When I’m cooking, I get excited about the entrees and desserts, but vegetables? Not so much.  Often, there’s nothing to get excited about. The other night I had bought some fresh broccoli, and it’s good steamed or baked, but since I had an extra pie crust in the freezer, why not Broccoli Quiche? So I did an Easy Broccoli Quiche. Took 10 minutes to put together and another 45 minutes or … [Read more...]

  When I moved to Charlottesville in 1967, I had done some fly fishing, but nothing serious. I had caught some smallmouth and redeyes on a popping bug in the Greenbrier River and I  frequently put a worm on a hook at the end of my fly rod and caught stocked trout. But I never had any luck catching trout on a genuine trout fly. That is, until I met Chuck Kraft. Chuck ran a sport’s shop … [Read more...]

Every time I pass by Chick-Fil-A, I think about those great chicken sandwiches. Though fried chicken is not among my current diet options, I decided to-hell-with-the-diet, I’ll cook some anyway.  If I was going to do it, I wanted to go all the way, so I went to the store for some buttermilk. Unfortunately, most stores don’t sell buttermilk in small bottles or cartons. I had to get a … [Read more...]

  The strawberry invasion is about to begin. Plump red berries from southern California, Mexico and Florida will soon hit the grocery shelves en masse,  and one thing is certain. They will put all the beautiful red, ripe berries on top, and the rotten and unripe fruits on the bottom so you can’t see them. Buyer beware. Still, what will we do with this huge influx of strawberries? We … [Read more...]

By James Friend Dickerson Since I cook to match the dietary needs of my guests, this is not your traditional cioppino (no tomatoes or vegetables). So let’s get started on a delicious, hearty stew! If we’re not at the beach, I head to Wegman's and pick through the available seafood. Since a step-son earns his way as a commercial fisherman, I steer away from farm raised seafood and go for … [Read more...]

Cauliflower is one of those foods that you know you ought to eat more of, except it is basically tasteless. Compared to a baked potato, it has practically zero calories, but also zero taste. Recently, I was hell-bent on having cauliflower instead of a potato, but I decided to load it up – like I would a potato. Bottom line? Though it wasn’t quite as tasty as a loaded baked potato, with what I … [Read more...]

  More and more, I am cooking Mexican dishes - tacos, burritos, quesadillas and the like, but I struggle with side dishes. While a taco with lettuce, tomato, cheese, onions and sour cream doesn’t need a lot to accompany it, I feel like there should be something else besides refried beans, salsa and tortilla chips. Naturally, I experimented and came up with a Mexican Corn Salad and it … [Read more...]

  Most of my cooking involves simple, easy recipes. If it’s difficult, I let somebody else do it. For example, I make a lot of brownies, but just plain ol’ brownies. But they’re good. I saw a Betty Crocker recipe recently that inspired me to up my game a little so I decided to try a batch of Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies. They looked great, they tasted great and. … they were easy. Here’s … [Read more...]

  Nancy and I had met Larry Hastings at a Blue Ridge Builders meeting. He was pastor at Park Street Christian Church and invited us to attend. One Sunday we did. I always like to sit near the front, not the back of a church, so on this particular Sunday we went to the front and took a seat on the second pew. As it turns out, the Church was celebrating communion that morning. Our … [Read more...]

  Pure comfort! Comfort food that is. Hamburger Steak smothered in Country Gravy is the epitome of comfort food. I made a batch the other night. Good stuff. The secret,  I believe, is the right choice of ground beef. Ground chuck (80/20 or 85/15) is too greasy for my liking. The 96/4 burger doesn’t have enough grease for the gravy.  92/8 is just right. Here’s how I do mine. In … [Read more...]