Chow-Chow & Soul™

You know I come from a family of really good cooks and bakers. My interest and affection for creating good things to eat is in my genes. Today is National Apple Pie Day but in our family apple pie can show up almost any day. This pie is good stand alone, add  ice cream and […]

I get a lot of questions about food –how to cook, what to cook, what’s for dinner and what’s on my family menu for the holiday of the month. One of the most consistent threads in these chats is the cook’s time. Keeping an eye on the cook’s time management I often look for dishes, […]

It’s all about hearts, the symbol of love. I ♥ you, you’re my sweetheart, my heart beats for you, you’re my heartthrob, and without you I’m heartbroken. Celebrate loving and being loved with this mouthwatering heart-healthy dessert. I know it looks indulgent, but it isn’t. Lemon Pound Cake 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking […]

Whether it is the Big Game, the book club or poker, good food will flavor your gathering for success. This weekend my menu includes Jerk Appetizer Bites with Mango. The recipe is inspired by one that I developed for a Black History Month recipe brochure for the National Pork Board. This made-from-scratch jerk marinade is […]

I’ve written a few posts about my grandmothers and some of the wonderful dishes they would make. From weekday dinners to holiday meals with all the fixins’ they were talented cooks. As far as we were concerned my maternal grandmother Gonga, was the maven of candied sweets. This was one of the dishes she made […]

The countdown to Thanksgiving is swift and can lead to menu mayhem or turkey trauma. No worries, take a deep breath and use the following tips to help avoid holiday cooking drama. 1. Turkey Still Frozen?  “Yes, they do take longer than we think to thaw.” As a turkey expert on the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line, […]

Patti LaBelle’s Sweet Potato Pie is trending and there are food companies nationwide afflicted with pie envy. Back in the day we would have heard it through the grapevine, but in this era of social media with do-it-yourself video, Facebook and the Twitterverse, sales of Patti’s pie are on fire. Now there are plenty of […]

It is Throwback Thursday and two weeks before Thanksgiving so I’m dusting off my holiday planning timeline. I know the ChowChow & Soul™ family includes cooks that stretch from novice to the experienced folks, who are adept at finding their way around the kitchen. We all need to pre-plan and this time-tested guideline is a […]

We’ve had a couple of days of unseasonably warm weather with thermometers posting numbers typical of early summer at 70 degrees. For folks who are enthusiastic gardeners the remnants of summer edibles are holding their own in almost empty garden beds. I checked in with my friend and favorite gardener Sylvia to see what was […]

Are your one-time toddlers, headed out the door, leaving the swaddling of the home cocoon? If this is your current situation, both you and your young adult may be facing the “freshmen 15.” Though the pounds may sneak up on both of you, generally speaking they’ll weigh you down for different reasons. The Parent Trap […]