Jude's Culinary Journey

All ground up

As a teenager, determined with gusto to live a healthy lifestyle, I cut out white flour, sugar and preservative-laden foods, as well as meat. For 30 years, I ate only fowl and fish. Long story short, …

Cheese, please

Along with the fruit-and-vegetable crisper bins in my fridge, I have another long drawer where I keep a stock of cheese. I always have a minimum of half a dozen types on hand. For the most part, I …

Desperately seeking oysters

My friend Dennis wasn’t easy. There were times I asked myself why we were friends. He was a conundrum, a mind-boggling mixed bag of traits. Immature, emotional, uncouth, inappropriate, a boor, …

A short discourse on fruit salad

Mornings in Oaxaca, Mexico, are always lovely. There is a slight chill in the air that dissipates as we eat a leisurely breakfast on a rustic stone terrace a few feet from our room at Hotel Las …

In the heat of the night

Some years ago, with friends moving out of town and changes in relationships happening for one reason or another, I stopped having dinner parties. I never had more than a handful of people over …

Pigging out

A few days after our return from Mexico this past April, my sister Janet and I took part in a small family reunion. There were nine of us ranging in age from seven to mid-80s, three generations in …