 I know I am showing my age, but Halloween was different in my day. The kids were allowed to run from house to house collecting candy without our parents. They stayed home giving out candy and drinking their cocktails. I grew up in a suburb of Detroit which genuinely believed in everyone is in it together to raise our village, regardless, my parents gave me a strict route in the event they needed to “find” me. We did not do the joke thing, so I was able to run up and down the street quickly which was also the only guarantee of getting the “good” candy. If anyone ran out of the sweet stuff, you could hear the cry to grab the penny jar. Yes, I said pennies! If only I could tell my young self that someday pennies would no longer be minted and could now be worth a small “fortune.” SIGH!
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 Big Guy and I enjoyed Tapas Musicali this week @chambermusicstl. The concert featured music to honor our partnership with the St. Louis-Bologna Sister Cities.
As @benedettaorsi took the stage to sing a song cycle by Gaetano Donizetti, I was struck with a memory of a salt and pepper set I inherited from my parents. I remembered the opera singer from my childhood often thinking it was my mom doing one of her stage performances while I pictured myself as the watcher. It was years later when I studied vocal performance that the roles changed in my mind with my mom, and dad, being the watcher. I used to keep them stored in a cabinet, but after this week, I have pulled them out so I can enjoy them again with fond memories.  Care and Feeding: A Memoir
By Laurie Woolever From strip clubs to Michelin-starred kitchens, Woolever’s journey is both a buffet of bad decisions and a testament to resilience. Her voice is both self-aware, and refreshingly unvarnished as she navigates motherhood, marriage, and the messy pursuit of meaning in a world that often values spectacle over substance. Laurie Woolever’s Care and Feeding is a funny and emotionally resonant memoir that slices through the glamor of the food world to reveal its grit, chaos, and contradictions. Known for her work alongside Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain, Woolever doesn’t just recount her proximity to fame, she digs deep, offering a candid look at addiction, ambition, and identity in a culture reckoning with its own toxicity. This isn’t just another culinary memoir, it’s a survival story, a workplace confessional, and a deeply personal reckoning with what it means to feed others while learning to nourish oneself.  GARDEN CARROT SOUP, WINE, AND KITCHEN-BAKED GARLIC BREAD The weather is finally cool enough that I planned a day of cooking. It certainly helped that the carrots came to harvest from @carondeletgarden, so I was ready to make my creamy carrot soup. The recipe is quite simple and is hardy on a cooler day. I roasted the carrots, onions, and garlic to give the soup its smoky flavor. The addition of cumin, coriander and paprika along with chicken broth, with the pureed vegetables and cooking time, makes it a quick and easy soup. I decided to grab a box of pull-apart garlic bread from @kingarthurbaking to accompany the soup. The Big Guy opened up the wine cooler and selected a bottle of @seanminorwines Nicole Marie Red Blend which finished everything perfectly! Life is good!   Big Guy decided it was time to use our chicken sausage that has been “languishing” in the freezer. It is his term for “it is getting old!” He opted to cook up the sausage and add it to pasta. It was perhaps an odd combination since the sausage was chicken enhanced with bacon, Swiss, and ranch. We kept the sauce simple with olive oil which turned out alright. We paired it with a lovely bottle of wine and called it dinner although I do not think this meal will ever hit our table again in this form. As Big Guy said, “it is good enough, but not a keeper!”   Big Guy and I just celebrated forty-three years together since our first date. I really do not know where the time went, but we are still going strong. I think one secret to our longevity, besides constant love, and communication, is maintaining our date night. We dress up and have a night out “on” the town. We decided we would go to @stlartmuseum to catch the Anselm Keifer Becoming the Sea exhibit. We picked the public opening night since it also featured the Tale of Two Rivers with performances by faculty members from @wustlmusic. It was the perfect way to set the mood as we made our way into the outstanding exhibit. We finished our evening with wine and a light meal @theyale.bar. We were not disappointed knowing our friends @parkerstable created this beautiful place. We certainly plan to make this a favorite haunt for our future date nights! |
AuthorJust a super cool old couple who love to cook and eat and drink in their Carondelet Kitchen in South Saint Louis, Missouri! Archives
November 2025
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