Lazy (Extra) Days in Nashville - Dad About Town After an early career as a journalist that afforded me titillating glimpses of the wilder parts of Sandusky, Ohio (the North Coast!!!) and the Chicago suburbs (Naperville! Downers Grove! Wheaton! Bolingbrook!!!!!!!!!) -- I've been blessed to upgrade from that scintillating travelogue to the farflung locales the... Continue Reading →
An Ohioan's Take on "Chili Soup" The first Super Bowl I remember was the post-1984 season clash between the Dan-Marino-led Miami Dolphins and Joe Montana's San Francisco 49ers. I guess it was played in January 1985. I would have been 8. But everything about it says 1984 to me. It's funny: You do a search... Continue Reading →
Flavorful Red Sauce in a Rush I've given all due credit and homage to my parents as kitchen tinkerers extraordinaire. My fundamental view of cooking is less about temperature and time and more about messing with ingredients. If you didn't mix 'em up a bit, add something new, did you really cook? As long as... Continue Reading →
In Praise of Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue I've devoted a fair bit of digital space here praising barbecue, and meats, and smoke, and especially, smoky barbecued meats. Whether giving due props to the men who made me into a man who makes meals; or sharing the tricks I've picked up to prepare killer crock pot... Continue Reading →
Do it Right: BBQ Pulled Pork in the Crock Pot I come from a long line of tinkerers in the kitchen. Or at least, I'm a direct descendant of the tinkerer extraordinaire. So I don't take too seriously the category "Do it Right" that I put a lot of my recipe posts in. This just... Continue Reading →
Making the World Safe for My Father's Chili On this post-Thanksgiving, football-rich weekend, let's throw back to a column I wrote in 2008 to capture one of my family's culinary obsessions: Cincinnati-style chili spaghetti. Be sure to read to the end for the recipe. This article originally appeared in the Youngstown Vindicator on Feb. 27, 2008: I... Continue Reading →
Do it Right: Bratwurst on the Grill Good recipes, like a marriage, take a lot of work. A bit of trial, a bit more of error, until you know enough to savor the sweet successes. My wife bought me my first full-sized Weber charcoal grill in the first year after we got hitched. Call it... Continue Reading →
Do it Right: Steak on the Grill Growing up, my family was not a steak-and-baked-potatoes-on-Sunday type of family. Early, with money tight, we were more likely to serve up chipped beef on toast, or liver and onions, or - hell - Dinty More beef stew with buttered bread. But my parents displayed an adventurousness with... Continue Reading →
In Praise of The Jalapeño For a while before he moved down to the coastal Carolinas, where the main things coming out of the ground seem to be Bermuda grass and the occasional alligator, my Renaissance Dad (see: stained glass making, wine making, wood carving, furniture refinishing, deck building, etc. ...) had a thing for... Continue Reading →
