time is just a suggestion. Wake ...
The dog days of summer are nearly here. I will be the first to admit that I am ready. The drain of the busy school year is evident with my little ones; even my kindergartner (who will soon be no long...
Memorial Day. While most of our country celebrates the holiday with swimsuits and barbecues, we often forget, myself included, the true meaning of the holiday. We all mean well. And on holidays such ...
I loaded the last item into the chill and slowly slammed the door shut. It is full, my refrigerator, fully stocked for the long weekend ahead. The last of the shopping was completed this morning, and...
It used to be part of my bi-weekly rotation. Back when I worked in a jungle of skyscrapers, my midtown office was walking distance from a world of cuisines. City blocks were mere continents, and cros...
Memorial Day is around the corner, and for many of us, this weekend is the gateway to a summer of cooking fresh simple meals, firing up the grills, and dining al fresco! I wanted to share with you th...
I tucked her into bed tonight and told her I was proud of her. As she nestled into her pillow surrounded by her stuffed animals, I had to give her another kiss and hug. We have been blessed. Our chil...
Those of you who know me know how much I love to grill. With Memorial Day just around the corner, you can be sure that we have already gotten a head start firing up the grill and eating outdoors! If ...
I feel a little ashamed. For the first time, I think I can make the (guilty) admission that in past years, Mother’s Day was a day that I thought I deserved something. Well, perhaps deserved is ...
Time. There never seems to be enough, and I find this painfully true whenever I return to New York. There is just too much in New York. Too many people, too many buildings, too many restaurants. So m...
It is a perfect morning for flying, and I suspect the pilot knows it. As the airplane climbed, he circled over the glittering bay, the city below just waking up under the break of dawn. He took the s...
Around this time of year, I begin daydreaming. My mind wanders to stretches of undisturbed sand, the sound of the ocean crashing rhythmically on the shore. I find myself lounging, the warmth of the s...
Wednesdays used to be our day. School let out early on an abbreviated schedule, and mom would pick me up. On Wednesdays, she didn’t have to rush to work, and still in my plaid uniform jumper, w...
Semifreddo. Say it with me. It just rolls off the tongue, like honey, doesn’t it? Let’s say it again, together. Semifreddo. Italian is such a beautiful language. Who else could make the w...
There is what I call the loud hours. Some of you with children also call it the witching hour, which really is slightly erroneous, because we all know the hour is more like three hours. I see you nod...
Lolo, what is your favorite dish? Around this time last year, my daughter was working on her 2nd grade heritage report, culling memories and family history. She picked up the phone and called my dad,...
Our return to food reality was a little rough. After a weekend with a wine glass that seemed to be permanently affixed to my right hand, delivering a constant iv drip of various elixirs, and meticulo...
When I first experienced the epicurean delights that abound at Pebble Beach Food & Wine, all I could think of as I sipped and sampled my way through the day was, I wish my husband could taste thi...
When we moved to our current house six years ago, the landscaping required a huge overhaul, and I had romantic notions of filling the backyard with olive trees, their gnarly trunks and branches growi...
It was still dark when I heard footsteps approach my bed. My daughter crawled in under the comforter and snuggled close, and as I tried to settle back to sleep, I thought of all those nights when I w...
I think I may have been the only child to never eat a single grilled cheese sandwich growing up. It’s true. My mother never made them, and somehow, I lived a life sheltered from childhood ̶...
From my kitchen to yours, warm wishes for a delicious Easter. I hope you are surrounded by the beauty of Spring and the love of those dearest to you!
The view from my window :: Hudson The man to my left opened the window shade, and the brilliant sun shone down on rolling green hills thousands of feet below. As we made our descent into the San Fran...
In just a few hours, I will be boarding a plane headed back home. New York. A place that I speak of so fondly here, from where so many of my most favorite food memories come, and one that I visit far...
Que bella! How beautiful! These sweet, doting words followed my little brother and sister as we traveled throughout Italy as children. Being the older one, in that awkward teenage stage, those words ...
Skydiving. The Taj Mahal at daybreak. An African safari. Homemade pasta. What’s on your bucket list? Some life goals are easier to achieve than others. I may never skydive – not because o...
I vowed I would never become a nurse. I made this pledge at a young age, and based it solely and superficially on the fact that my mom, who was in this noble profession, had hands that were cracked a...
The skies have been grey for days, and we Northern Californians have been very polite about it. Oh this weather! Can you believe this rain? Our gripes are quickly followed up with a cheery, But we ce...
I am the daughter of an Irishwoman. She was the wife of an Irishman. Confused? Apparently, so am I. Okay. So I’m not Irish. Even on St. Patrick’s Day, when Irish-people the world over war...
I cautiously took each step down the stairs with an extra sense of care, still feeling weak from a weekend of nausea. My feet were happy to plant themselves on the solid wood of the first floor. As I...
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