Depending on where you grew up, you would answer the question- “what is your favorite comfort food?” differently. In the heartland of the good old US of A you might say a burger and fries. In the land of well-placed neck scarves, the Eiffel tower and baguettes with Bordeaux, you may exclaim- duck confit, oui oui oui! If you were reared with a side of English to go along with your heaping mouthful of French and you went to grammar school with Celine Dion in Quebec, surely you’d mumble- Poutine!- between glorious bites of gravy-and-cheese curd-topped fries. Read more

This quickie dessert is freakishly easy to pull together and impresses the pants off your booze-brined compadres post-dinner. It combines two of my favorite things- Margaritas and eggs. It’s also suitable for those with little bundt cakes in their easy-bake ovens (ie preggies) and also bundt cakes that have emerged from easy-bake ovens (ie children). That’s because the alcohol gets cooked out, but don’t fear. It’s the perfect dessert to wash down with a pint of Patron, which will really chase the winter blues away. Read more

It’s the dead of winter and I’m back in Seattle after a week spent languidly wallowing in the warm tradewinds and easy sunshine of the Caribbean. I’ve had my hot fun, and now there isn’t even a glimmer of vacation on the horizon until summer pops her fickle head out from the clouds.  I have been accused of being a touch on the stubborn side, and I ALWAYS want what I can’t have.  Right now that’s sun and the pints of ice cream that come with it.

A hot August night invariably takes me back to my eighth grade summer; the year I discovered fast cars and learned to avoid the fast boys that often drove them. The pegged-pants and Hypercolor set would cruise the sweaty asphalt of Blue Lakes Boulevard into the wee hours. To my young mind, those high school-and-beyond boys with spiked mullets, Stussy shirts, and Drakkar Noir-drenched necks were the embodiment of cool. They even wore their Oakley sunglasses at night. Read more