I am not ashamed to admit it publicly: I’m a Solanum tuberosum freak. Yep, so lock me up and throw away the key to the pantry. In other words, I’m a potato fanatic. I wave …

I’ve made no bones about why I hated advertising while I was a copywriter and, later, an associate creative director in countless agencies. Well, I didn’t hate it all 18 years that I worked in the …

Nambé, a family-owned company famous for creating stunning tabletop collections since 1951, has just launched a jaw-droppingly beautiful line of sculpted ovenware that I’m absolutely lusting after. The Butterfly Casserole (above, and with lid below …

Yesterday, before a crackingly good thunderstorm knocked out power in Roxbury, CT, for more than three hours, The One went out into the garden (well, the euphemistic garden because its no bigger than a toddler’s wadding …

After Clarkson Potter approached me several years ago to write The New Portuguese Table (yes, publishers do approach writers unbidden, so don’t give up hope), I remember running around the apartment screaming and suddenly slamming …

Portugal’s wine regions got a facelift recently. Not the actual regions—those have been literally written in stone beginning in 1756 when the Upper Douro became the first wine region in the world to be demarcated, with …

Where I come from, rites of passage take all forms. They might involve the unnerving introduction of a prospective spouse to the rest of the family; they could be more religious in nature, and include …

 I don’t know if this ever happens to you, but sometimes people think just because I write about food (and certainly consume it in vast quantities) it automatically makes me a walking wine expert. At …

This past Thursday, March 5th, was sort of my unofficial debutante ball, if you will. While there were no frilly dresses or father-daughter dances anywhere in sight, there was quite a lot of buzz, warm …