liv bites

Anyone who’s been lucky enough to spend time in Paris knows that nothing compares to a flaky croissant first thing in the morning. No butter, no jam. No honey. Just a shot of espresso and a spoiled smile. Early on in my cooking career I naively thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be special to whip […]

Every year on Christmas day, my sister and I wake up early in the same bed (it’s a Christmas Eve tradition). We still hobble downstairs in our pajamas, drink a cup of coffee and giddily open the presents that have been sitting under the tree with our names on them. Then my mom fixes us […]

Fact: Banana Nut Bread is a perfectly acceptable breakfast. So are muffins, Pumpkin Bread and scones; never mind that all of those things are basically cake, and that you’re eating them before 9 am. Until recently at school, we’ve focused on yeast and steam as “raising agents,” or things that make food puff up in […]

In French cooking, as it turns out, you only really need three ingredients to get started: butter, flour and eggs. Sugar helps, too, as does a nice Swiss cheese. Everything else is just an accessory. After our indulgent day of soufflé making a few weeks back, I didn’t think I’d be able to stomach another […]

Summer is officially wrapping up, even in San Francisco. Since summer generally feels more like fall here, we usually get a couple of months of glorious sunny weather in September and October, but the sun seems to have overlooked the whole city this year. I can’t complain, really: It’s been a breezy 65 degrees for […]

I can remember my mother making “banana nut bread” back when I was wearing school uniforms, and she almost always has some on the counter when I go home today. To me, it’s always symbolized southern hospitality — something to give as a gift to a friend or teacher, or something just to have around […]

Although most people imagine Mississippi as a hub for consuming grits, my mom only makes them once a year, at Christmas brunch. Along with about a hundred other side and main dishes, she whips up her version of gruyère grits that I adore, topped with mouth-watering grillades that take her all day to make (it’s […]

My assistant and I were lucky enough to spend the majority of the past week with his mom in Miami, where it’s perpetually 80 degrees, sunny and all-around beach worthy. And while the produce we get in Northern California is hard to top, Florida does a pretty good job of competing — and not just […]

Southerners may not have invented the tradition of cooking for others, but they have certainly perfected the execution of it. My childhood is filled with memories of my mother rushing around, completing errands with my sister and me grumpily sitting in the backseat of her car, but always making time to drop a casserole off […]

I had hoped to gather some of my friends together for an Easter Sunday brunch, in the tradition of our 20-something “urban family” who have no biological family around. But since everyone seemed to be out of town or otherwise occupied, my assistant and I enjoyed an Easter brunch for two. The absence of extra […]