Hosting a Festive Friendsgiving Feast 

We all know that life is busy, and it is often hard to get together with your friends. Thanksgiving—well, Friendsgiving, specifically—is a special time to celebrate friendships, laugh, and reminisce about all the wonderful memories you created together. Why not bring together some of your lifelong friends as well as new ones and host a festive Friendsgiving feast at your home? It’s easier to do so than you might think, and this is a nice opportunity to get your social group together before December, when calendars seem to fill up left and right! 

Soups + Stews=Comfort Food

I can eat soup all year long, but as soon as the weather begins to turn and there is a slight chill in the air, that is all I want for dinner. What is great about comfort food soup is that it’s easy to enjoy on its own or pair with a larger entree, so one big batch can last you all week long. 

I go back and forth about meal prepping on the weekends. During the holidays, when things get extra busy, I do like soups to meal prep too. Making meals ahead of time and find that soups and stews are perfect to whip up and tuck away in the fridge or freezer (I recommend freezing soup in plastic Ziploc bags or inside of quart-sized glass jars). Soup is the perfect emergency meal to have on hand for nights when you don’t feel like cooking (or to drop off with a friend or neighbor who is on the mend!). 

How to Start a Memorable Cookbook Club

Cookbooks have always been a part of my life. My mom’s kitchen was filled with the classics: Joy of Cooking, Mastering French Cooking, Better Homes and Gardens and Martha Stewart Entertaining. Flipping through the pages of these classics as a young girl is what helped me develop my curiosity about cooking. 

Being a member of a Cookbook Club is one of my favorite way to enjoy community with like minded people. I have met so many amazing people in the clubs I have been involved with over the years. Start a cookbook club today, I hope it brings you the joy it has brought to me.

September is the best time to get out in your garden and forage for the last of the year’s bounty to fruits and veggies.  Tomatoes, squash, peppers, apples, and corn are all overflowing and in abundance in the fall garden.  There’s no better time to put them to good use in the kitchen!  

It is also a good time to start looking through recipes to see how to incorporate nature’s bounty into your daily meal prep and menu planning.  

I cannot help myself. I love it when the trees turn all the colors of a Crayola crayon box. Reds, oranges, yellows, all the greens, browns, and even some shades of blue seem to dot the horizon.  My neighborhood is especially beautiful but I also enjoy taking drives around to catch some of the extra special shows that fall always seems to provide.  Heading through the mountains to the Carolinas is a great fall break destination and it just doesn’t get any more beautiful than that! One of these days, I’m going to get up to New England and do some “leaf watching” there, too. 

There’s a shop in the West Village in New York City that makes me feel as if I have died and gone to heaven. Big Night is a tiny, dinner party shop.*  I say “tiny” because it’s only about 750 square feet inside but the wonderful thing is that it doesn’t feel that way and it also wasn’t designed that way by accident.  Owner Katherine Lewin had a vision to open a shop more like an apartment. A shop for people like me and you.  People who love to eat, cook, and entertain. 

Pumpkin Spice is a lot of fun and does capture the spotlight for fall flavors. But don’t underestimate the apple. While it probably isn’t going to pair well in a latte or cold brew, apples capture the number one spot when it comes to cocktails.  Apples do pair well with bourbon, gin, vodka, wine, and even champagne, and make a great foundation for many mixed drinks.

Food is love. No doubt about it. It’s really why I do what I do, and why a lot of my friends, family, and followers do what they do. Cooking, entertaining, and enjoying a great meal with great friends is what life is all about.

Bluegrass chef and restaurateur Ouita Michel and I have a lot in common. She lives by this mantra. So much so that “Food is love” is written boldly and in black Sharpie marker in the autographed copy of her cookbook Just a Few Miles South: Timeless Recipes From Our Favorite Places.

Ouita Michel is one of my favorites–and so are her restaurants sprinkled throughout Central Kentucky. I absolutely could not wait for her cookbook to be released…and you better believe I was just about first in line that chilly, foggy morning when she was signing copies of her new cookbook inside her flagship shop, The Midway Bakery.

The Famous Foods of Kentucky

Each state boasts its culinary claim to fame and the Bluegrass State is no different. Some Kentucky foods get more attention than others, like our famous Kentucky Hot Brown but others are a better kept secret. If you are a Kentucky native or grew up with a Kentucky native, these foods are probably some of your favorites…but if you’re not from these parts, then it may come as a complete surprise that some of these delicacies are bred in the Bluegrass.

Frankfort may not be the Bourbon Capital of the World…that’s a few miles down the road in Bardstown KY…but it is the capital of Kentucky and it is well known the world over for its fabulous bourbon. And if I haven’t mentioned it before, my hometown.

Visit Frankfort Kentucky

I grew up in Frankfort KY, the charming town nestled along the Kentucky River. After a recent visit to see my Dad I was reminded why so many come to this charming town today. Whether it’s Buffalo Trace Distillery, the historic capitol or the charming Main Street, Frankfort offers a charming look in to Kentucky’s history.

Le Sud: Recipes from Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur is a cookbook that is bound to transform you and if you don’t want to take the next plane, train, or automobile to the south of France after reading it, I will be shocked. I met the cookbook author, Rebekah Peppler, recently at a conference in New York and just hearing her speak about the area, made me want to dig out my passport, pack my bags, and journey to one of Europe’s most beautiful areas along the sprawling Mediterranean Sea coastline.

Sweet, juicy watermelons and summertime treats go hand-in-hand. There is just something about this melon that screams summertime to me. So take advantage of the watermelon’s short peak season and use it in as many ways as possible. Let your imagination run wild! Just about every part of this colorful, delicious fruit can be used–except maybe the seeds. There are savory bites and sweet treats, and so many ways to use its juice and even its green-striped rind can be transformed into something delicious.

Revamping your Summer Bar Cart

Summer is the perfect time to revamp your bar cart—after all, ‘tis the season for refreshing cocktails and long evenings gathering outdoors.

If you’re looking to replenish your bar cart or even build one out from scratch, I’m here to help. As a seasoned entertainer, I’m excited to guide you through my comprehensive bar cart guide.

Alfresco dining simply means enjoying your meal outdoors and hopefully with family and good friends.  Basically, it's another reason to entertain.  So naturally I turn to one of my favorite culinary retail shops, Williams Sonoma, for a cookbook that is one of the most inspiring for recipes, menus, and the most helpful hints for an alfresco meal.

There is nothing I like better than to get up early-ish on a Saturday morning and head over to the Farmer’s Market.  I am fortunate to live in an area that has so many to choose from on Saturdays and throughout the week.  My ultimate, ultimate favorite is the farmer’s market at Findlay Market, and if I am not doing a tasting or at a festival or market with In the Curious Kitchen, you will find me perusing the booths at a farmer’s market. 

There are all different sorts of gins, too. Gin, like vodka, can be made from any base material but the flavors and botanicals used in gin affects the taste and it can vary from label to label. Some have distinctive juniper flavors, others are more sweet, some are very dry, some brands are definitely smoother than others, and, just like bourbon, the flavor is affected by what it is stored in. Some gins, just like wine, are more oaky than others.

History of Father’s Day

How to entertain like a pro this summer.

Erin Jean McDowell is an inspiration. She makes baking approachable with humor, a smile and lots of butter.