Enjoying a pide at Balkan Treat Box For almost 10 years I’ve been highlighting my favorite St. Louis restaurants. Southern Living joined the party and recently published it’s own list of The 22 Best Restaurants In St. Louis For Every Price Point.  I’m glad to see our food scene in the national spotlight. More from my site Fruitcake Lovers, Arise! Peaches from Campbell: Sweet and Juicy Zucchini Bread to the Rescue OR Juice & Smoothie: An Organic Menu Masks: The Brave New Look The Sensational SweeTango Apple The post St. Louis Food Scene Finally Discovered! appeared first on Good ..read more

JC toasts the season with a Royale Eggnog My friend, a confirmed vegetarian, suggested I try Royale, a family pub in the South Tower Grove area.  “Their Beet Reuben on Marble Rye is the BOMB!” she said. A Royal Treat So off to Royale I went along with, Robin, JC, and Lucy. Once inside the neighborhood watering hole, you can nestle into a cozy booth. Or choose a place at a high top table, or the bar. Happily, you can also grab lunch or dinner everyday except Tuesday and Wednesday. If it’s warm enough, be sure to hang out in the relaxed courtyard, a dog-friendly space behind the restauran ..read more

Food in the 2024 Kitchen I read that the Pantone Color of the Year is called Peach Fuzz. How fortunate, since I was intending to do a post on trendy foods. In case peachy fuzz does not ring a bell, it’s described as a pink/orange shade with a “vintage vibe” (whatever that means). But with 2024 on the horizon, it’s also good to know the food trends. Those who study such things offer predictions,  that might cause you to restock your cabinets and fridge. Fusion Cuisine Food Forecasts of the Experts More grazing,” (not the cow kind). “Snacking” might be a better word. It means selecting ..read more

When you turn the leaf on a new year, it’s best not to leave anything to chance. Our forbearers started each year by eating certain foods that they thought to bring good fortune. The New Year’s fare depended on tradition, heritage, and geography. Once Upon a Time But my Scots-Irish grandmother put less emphasis on the food eaten, than who was the first to come to the door on New Year’s Day: a tall, dark-haired man brought luck to the household, but a light-haired woman did not. She said if a guest brought a lump of coal, it meant the family would always be warm. A gift of food meant th ..read more

Left to right: Jacci (Andrew’s fiancé), Andrew, Austin; (back row) JC; Robin, me, Russ, and Debra. Missing this year was Tom, Lisa, and three granddaughters. (A 50-year Carnahan Christmas Album) Memories Are Made of These Knowing my poor success at transplanting a fig tree, Russ gave me one he’d nurtured from a cutting  grown in his backyard. Soup du jour—Robin’s New England Clam Chowder with cashew cream.  Awaiting the diners. A plate-a-plenty. Includes, Robin-made lump crab cakes; homemade tamales assembled on Christmas Eve; Debra-made roasted lamb; mashed potatoes, Jacci ..read more

I love it when friends share their family traditions with me. Especially, those involving food. Each Christmas Eve, Billy and Angelica and their two daughters, Sophia and Gabby invite me to their annual tamale wrap. A South of the Border Tradition This year Billie made 3 varieties: Chicken; Cheese and Jalapeno; and Pork. Working on the production line, we smeared the masa mix onto the corn husk wrappers. A filling was added and the tamale rolled into a small packet.  About a dozen of us made 300 tamales. So what does a family do with so many tamales? They enjoy them during the holidays ..read more

New England Clam Chowder  A Dish Worthy of Song I never think of chowder without having the words of the Bing Crosby melody pop into my head: Who Threw the Overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s Chowder? In the Irish folk tune, Tim Nolan gets fuming mad and declares he’ll “lick the mick,” who did the dastardly deed. No one owns up. Chowder Confession Finally, Mrs. Murphy recovers from having fainted upon seeing the pants at the bottom of her cooking pot. She confesses that it was her fault. She’d been washing laundry earlier in the day and had neglected to remove the pants. Whereupon a song was ..read more

Memories Are Made of These When browsing the Internet recently, I came upon some tea sandwiches, that were unbelievably easy to make. They brought back memories of being in London and having tea at Harrods and at the historic Brown Hotel.  Building a Tea Sandwich As it turned out, I had all the items on hand called for in my new-found recipe. First, I placed 9 slices of very thin, Pepperidge Farm white bread into a square. Then I pressed the slices together along their edges. Next I slacked it all with mayo and topped it with shredded Bibb lettuce. Over that I daubed chicken salad as per ..read more

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies and Chocolate Caramel Cookies One Pound . . .  . . .  that’s what nutritionists say the average person will gain over the holidays. For the portly, the news is worse—they’ll add 5 pounds! If these numbers are set in gastronomique stone, what’s a foodie to do? Nutritionists suggest including some of the following foods in your diet each day to help offset the harm done by those sugar plums dancing in your head and on your palate. (The holiday condition is, no doubt, caused by eggnog and boozy fruit cakes.) Holiday Health Hints If you’re feeling “Holiday Gui ..read more

https://www.goodfoodstl.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_1903-A.mp4 Note the precision with which Gregory takes on the task. A Young Gourmet Scraping carrots can be more fun than playing with Tinker Toys. Especially for this 5 year old. My friend, Kelsey, sent me a film clip of her son, Gregory, preparing himself a carrot snack. After getting them cut to his liken, he inquired about something “sticky” to go on the carrots—apparently he meant a dip. The Kid Gourmet settled on a ranch dressing mingled with spices. Sounds good (and healthy) to me. More from my site Carrots: The Perfect Easter ..read more