Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

The first time I ever had a tapas meal, we were in a little bar visiting Asheville, NC. Suddenly a woman at the bar fell backward--stool and all--almost hitting our table, and spilling the entire contents of her sizeable purse! She needed more tapas, fewer drinks--anyway, it was so long ago I've forgotten what our little plates were, only that we ordered about thirty and spent so much!

I too love feijoada, also (deep fried) Bolinho de chuva either sweet or salty.

We invited two dozen people to a cookout, planning to serve halibut. Most said they didn't care for fish, so we decided to grill chicken along with the regular portions of halibut. The salsas and sides could go with either. When the meat was done, I went around and asked each person to take a bite sample of the fish anyway (about a cubic inch). People helped themselves to fixins buffet-style, and we set the chicken and fish out for self service as well. After the party, we had no fish and only two chicken breasts left over!

I love spicy black bean chili when it's cold.
I also sometimes make lentil soup with fennel.

Pour, swirl, sniff, savor
warming red wine--today's bliss,
tomorrow's headache!

No more soda pop! Empty calories galore!

I enjoy potatoes in winter, for example, potato leek soup or a recent hit, rosemary scalloped potatoes (with asiago cheese).

In the south, we have something called mud pie. That's chocolate!

I use extra virgin olive oil in salad dressings--sometimes I combine it with red wine vinegar and Dijon mustard, sometimes balsamic or raspberry vinager and garlic or herbs (try minced mint in the raspberry, over salad containing berries). I also like to put avocado slices which contain healthy fat on salads and some soups.

I changed up the filling from spanakopeta by omitting the egg and adding a little cream cheese to meld the filling. Then I nixed the phyllo dough (time consuming!) and wrapped the filling in wonton wrappers, deep fried them, and they have been a great success. My husband calls them "fried things."

I love a crispy pickle with my sandwich! I also eat crispy serrano peppers.

I just love chocolate pecan pie from Austin, Texas!