This weekend marks the unofficial beginning of summer.  That means vacations and swimming and long, lazy days and all sorts of good things.  But, for my part of the world at least, it also means heat and humidity.  So a tall, cool drink is always in order. There is just something so refreshing about tangy [...]

The build up to the royal wedding continues, and I feel that it is time to share my instructions for the perfect, the quintessential British cocktail, Pimm’s Cup.  Pimm’s is a liqueur, with a long held secret recipe, the subject of much speculation.  You’ll find it at any good liquor store in the liqueur section.  [...]

This is hardly a recipe, more like a set of instructions, but I wanted to share it before this long weekend of picnics and cookouts and gatherings, because it is so good and so simple and so perfect for this last official weekend of summer.  I first had this in South Africa several years ago, [...]

I try to mix things up, different types of recipes each week. But this week, I am continuing with a theme. I recently posted my recipe for Watermelon Sweet Tea, praising the benefits of good sweet tea in the hot Southern summer. And then I raved about my little ice cream maker for making Lemon Meringue Pie [...]

  Ah, summer in the South. It is hot as a skillet here, with temperatures topping the 102 degree mark. So there really is no option but to make as much iced tea as possible. For the only real solution to a southern summer (okay, besides air conditioning) is endless glasses of tea. This brew [...]

I happen to think that an icy gin and tonic is the most refreshing simple summer cocktail. Two ingredients, lots of ice, and a squeeze of lime and happy hour begins. Perhaps it reminds me of punting parties in the park when I was a student at Oxford, or makes me feel sophisticated because my [...]

  I am still waiting for the bounty of spring vegetables to arrive.  It’s almost here, but has not fully taken over, and it’s a few more weeks to the opening of the Farmer’s Market.  So in the meantime, my need for something green leads me back to my favorite way of preparing that old [...]