Author: michardillo

• Book Review: Food for Thought by Alton Brown

  I’ve been watching Alton Brown cooking shows since way back when Good Eats first came on the air. I loved the combination of science and food, and how Alton made the how and why as important as the taste of the final dish. My younger daughter and I watched many an episode together, loving his…

  michardillo

  October 9, 2025

  books

  Alton Brown, book-review, books, cookbook, cooking, essays, food, Food for Thought, Gallery Books, Good Eats, Iron Chef America, reading, social media, Southern, writing

• Outdoor Mass in Honor of Fr. Kapaun

  Please see my latest freelance assignment! https://www.cathstan.org/local/mass-at-st-jude-church-in-rockville-honors-memory-of-father-emil-kapaun

  michardillo

  September 26, 2025

  Essay

  canonization, Catholic, chaplain, Fr. Juan Pablo, Fr. Kapaun, Fr. Paul D. Lee, Korean War, Mass, prisoner of war, St. Jude, US Army, venerable

• Nothing Gold Can Stay

  Yesterday, September 24, 2025, my last aunt passed away. I only had three to start with and the last one living, my dad’s baby sister, died yesterday at the age of 88. She was seven years younger than my dad, and she grew up in my hometown. She graduated from high school the year I…

  michardillo

  September 25, 2025

  Essay

  death, family, funeral, life, loss, love, memories, Nothing Gold Can Stay, poem, poetry, reading, Robert Frost, writing

• Book Review: The Accidental Rewrite by Milly Johnson

  First of all, since this was an offering on NetGalley I assumed this was a brand new, yet to be published book, perhaps by a debut author. Silly me, wrong on all accounts. The Accidental Rewrite was first published in February of 2024 in the UK under the title The Happiest Ever After. And, Milly…

  michardillo

  September 12, 2025

  books

  ARC, author, BBC, book-review, book-reviews, books, Britain, British, cat, debut novel, England, fiction, Fredrik Backman, Goodreads, Harper Muse, literature, Milly Johnson, My Friends, NetGalley, novel, PBS, publishing, reading, The Accidental Rewrite, The Daily Trumpet, The Happiest Ever After, UK, writer, writing, Yorkshire Cat Rescue

• Book Review—Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy by Christopher White

  As an American and a Catholic, did I ever, in my wildest dreams, imagine an American pope? Absolutely not. But, on Thursday, May 8, 2025, that is exactly what happened. My husband and I were both home (freshly retired) and were having lunch at our kitchen counter. After we finished eating, my husband was cleaning…

  michardillo

  September 5, 2025

  books

  book-review, books, Catholic, Catholic Church, Catholic school, Christopher White, Conclave, Confirmation, Councils, Italy, Jesuits, Kindle, Loyola Press, Mass, NetGalley, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, Pope John Paul II, Pope John XXIII, Pope Leo XIV, social media, Society of Jesus, St. Monica, Synod, Vatican, Vatican II, writer, writing

• My August Reads!

  Another month with travel which meant fewer books read. But I did a lot of writing: 17 essays and/or book reviews! Onward to September! No travel, so I hope to read a lot more!

  michardillo

  August 31, 2025

  books

  book-review, books, reading, writing

• Not An Anniversary To Look Forward To

  How are you feeling right now? Sad. Nostalgic. Brokenhearted. That’s how I feel right now. Today is the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina making landfall near my hometown of Port Sulphur, Louisiana. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina lifted my parents’ home off of its foundation and deposited it, broken in half, across the back…

  michardillo

  August 29, 2025

  Essay

  20th anniversary, Catholic Church, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-2045, family, Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana, Mississippi River, Plaquemines Parish, Port Sulphur

• Book Review: Just One Gift by Linda Sue Park

  I was browsing new titles on NetGalley recently and saw a title listed that immediately caught my attention. The book was Just One Gift (HarperCollins/Clarion Books, April 2026) by Linda Sue Park. I didn’t know Linda Sue Park at all until late summer 2017 when I found out that I would be teaching one section…

  michardillo

  August 28, 2025

  books

  12th century, A Single Shard, Ancient Korea, Asian art, Asian pottery, book-review, books, Clarion, family, fiction, Freer Gallery, HarperCollins Publishers, Just One Gift, language arts, Linda Sue Park, literature, middle school, NetGalley, Newbery Medal, Peacock Room, pottery, reading, Smithsonian, teacher, teaching

• Jettison Me Back

  What TV shows did you watch as a kid? Growing up in the 50s and 60s, we were a one-tv household, which was housed in a large piece of furniture. There was no remote and because we were 60 miles southeast of New Orleans, we only got three channels, the three main networks NBC, CBS,…

  michardillo

  August 26, 2025

  Essay

  after school tv, cartoons, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-2042, Get Smart, Gilligan’s Island, Jonny Quest, New Orleans, reruns, sitcoms, technology, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Brady Bunch, The Flintstones, The Jetsons

• Food of the Gods

  What’s your favorite recipe? You might as well ask me who’s my favorite child! Seriously, I cook every day, and of course I have my favorites. My favorites depend on the season. There are things I love making when it is cold out like Carbonnade Flamande, which is the famous Flemish beef stew we ate…

  michardillo

  August 24, 2025

  Essay

  afternoon tea, Belgian beef stew, Cajuns, carbonnade flamande, chili, cooking, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-2040, English breakfast tea, Gumbo, recipes, rotisserie chicken, scones, wings