All articles filed in The Stories

Three occasions for cake and three friends. Anything is an occasion when you’ve shared a friendship for more than 24 years. A love letter to the two ladies I love best in between their birthdays.

Dogs are family members – plain and simple. They love you unconditionally and only ask for a bit of love in return. We could all learn a hell of a lot from them. I lost one of my dogs this week, but the joy in my remembrances of her and greater than my grief of her passing. We must keep the best parts of those we know – both animal and human – alive within our hearts. She will always be in mine.

When is a cookie recipe not a cookie recipe? Well, when it’s a metaphor for the power of adaptability. In making my favorite chocolate chip cookies I explore how flexibility and the ability to adapt to change has improved my life, despite my initial fear of it.

Although this blog is not strictly vegetarian, I am and I owe so much to my move from omnivore to vegetarian. It completely changed how I viewed and interacted with food. And it all began ten years ago with a goat.

One of the beautiful mysteries of travel is that we often end up meeting fascinating people who teach us things we never expected to learn. That is how Ethan ended up learning to cook authentic Chinese cuisine during his time studying in Germany – a practice that created not only a long lasting bond of friendship, but also a new love of a cuisine that was once foreign, but became as familiar as his own.

A grateful arrivederci to the place and the people I love the most. (Don’t worry, Meet Me at the Long Table isn’t going anywhere; I’ll just be a bit more remote than usual).

Fairytales speak to us in certain ways – to many they are an escape, a fantasy filled with magic, adventure and love. However, they can prove to be allegorical – and can reach into your life unexpectedly. Such is the case with my friend Alyse and the story of Snow White, a fairytale she never understood until she had to open her own cottage door to an intruder that she both trusted and feared, a decision she found she had not any more say in than Snow White herself.

A story of memories of the West – this time from another generation and perspective. A sixty year journey through the great outdoors – from a wild youth to later adventures with family and how life changes and grows in the best possible ways.

Last summer I spent six weeks living in Rome, Italy – my first major foray into food studies. Before classes began, I spent a week getting reacquainted with the city that I love so much. Here are some excerpts from that time.

If you ask a woman what she loves about her body, she will likely name one or two minor things – she has long eyelashes or shiny hair. If you ask a woman to name what she hates about her body – well, the conversation can go on ad nauseam. Let’s end that. Let’s stop the negative chatter about our bodies. Let’s change the conversation – because there are so much more life to live than what we limit ourselves to.