liv bites

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 [...]

I know I’m officially old because I have more fun the morning after a big night out than during the night itself. A couple of friends from Santa Clara came up to the city for some “night-crawling” and ended up crashing on sofas in the neighborhood, and when we all woke up around 10 o’clock, [...]