It is that time of year… daylight savings has given me the greatest gift I could ask for right now… it is time to grill.  Standing out there just feels right.  The heat on my face, the smells from the food, the dog jamming her soccer ball into my calves begging me to kick it… [...]

#1 Rule of Cooking: Food should taste like what it is and nothing else. I’m going to keep this short and sweet.  Good food should taste like food.  Good food doesn’t need lots of stuff on it to make it taste good — it should already taste good.  Good food doesn’t need to be messed [...]

Chile rellenos are my favorite dish at Mexican restaurants.  Everyone does them a little different, but the essence is the same: pablano pepper stuffed with deliciousness.  While they seem to be mostly filled with cheese and/or chicken (and sometimes pork but I don’t eat pork so I don’t want to count those because I get [...]

If you have ever had the great pleasure of driving down I-85 South through South Carolina on your way to Georgia, you have seen the PEACH.  The big posterior-looking peach water tower in Gaffney, SC.  Complete with the little nubbin that you find at the bottom of peaches and a leaf on top.  It looks [...]

It is no secret that I love to grill.  Anything that I can grill gets grilled.  Why not tomatoes for a quick fabulous sauce?  Why haven’t I done this before? In my CSA box this week I got one beautiful deep red tomato; it was such an incredible color that I picked up a couple [...]

I have these two ridiculous nieces – adorable, hilarious little bundles of energy.  The older one turns 7 this week; she talks like a teenager exclaiming the occasional “WHATEVER” and rolling her eyes, singing Taylor Swift in her own little world. She even coaxed me into doing the Running Man because Hannah Montana (or Miley Cyrus? [...]

Sometimes I make a dish and can’t believe how good it is.  Like, I’m genuinely shocked that it is good.  Michelle the Food Ruiner still lives in my head even when Michelle the Good Food Maker is at the wheel. I used to be a terrible cook.  I think I’ve mentioned this before.  I once [...]

Sunday night for dinner I had three things that I desperately wanted to use: 1. Any of the beautiful herbs living on my deck that were ready to be picked.  Most likely oregano or thyme. 2. Cornmeal — I wanted to make polenta.  I have a ton of cornmeal for a reason that I cannot [...]

I have this friend… we are really close.  I feel like myself when we’re together, more so than with any other friend.  It doesn’t matter what I wear or what kind of mood I’m in; we always have a great time.  The problem is that we really only hang out outside together, so we don’t [...]

In a couple weeks I will be smoking for others for the first time. This is a big step. Other people will eating my smoked food. Other people will be watching me smoke stuff. Other people will know if I have to secretly finish the meat in the oven because I couldn’t keep the heat [...]