Sometimes your fate is sealed for you, even before you realize it.  When we allow ourselves to search deep enough to find our true being, magical things can happen.  Dean Fearing, chef and owner of the highly acclaimed restaurant Fearings is joining us this week for our Sunday Brunch, featuring his famous Fried Quail with a fresh Heirloom Tomato Salad.
The legend begins in Eastern Kentucky right by the Ohio River where Fearing spent his childhood.  ...

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There are many qualities that define a good chef: a well organized kitchen, an inviting dining space, and certainly delicious food that’ll keep you coming back for more.  But what makes a great chef?  At Smoke, Chef and co-owner Tim Byres is finding the roots of great food again.  He pushes the limit when it comes to finding resources and suppliers for ingredients and goes even further with going back to basic good ‘ole fashion ...

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I have some pretty exciting news to share with everyone.  I recently started to contribute as a food writer and photographer at a great site here in Dallas called Crave DFW.  At Crave DFW “we Crave music, we Crave art, we Crave a great meal.” Lucky me has been given the assignment of featuring brunch recipes from the top chefs here in the city of Dallas and sharing a little about their restaurant and themselves.  ...

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Growing up, my relationship with my mother was far from harmonious.  We seemed to clash about everything: anything from curfew, clothes to taking summer school, piano – and oh yes, food.  From a young age I’d remember my mother telling me “You cannot eat candy or potato chips, they are bad for you and make you fat.”  So what would I do?  That’s right.  Eat candy and potato chips behind her back.
She was always nervous ...

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As many of you know, Collin and I will be embarking on a 3 week adventure through Europe at the end of April.  Instead of having a large extravagant wedding, we opted to spend most of our wedding budget on a trip for ourselves.  Yeah what can I say, we’re SELFISH.  But ever since I was a wee tot, traveling to Europe has been a dream of mine – the beautiful castles atop rolling hills ...

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Okay eggheads, it’s the last chapter of the egg series — thus far we’ve learned to hard boil, soft cook, and poach an egg. Don’t worry, I’ve saved the best for last: fried eggs and scrambled eggs. Can I get an AMEN? Nothing beats a perfectly fried egg with crispy edges cooked to a nice golden brown with a little pocket of buttery yolky goodness in the center. For you egg lovers, egg heaven is ...

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So now that we’ve graduated from learning how to properly hardboil and soft-cook an egg, it’s time to learn how to POACH an egg. Now just to warn you, poaching eggs aren’t one of the easiest things in the world but today I’m going to give you tips on how to make the entire process less scary.
First I need you to breathe, take a deep breath because more than likely your first time poaching may ...

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It was that wonderful time of the year again — our annual Fall camping trip.  This year instead of going to our usual canoe camping by Mineral Wells, Texas we ventured out a little further to Davis, Oklahoma and camped in the wondrous Turner Falls.  Venturing out into the wild with no electricity, no running water, no 800 thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets, it just really gets my primal instincts going.  I am out here to SURVIVE, to be one ...

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Okay enough with the decadent desserts for awhile, my expanding waist line is screaming for me to stop.  I only have 40 more days til my cruise and this body is not swimsuit ready -_-  I’m trying not to panic (I will not stress eat…I will not stress eat…!!!!) and realize that cutting down sugar and increasing fiber in my diet is a must.  After having breakfast with my dear friend Kelly last week. she had mentioned ...

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As I’ve mentioned before, my mother will be moving back to Shanghai this year — September 14th to be exact.  I’m picking her up from Houston this weekend where she will come to stay with me and Collin in Dallas before she goes home.
A bittersweet feeling for sure, the child in me screams “DON’T LEAVE! WHAT WILL I DO WITHOUT YOU?” but I know it’s for the best.  For years my mother has sacrificed her ...

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I’ve fallen in love with Nashville, Tennessee.  I never imagined the south to be so beautiful but Nashville has everything I have ever dreamed of — huge front and back yards adorned with beautiful hydrangeas,  soft rolling hills filled with Dogwoods, Maple and Magnolia trees, and SWEET TEA oh man do I love a tall glass of sweet tea on a warm Summer evening… I was there for one of my dear friend’s wedding, Tammy ...

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