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...]

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  Cornbread is one of those things we don’t cook enough. We – or at least I – get in a rut with breads and do rolls, hard bread,  biscuits, etc. Recently, I decided to do some cornbread muffins with a tiny twist. I added some actual corn. I was inspired when I passed by the cornmeal section and saw those familiar blue Jiffy Corn Muffin boxes. I bought a couple and went by the standard … [Read more...]

  In Dallas last week at the Lighting Show, we stopped by a showroom serving lunch – Mexican fare. One dish looked interesting, it looked like a quiche, a Mexican Quiche. I sampled some and it was delicious. Since the server was not fluent in English, I couldn’t get the recipe so I tried my own version when we returned from the Lone Star State. It turned out well.  Here’s how I did … [Read more...]