#margaritaparty: My pomegranate margarita recipe

I love to throw TexMex dinner parties in London. Everyone raves about the food, which tends to be cheese, smothered in cheese and topped with sour cream. It also helps if you force a margarita into their hand the minute they walk through the door. That was (kinda) the premise to the margarita party I held today with my BritMums co-founder Susanna, our BritMums Live ladies Maddy and George and a group bloggers. The...

The #HalfTermFood Linky Challenge

Over at BritMums, we’re running a fun and easy #HalfTermFood Linky Challenge – you list the items in a favourite quick and easy family meal including an Aunt Bessie’s item. No need to list recipes, just the dishes that are part of the meal, and you could win 1 of 5 £200 Tesco vouchers! As co-founder of BritMums, I can’t actually enter, but dreaming up meal plans is my favourite part of...

Jenography’s turkey and ham pie

Over on BritMums we’re hosting a #LeanonTurkey competition sponsored by www.leanonturkey.co.uk – you enter by posting your recipe including fresh turkey. Six people will win £250 plus a cooking masterclass with Marco Pierre White. Yes, *the* Marco Pierre White. A Modern Mother and I met Marco in California last year, where we watched him oversee a group of food bloggers and I can tell ya, he can brown...

The latest great American import: the doggy bag

The list of things America has given the food world is substantial: Velveeta, the Hard Rock cafe, the list goes on. But now one of our most widespread contributions has finally gained purchase on English soil: the doggy bag. So simple a concept. After your restaurant meal that you’ve paid for, you take home what you haven’t eaten to enjoy later. That might mean having yummy leftovers after a late-night...

Thanksgiving: it’s not the same for expats

Don’t tell me you don’t know what today is! It’s just the biggest holiday in America outside of the gloriously commercial three months of Christmas. What – you don’t know? Well, me neither. Since moving to England, I’ve found that the fourth Thursday in November comes round just like the first, second and third ones and it’s not until a fellow American reminds me that I...

Video: How to make perfect guacamole

As a Texan, I grew up eating guacamole. I moved to New York City, and went to expensive restaurants where the waiters made the guacamole at your table with a flourish of movements and dashes of this spice and that. It wasn’t until I went to a pool party and took charge of the guacamole for 50 that I realised not everybody understood the dark art of making a satisfying bowl of the green stuff, with a perfect...

Gilding the lily at lunchtime

The background: Daughter signed up for weeklong theatre camp so I can get some work done. Experiencing light feelings of guilt. The question, #1: Does this explain the impetus use of the bunny cookie cutter when preparing her cheese sandwich? The question, #2: Is this gilding the packed-lunch...

By popular demand: my Mother’s sweet potato casserole

By “popular demand”, I mean a nice visitor to my blog inquired about the Christmas sweet potato casserole I mentioned in this post about Christmas traditions. I emailed my mother, asking about Aunt Sara’s casserole recipe. Whoa, that was a mistake. I got this in response: “I beg your pardon—that is my recipe via Quitique (by Turkey, Texas)  Love, Mother” I won’t make THAT...