Food & Drink

Here, Piggy, Piggy

Christmas dinners have changed over the years. My family used to sit down to turkey, ham and all the fixins'. Now, my aunt drives three hours to Chicago to buy deep-dish Uno pizzas. It doesn't matter to her that she could just drive around the corner and get one at the local pizza chain—she wants the real deal.

The Greenhouse Effect

If your mama was anything like mine, you probably heard "Eat your vegetables!" more than once at the supper table when you were a kid. As grownups, though, we've all read numerous times that eating a diet rich in fresh fruits, veggies and grains will make us feel better, look better and live longer.

Thanksgiving Fare

If there are two things I love, they're my momma and her famous nobody-can-do-it-better cornbread dressing. My family can't imagine eating out for Thanksgiving dinner. Whoever is around gets together at one of the family's houses and brings their respective specialty. If my family didn't live so close, though, there are several restaurants that offer tasty take-out or dine-in menus that I'd be willing to try.

[Drink] ‘Tis The Season

The holidays are the season of martinis, when even feeble, febrile suburbanites accustomed to buttery chardonnays might indulge in a cosmopolitan. As we enter martini season, however, I feel obligated to offer a vital piece of advice: Don't screw around on the liquor. It's one thing to order a "vodka tonic," an order that will get you "charcoal-filtered Peasant Hill" from a plastic bottle. Hopefully, the tonic and lime will kill the flavor of the vodka.

Party With Paula

Southern cooking maven Paula Deen was at Lemuria Oct. 31 signing her new book, "Paula Deen Celebrates!: Best Dishes and Best Wishes for the Best Times of Your Life." Deen is best known for her Food Network show, "Paula's Home Cooking," and her new show, "Paula's Party." In her new book, Deen shares recipes for holidays and special occasions.

[Drink] Little Sips

How does a can of wine sound? Or how about a little bottle of something-something? The big thing right now in the wine business is to lure folks in with catchy packaging, labels and names. Though not approved by this sommelier, box wines are big business, but they are no longer the "new thing." Winemakers are thrusting more and more creative vessels and bottle sizes onto the market, and people are buying.

Tacos and Fish Sticks

The surfboard on the wall reads, "Go with the 'FLOW'ood," and Taco Del Mar is the most recent restaurant to come rushing in with the influx of eateries opening in Flowood. So how did "Tacos of the Sea" end up in Flowood? The franchise started in 1992 in Seattle's waterfront district, and has grown to well over 200 locations. Apparently, the founders of the franchise, brothers John and James Schmidt, were inspired by the little beach-side food stands in Southern California that served burritos and the like. The brothers decided to do something similar, and their ode to beach culture is irrefutable.

[Drink] Dead Guy Ale

The word rogue brings many images to mind. When considering myself, for instance, I am roguishly handsome and roguishly charming. For beer drinkers, the word rogue brings to mind Rogue brewers, based in Oregon. Rogue exclusively produces ale, which is darker and more full than its lighter, crisper cousin the lager. I sat down, living dangerously without a coaster to sample two of Rogue's brews, Saint Rogue Red Ale and Rogue Dead Guy Ale.

Autumn's Bounty

In my life, just about every Saturday begins with a trip to the Belhaven Market on Fortification Street. Located in McDade's parking lot, the market is open every Saturday, from April through December, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. I lived on Carlisle Street when it first opened, so I incorporated it into the dog's weekend routine. (Let me apologize now to any of you that were "slimed" by the goofy Basset hound.) Now, several years later, there is no dog, I have to drive to get there, and I am a vendor, but the appeal is still the same. It provides me with my weekly fix of creative people and cool stuff.

The Quest for Cheap Pinot

Believe it or not, two years later, Pinot Noir is still riding high on the popularity horse after being thrust into the limelight by the movie "Sideways." Plus, studies have shown that thin-skinned grapes, e.g. Pinot Noir, are even better for your heart than other varietals. The result has been a lot of people out shopping for Pinot Noir … but they don't always like what they find.

The Pasty Stuff

I was not born a southerner, so I do not have the grits gene. I had to acquire a taste for the southern delicacy, and it didn't come easily.

[Drink] Hold The Worm

Few spirits are more mysterious than mezcal. An outlaw's drink of ill repute, mezcal, like tequila, is made from pure maguey—or agave—liquor. Unfortunately, limited distribution and lax regulation that allowed nasty chemical cocktails to pass themselves off as mescal have given the liquor a bad rep. And then there's the ubiquitous worm: Introduced into bottles as a marketing gambit in the 1950s, it offers no demonstrable hallucinogenic properties, despite popular perception.

Want Soup?

We can tell fall is in the air from three things: falling gas prices, double-digit temperatures and the internal urges to consume hot soup. OK, maybe the last one is my personal indication of the changing seasons, but I know that everyone, at one time or another, enjoys a steaming bowl of soup.

[Drink] Check Out Chile

I'm sure we've all ventured down the import isle at our favorite retailer and perused the South American selections. The first thing you'll notice about these wines is that most of them are really, really cheap, which may lead one to believe that they also really, really suck. Fortunately for the "light-in-the-pocket" wine enthusiast, this is not the case.

Baby, I Love You, Suzy Q

Ever had a Suzy Q? The moist, chocolate cream-filled, cellophane-wrapped confection? Seen one lately? I haven't. And I've looked.

Ellington