Gourmet Live Blog

If you had to blog about one ingredient, everyday, what would it be?
I can’t explain my infatuation with grits, but I seriously think I could spend a year creating grits recipes and writing about them. I’m obsessed with shrimp and grits, and I love using them as the base for meats (such as pulled pork and short ribs). I’ve even mastered making them in the slow cooker.

I will never eat:
Cooked carrots. I’ve tried to like them, but I just can’t. Give me a raw carrot any day, but apply heat to that same carrot, and I find it absolutely vile. I’ve gotten over many a childhood food dislike, but the cooked carrot will never win me over.

Is there a food you used to hate, but now you love?
As a child, I remember staring down a pile of boiled, mushy whole Brussels sprouts, and not being able to leave the dinner table until they were all eaten. I’m certain those sprouts were canned, and I remember hating them, and hating my father for making me eat them. I eventually learned to swallow them whole, washed down with a glass of milk. I was reintroduced to Brussels sprouts a few years ago on a beach vacation with my sister-in-law and her family. My brother-in-law sauteed fresh Brussels sprouts in a bit of olive oil, and the experience of eating fresh Brussels was a revelation. Now, my husband and I can’t get enough of them. My favorite method of cooking Brussels sprouts is to roast them with olive oil and a splash of balsamic. I think I have an addiction to them.

Who would you love to have over for dinner?
My favorite author is Stephen King, so I would love to have the opportunity to trap him at my dinner table for an hour or two to pick his brain. His writing is brilliant, I’m fascinated by his style. His book, On Writing, is one of my favorites on the process of writing. And, just to keep things interesting, I’d probably also invite Julia Child, Stephen Colbert, and Barack Obama.