Here in Mid-Missouri, Fall continues to be one of my favorite seasons. Cooler days. Chilly nights. Brilliantly colored leaves. Crackling fires. Football season. Soups, stews, and slow cooker meals. In the Masters household it marks the beginning of waterfowl season. That means for the next three to four months my husband, son and their many […]
1986 marked the first year that my brother Rick and his beautiful wife Elizabeth first visited New Orleans. Over the next 30 years they visited this uniquely vibrant, historic, food-filled city 8 times together. During their first visit to New Orleans they came upon Coop’s Place. It was here that they discovered a Cajun […]
While I don’t bake bread often, focaccia is one type that I find easy to manage. It contains yeast and requires two separate rises. So you’ll want to make it on a day when you know you’ll be near your kitchen for around three hours. I chose to make it on a rainy Saturday when […]
One of the great benefits of working part-time as a national trainer for an early childhood/parent education organization is getting to travel all over the US. As someone who loves the culture and stories behind food, getting to experience different cuisine in different parts of our amazing country is a luxury and a delight. On […]
It never fails. No matter what food I’m cooking, whenever I fry bacon for a dish, my husband enters the house saying, “Wow that smells great”! I’m convinced that if they invented bacon-scented perfume, lots of ladies would find themselves surrounded by men thinking that they smell delicious!!! So as I was planning tonight’s menu […]
On a recent work trip to Tucson, Arizona I was invited by a college roommate to extend my stay so we could spend the weekend together. As she and I were planning my visit, the only request I made of her was for her to agree to teach me how to make one of her […]
Since I was a little girl helping my mother with the family vegetable garden, tomatoes have been my all time favorite vegetable (actually they’re a fruit). I remember plucking those tender, warm, sweet cherry tomatoes off the vine and popping more into my mouth than the gathering basket. Summer meals always included freshly sliced tomatoes. […]
Last night was another installment of our Supper Club Dinner parties. It was our friend’s turn to host. Since one of the member couples was celebrating their wedding anniversary and several of us have taken cruises together…the host couple settled on the dinner theme of “The Love Boat.” When the “love” theme was brought up, […]
Have you ever come across a recipe online that looked quite simple, but you had no idea that it would become one of your favorites? Yep. That just happened. Today’s recipe was found on Facebook. It was posted on the FoodTV Facebook page and now lands on my list for the top 10 best slow […]
In keeping with my cooking with friends and family project for 2019, we recently welcomed our good friends over to share with us a favorite recipe. Doug and Gina have been friends of ours for at least 20 years. Like many young parents, we got to know each other through our sons who played pee […]
It’s become somewhat of a tradition that I make cupcakes for family member’s birthdays. So this week it was time to bake something special to celebrate my son’s 27th birthday. Yes…I know cupcakes may seem a bit juvenile, but as you have seen on food tv and in food magazines, individual gourmet cupcakes can be […]
What an absolute pleasure it is to cook with the woman who first taught me how to make good food. On a recent trip to Naples, Florida I put “cooking with Momma” on the top of my list. Each February I leave my home in the frigid Midwest and head to South Florida where she […]