Pat

Author or co-author of more than 30 books and several hundred articles about travel and food, Pat was an arts administrator, a museum docent, and a tour guide before she embarked on her career as an author.

Mobile DAR House Museum has sweet bite of history

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I had a real taste of Southern hospitality when I visited the Richards DAR House Museum in Mobile, Alabama (256 North Joachim St., www.richardsdarhouse.com). The 1860 Italianate-style townhouse was built for a steamboat captain and his wife. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it features an intricate iron lacework facade and a beautiful cantilevered staircase. The home is furnished to reflect the comfortable, upper-class lifestyle of the late 19th century. Visitors are welcome to sit in the chairs and encouraged to play the piano. They are also served tea and a few small sweets in the dining room. This simple Apricot-Almond Delight Candy is always a hit. The recipe is published in the museum's cookbook Tastefully Yours. APRICOT-ALMOND DELIGHT CANDY Barbara Bodie,who...Read More

Gourmet chicken salad at Mobile’s Spot of Tea

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For truly ambitious eaters, the state of Alabama has come up with a handy list of “100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die.” It's a big undertaking, but I got a start when I partied in Mobile during Mardi Gras. Located across the street from Cathedral Square, Spot of Tea (310 Dauphin St., 251-433-9009, www.spotoftea.com) is right in the middle of the festivities and is also one of the few restaurants in the state to be recognized for two standout dishes. In this case, it's two breakfast dishes: Bananas Foster French Toast and Eggs Cathedral (a variation on Eggs Benedict featuring local seafood). Locals are just as likely to stop in for lunch and it's a good bet that they will order the...Read More

King Cake for Easter

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If Mardi Gras has a signature food, it has to be the king cake, which is actually more like a big, braided cinnamon roll than a cake. It's topped with white icing and dusted with colored sugar, usually in the traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple, green, and gold. The cake was originally served at Epiphany, but was so tasty that cooks kept making it through Mardi Gras. I found a knockout version this year at Sweet Olive Bakery (251-990-8883; sweetolive.org), a European-style artisanal bakery in Fairhope, Alabama. It's located in the Windmill Market (85 N. Bancroft St.), an old car dealership and service garage that has found new life as a foodie destination (other occupants include a great barbecue joint and a locavore market)....Read More
Pimento Cheese for holiday South in your mouth

Pimento Cheese for holiday South in your mouth

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Chef Matthew Bell hails from Montana, but after about a decade in the South, he felt confident to head the kitchen at South on Main restaurant in Little Rock, Arkansas. It's a collaboration with the Oxford American, the magazine that chronicles the literary and cultural life of the South and is often called the ''New Yorker of the South.'' ''We are taking our cue from the magazine and keying in on the cuisine from all regions,'' Bell told a gathering of writers who previewed the restaurant and performance place while it was still under construction. ''Arkansas cuisine is a microcosm of the whole South with influence from the Ozarks and the Smokies,'' he said. ''We have a long growing season and close access to the...Read More

King’s Hawaiian: White bread with taste and soul

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Courtney Tiara's late grandfather founded King's Hawaiian bakery in Hilo on the island of Hawaii in 1950. She brought a taste of the islands to Boston recently when she celebrated the introduction of the products to the area with a luncheon at Catalyst Restaurant in Cambridge. According to Courtney, her grandfather was inspired by his Portuguese neighbors to create a soft and fluffy round bread similar to Portuguese sweet bread, but with a longer shelf life. The family-run company (Courtney's 94-year-old great-uncle is the master baker) has expanded its product line to include dinner rolls, hamburger buns, and more. It relocated first to Honolulu and later to California. “My grandfather never imagined making it to California and then all the way out here,” she said....Read More

What to eat at the airport in Little Rock

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Chain eateries (Starbucks, Burger King, Quiznos and the like) constitute the bulk of food choices at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, and Bill is probably out of luck if he's searching for a vegan meal. But right next to Pizza Hut I discovered Whole Hog Cafe, the airport outlet of a small barbecue chain with two spots in Little Rock and one in Bentonville. Whole Hog has taken several awards in barbecue cook-offs and back when he still ate real food, Bill Clinton must have been a fan. Whole Hog claims that their serving utensils are in the presidential time capsule. I decided on a pulled pork sandwich and the server advised me to have the meat topped with cole...Read More
Sipping a Seelbach Cocktail on Urban Bourbon Trail

Sipping a Seelbach Cocktail on Urban Bourbon Trail

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I always think of the mint julep as the classic Kentucky drink, but there's more than one way to imbibe the Bluegrass State's signature spirit, Kentucky Bourbon. As I reported in the January 12 issue of the Boston Globe Travel section, I'm only two drinks away from claiming an Urban Bourbon Trail T-shirt. It's offered to anyone who visits six of the 20 participating bourbon bars and restaurants in Louisville. (Click here to see the Globe story.) The Seelbach Cocktail, named for the classic hotel where it was invented in 1917, is one of those great accidents that seem to happen at bars as the night wears on. The drink originated when champagne overflowed into a Manhattan, beverage supervisor Michael Anderson (above) told me. “It's...Read More

What to bring home from a British grocery store

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Whenever I visit a British grocery store I scour the shelves for the most unusual items. But it's really the comfort foods that define a cuisine -- or at least taste like home. That's the lesson I learned from a lovely woman in Leeds who had lived and worked in Taiwan for 15 years. When I asked her what I might want to buy in the city's big Sainsbury grocery store, she immediately rattled off the items that she had most craved during her years abroad. At the end of every visit home, she would pack herself a big care package for her return trip to Taiwan. Here are the foods she couldn't do without: Heinz Tomato Soup. It's ultimate comfort food. Heinz Baked Beanz....Read More

You can’t beat this spread for the Derby

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I'm guessing that there's a run on cream cheese in Louisville, Kentucky, grocery stores in the early May days leading up to the running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs (this year May 4-5). The staple of cheesecakes around the country is also the basis for the uniquely Kentucky cucumber spread called Benedictine. No self-respecting Louisville host or hostess would be caught dead without Benedictine as part of his or her Derby Day spread. Kentucky being the land of bourbon, it's not surprising that the spread has nothing to do with the 502-year-old French liqueur of the same name. Instead, it's named for its creator, Jennie Benedictine, who began a catering business in the late 19th century. By all counts she was a very...Read More

Sweet on grandmothers

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When it comes to sweets, even the most adventurous chefs seem to have soft spots for their grandmothers' homey favorites. When Josh Moore, the executive chef at upscale Italian restaurant Volare (volare-restaurant.com) in Louisville, Kentucky, was tapped to prepare the dessert course at a recent taping of the TV cooking show “Secrets of Louisville Chefs Live,” he decided on his grandmother's recipe for Kentucky Jam Cake. “It's very simple,” he told the studio audience. “Mix the wet ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients. Then combine them.” Moore's grandmother added applesauce for moistness. She also made a decadent caramel frosting. As Moore beat together the butter, sugar, and cream in a stand mixer, it was all I could do not to stand up and ask if I...Read More