June has bestowed many blessings; among them, a visit from my Mamma, the Chicago wedding of Mr. Mix’s radiant sister to a wonderfully decent man, and an adventure out to the island of Nantucket with new friends who flaunt great culinary and photographic gifts. Camera in hand, I’ve tried to capture joyful June memories to […]

Carrots get a bad rap. Though delicious and nutritious, their omnipresence and bright color often lumps them into the category of “childhood snack”. Raw carrots are the territory of preschool sandwich baggies; though obviously, carrots for adults do exist–I just don’t see them on menus as often as I might like. I’m trying to change […]

Mother’s Day is just days away, and if you’re anything like me, you’ve been getting a barrage of emails touting the perfect gifts for Mom. Sales on everything from perfume sets to pots and pans, spa treatments to sparkling tennis bracelets, have invaded my inbox. My Mamma deserves every bit of indulgence after the drama […]

At a certain moment, it happens to every New Yorker (especially perhaps, to those of us lucky enough to live below 14th street). Manhattan starts to seem like the beginning and ending of the known world. It’s not hard to understand; the whole universe is on your block: a Michelin-starred French restaurant, totally authentic falafel […]

Last December I was invited by CS Magazine (a.k.a. Chicago Social) to attend a very special dinner party at Charlie Trotter’s test kitchen in Chicago. Instead of sitting in the main dining room, twenty-two guests were invited to experience Trotter’s private kitchen where he films his PBS television series, The Kitchen Sessions with Charlie Trotter. Trotter attended the event, […]