Heather Lende, author of the beautiful memoirs Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs and If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name, has a new column in Woman’s Day. Her first piece is about being grateful for families during the holidays–you can read it in its entirety online. (Isn’t the illustration accompanyingContinue reading

Last month I was invited by the Viking Range company to give a series of classes at their cooking school in Greenwood, Mississippi. The company’s headquarters is there and, besides the school, there are factories, show rooms, a classroom for salespeople and a very, very nice hotel called the Alluvian. All of these are inContinue reading

Last week, the James Beard Foundation announced the semifinalist nominees for their annual awards ceremony (“the Oscars of the food world”). We are excited to announce that Algonquin author (and owner of the Chapel Hill landmark restaurant Crook’s Corner)  Bill Smith was nominated in two categories! Bill Smith was nominated for the Best Chef: SoutheastContinue reading

My mother’s mother followed the German tradition of not decorating until Christmas Eve. My other grandmother, my parents, and everyone else in town were finished weeks in advance, but Annie would never budge. The tree would be closed up behind the sliding doors of the “big living room,” which I now remember as being asContinue reading

Our holiday office party is tonight. And that means a big pot-luck dinner, a white elephant exchange full of cheesy delights, and apparently –this year– a bonfire beneath a backyard zip-line. Katie will be reporting live from the scene, so you can virtually join us for all the festivities! As the sign-up sheet circulated, IContinue reading