Category Archives: RECIPES

BEST EVER SUGAR BAKED HOLIDAY HAM RECIPE

Ta-Da! Drum roll please! And now, dear readers, I’m going to share my secret family recipe for the best ever (really really succulent and delicious) sugar baked holiday ham. BEST EVER SUGAR BAKED HOLIDAY HAM Yield: Plan on serving 1/2 to 3/4 pound per person, but buy enough to have leftovers. This ham makes fabulous […]

HAPPY HOUR: UNION 30’S COMFORTABLY NUMB

So here is  the way I was told to drink the Comfortably Numb cocktail served at Union 30, a restaurant located inside the smashing Hotel Saint Louis.  See that little bud sitting in a white dish at the side of the drink? It’s a Szechuan button flower. I was told to eat the button and […]

HOTEL SAINT LOUIS, UNION 30 RESTAURANT AND FAMOUS BARR FRENCH ONION SOUP

St. Louis has a new hotel and it’s a stunner.
Believing hotels should be rated for not only guest comforts, but also capturing “a sense of place,” I’d rate Hotel Saint Louis a perfect 10.

10 THINGS TO LOVE ABOUT LONDON IN DECEMBER

CHRISTMAS DECOR. HERE. THERE. EVERYWHERE.     WARMING AND LINGERING AT LONDON’S TOP INDOOR ATTRACTIONS           THEATRE   AFTERNOON TEA WITH A HOLIDAY THEME   ONE-STOP CHRISTMAS SHOPPING   PUBS, PUB GRUB AND HAPPY PEOPLE    FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST   POP UP ICE RINKS AND MERRY GO ROUNDS   COSY HOTEL […]

HOTEL LUTETIA ADDS SPARKLE TO THE CITY OF LIGHTS

Spoiled as it sounds, I would try to plan a trip to Paris every year on my birthday, so that I would look forward to aging. Now that I have ripened with multiple years of Paris pleasure I still crave the city. It just gets better and better. The same could apply to Hotel Lutetia, […]

BEST FROZEN CUSTARD IN ST. LOUIS

Seemed like a great idea. Justify an overload of indulgent frozen custard gorging, by calling it a scientific experiment. We had four days, five researchers of varying ages and were in St. Louis—America’s ultimate frozen custard city, so we conducted a study following the classic six-step scientific method. 1. INITIAL OBSERVATIONS St. Louis has a […]

MAMMOTH EATING IN MAMMOTH LAKES, CALIFORNIA

Mammoth Lakes offers vast opportunities for outdoor activities. The Sierra Nevada Mountains provide a winter wonderland for skiing, snowboarding, cross country skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling. The Lake Basin supplies majestic lakes for fishing, boating, canoeing, kayaking and swimming. And the entire region is a scenic playground for hiking, biking, camping, photography and exploring nature. But […]

SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE FROM ZINGERMAN’S BAKEHOUSE

For many years I’ve been trying to score the recipe for Zingerman’s best selling Sour Cream Coffee Cake. I’ve flashed my press credentials and requested the recipe at both Zingerman’s Deli  and Zingerman’s Bakeshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with no luck. (Well that’s not exactly true. I did feel extremely lucky that Zingerman’s shared a […]

MERMAIDS, THE WRECK BAR, RUM PUNCH & SHRIMP SALAD

Bet you think mermaids are fantasy beings. Hello! The captivating sea creatures are a real deal that you can catch frolicking, flittering and flirting outside the porthole windows of The Wreck Bar in Fort Lauderdale. (Sometimes they even shed their shell bikini tops and fishy fins just to prove how real they are.) The ship-shaped […]

BRUGES, WEST FLANDERS, BELGIUM and COCKTAIL

Bruges could be Europe’s most perfect little medieval city. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its historic significance, Bruges overflows with charm. Old graceful canals, ancient cobbled streets, distinctive gothic architecture, archaic cafes and bars fill the city. In addition, Bruges sports a variety of contemporary pleasures, such as fine hotels, divine restaurants, nice […]