Tag: cooking

• Book Review-Polska: New Polish Cooking by Zuza Zak

  As I’ve noted in other book reviews and essays you may have read, I am very active in my church community. We have a new pastor, a priest from Poland, and I wanted to prepare a few dishes from his homeland. I checked out this cookbook, Polska: New Polish Cooking by Zuza Zak, from my…

  michardillo

  July 22, 2026

  Essay

  beets, book-review, books, butter beans, Catholic, cookbook, cooking, cucumber, dill, escalope, food, halibut, library, Louisiana, marjoram, nonfiction, Poland, Polish food, Polska: New Polish Cooking, Quadrille, reading, writing, Zuza Zak

• Book Review: The Three Graces of Pearl Street by Elizabeth Wellington Rollins

  I just finished this book last night and I am truly impressed that this is a debut novel. The Three Graces of Pearl Street by Elizabeth Wellington Rollins is soon to be published by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, which is one of the “Big Five” of publishing. The Big Five is…

  michardillo

  July 8, 2026

  books

  ARC, Atria Books, author, book-review, book-reviews, books, Catholic, Catholic Church, chicken cutlet, Columbia University, contemporary-fiction, cooking, debut novel, Elizabeth Wellington Rollins, family, fiction, food, food pantry, italian-american, Italy, lasagna, literature, Long Island Sound, Manhattan, NetGalley, novel, NYC, pizza slice, reading, teaching, The Three Graces of Pearl Street, type 1 diabetes, writer, writing

• Book Review: Nadiya’s Everyday Baking by Nadiya Hussain

  Do you have a Buy Nothing group in your neighborhood? If you don’t know the answer to this question, head over to Facebook and search for it! Warning: participation in the Buy Nothing world can be quite addicting! About The Buy Nothing Project: The Buy Nothing Project, the world’s largest free-goods platform, is transforming how…

  michardillo

  May 21, 2026

  books, food

  BBC, BN Group, book-review, book-reviews, books, British, Buy Nothing Project, Clarkson Potter, collection, cookbook, cooking, cornbread dog, England, facebook, family, food, Nadiya Hussain, Nadiya’s Everyday Baking, paprika egg filo bake, reading, social media, soda bread, Spotted Dick, The Great British Bake Off, Time to Eat, writing

• Book Review: Food Person by Adam D. Roberts

  I picked this up from the Librarian’s Choice shelves at my local public library (shout out to Aspen Hill Library in Montgomery County, Maryland). Two things caught my attention. First of all, that cover is an eye catcher for sure. The second thing was the starburst blurb on the front cover, “A savory meal of…

  michardillo

  April 9, 2026

  books

  Adam Roberts, author, book-review, book-reviews, books, bookstore, contemporary-fiction, cookbook, cookbooks, cooking, debut novel, Essay, essays, fiction, food, Food Person, Goodreads, Gourmet magazine, Home Cooking, Julia Child, Knopf, Laurie Colwin, library, literature, More Home Cooking, New Yorker magazine, non-fiction, nonfiction, novel, NYC, reading, recipes, Ruth Reichl, short stories, Steven Rowley, writer, writing

• Book Review-Change the Recipe: Because You Can’t Build a Better World Without Breaking Some Eggs by José Andrés with Richard Wolffe

  “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission” is a saying that could be the theme of José Andrés’s latest book, Change the Recipe: Because You Can’t Build a Better World Without Breaking Some Eggs (Ecco Hardcover, April 22, 2025, 195 pages), written with Richard Wolffe. That saying is often attributed to the late Rear…

  michardillo

  April 2, 2026

  books

  author, Bethesda, book-review, book-reviews, books, Breaking Some Eggs, Change the Recipe, COBOL, cookbook, cooking, death, Ecco Publishing, Essay, essays, family, first career, food, Gaza, Grace Hopper, grease traps, Haiti, internet, Israel, Jaleo, John Steinbeck, José Andrés, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Luis Miranda, Maryland, memoir, microwave omelet, non-fiction, nonfiction, online viral sensation, paralegal, reading, recipes, rice and beans, Richard Wolffe, Russia, The Grapes of Wrath, Ukraine, World Central Kitchen, writer, writing

• Is Chili a Soup?

  My daughter has this question she poses to people: Is the hotdog a sandwich? The responses are varied and often strongly held opinions of the respondent. (FWIW, I believe the hotdog is a sandwich, as it’s something between two layers of bread.) So, is chili a soup? It’s eaten with a spoon from a bowl.…

  michardillo

  February 8, 2026

  Essay

  chili, cooking, hotdog, how we met story, Louisiana, Love at First Bite, personal essay, Sasee Magazine, Souper Bowl, Super Bowl, youth ministry

• A Cajun, an Italian, and a Belgian walk into a bar…

  

  What are your family’s top 3 favorite meals? The title of this essay is a take on the age old joke, “A priest, a minister, and a rabbi walk into a bar…” But, these three cuisines really define three meals my family loves time and time again. I grew up in southeast Louisiana, on a…

  michardillo

  December 2, 2025

  Essay

  Belgian beef stew, Belgian food, Cajun food, cooking, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-2129, family, favorite meals, French fries, Italian food, italian-american, Louisiana, meatballs and spaghetti, moules eat frites, mussels, tomato sauce, turkey and sausage gumbo

• 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

• 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

• Book Review — Revenge, Served Royal: A Mystery (Lady Petra Inquires #3) by Celeste Connally

  

  First of all, I am a devoted fan of the Great British Bake Off show and have watched each season many times. I love a good cooking show, and I’ve watched the cooking shows made by previous winners of the GBBO, like Nadiya Hussain, the 2015 winner. I also love all things British, all things…

  michardillo

  August 22, 2025

  books

  Act Like a Lady Think Like a Lord, Agatha Award, Agatha Christie, baking, book-review, books, Bridgerton, British, Celeste Connally, cooking, cozy mystery, England, English, fiction, food, GBBO, George III, George IV, Great British Bake Off, Lady Petra Inquires, London, Minotaur, mystery, Nadiya Hussain, Netflix, NetGalley, novel, Prince Regent, reading, Regency Era, Revenge Served Royal, St. Martin’s Press, Windsor Castle