Food & Fun » World of Flavor

World of Flavor

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  • St. Patrick's Day and the spud

    by Dirk Van Susteren

    Pity the potato. It seldom gets the respect it deserves. A case in point is Mr. Potato Head, the toy with the goofy face that suggests potatoes are to be played with, not savored. Or consider the phrase “couch potato,” associating the tuber with … read more

  • What's cooking, Dad?

    by Marialisa Calta

    Author's Note: A few years ago, when I was researching a book on family meals, I confess I found very few men who cooked. Yes, there were men in the kitchen — usually on cleanup duty, or sometimes flipping pancakes for a weekend breakfast. I also found… read more

  • Let’s talk barbecue

    by Marialisa Calta

    It’s a huge subject: barbecue; one that has spawned dozens of articles and books, commentaries and doctoral theses, not to mention family feuds and barroom brawls. Does barbecue mean pork or beef? Is it really found in the South alone? Does the… read more

  • Fresh herbs, melons, and grapes

    by Marialisa Calta

    Eighty-year-old Rosaline Delzoppo of Cleveland, Ohio, expects nearly 30 guests for a special buffet dinner this August. She’ll start cooking several weeks in advance, ordering skate — a whitefish — from a fish market downtown to make scapese, … read more

  • Cooking up compassion

    by Marialisa Calta

    Cathy Voxland, an avid home cook from Newnan, Georgia, knows how to whip up a chicken and mushroom casserole for a church luncheon or put on a spread of “gooey desserts.” But during Lent, Voxland presides weekly over a kitchen of volunteers… read more

  • Marriage at the dinner table

    by Marialisa Calta

    I would like to be able to say that the “stunned” feeling that came upon my husband on the day he first thought of marriage was caused by me — by my exceptional beauty, loving ways, scintillating wit, and rare intelligence. It was caused, … read more

  • Sister Assumpta's famous cookies

    by Marialisa Calta

    Sister Mary Assumpta, a Sister of the Holy Spirit in Cleveland, has a way with words. Meeting actor Charlton Heston (more on that later), what did she say to the star of The Ten Commandments? “Holy Moses!”She sweet-talked her way into the… read more

  • Meet a Catholic fisherman who finds God in his work

    by Marialisa Calta

    When Pietro Parravano was born 57 years ago, an aunt made him a baby blanket with his name and a boat — a symbol of St. Peter, his namesake — embroidered in blue. Three decades later, after acquiring a master’s degree in science and… read more

  • Celebrating the Day of the Dead

    by Marialisa Calta

    The trappings may seem ghoulish — skulls made of sugar, toy coffins, bread with the shapes of bones baked on top, dancing skeletons, midnight vigils in graveyards — but the Day of the Dead in Mexico is instead a joyous celebration of the … read more