At Least, Eat your Egg!

By Sandy Hu

I’ve been crazy-busy recently, working nights and weekends to do my day job while getting ready for the Les Dames d’Escoffier annual conference starting this Thursday at the Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead in Atlanta. The end of the conference marks the end of my year as president.

LDEI is the only organization of its kind: a worldwide society of professional women of high achievement in the food, fine beverage and hospitality industries. The organization embraces all aspects of food professions – from chefs and restaurateurs to cookbook authors, food editors, culinary historians, vintners, bakers, farmers and more. Membership is by invitation.

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Make this Stew in Less than 30 Minutes, from Start to Finish

By David Hu

I love to cook, but sometimes I just don’t have the time or the energy to do much. Stews tend to be a great answer to this problem because they don’t require much active cooking. But usually they take hours on the stove and aren’t the instant solution.

Today’s video recipe is a hearty bean and pasta stew. Once you get all the ingredients cut and measured, just throw them in a pot, let everything simmer, sit back and you’ll be eating in 15 minutes. Since most of the ingredients are primarily pantry items, you should be able to skip a trip to the supermarket.

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Halloween Spaghetti Casserole

By Marilyn Hunter

I don’t know about your house on Halloween night, but ours is hectic, especially this year with it falling on a Monday! This means by the time we get home from school, changed into costumes, go through the usual hysterics of two excited boys, then settle down for photographs before venturing into the jack o’ lantern-lit streets, there’s no time for preparing dinner. So I dug out a tried-and-true baked spaghetti casserole recipe that can be made on either Saturday or Sunday and then pulled from the fridge and reheated about an hour before serving.

It’s funny how memories work, but Andrew’s cousin Chipper sent him an email a few days ago asking if he remembered how Gramma Hunter used to make her baked spaghetti casserole. While this recipe isn’t hers, it is in her spirit that we offer this version to you. Gramma Hunter loved all holidays, mostly because the whole family would come to her house for food and fun.

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Make Ghostly Halloween Treats in Minutes

Now that the kids are grown, I miss the excitement of Halloween, when we would get the kids dressed up and shepherd them around the neighborhood. Neither of my boys was big on candy so recently, I called Chris in New York and asked him what made Halloween so special. He recalled the thrill of being out in the dark, the ghostly home decorations, jack-o-lanterns on front porches and the adults dressed in costume dispensing treats. San Francisco’s temperate fall weather also contributed to the enjoyment of the evening.

As a trick-or-treat “deprived” child myself, I’m glad Chris has such fond childhood memories. (Out of deference to his mom, he left out the middle school Halloween years when he gathered with other boys from school, when daring but harmless “tricks” were more fun that “treats.”)

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Make an Avocado Salad from a Chic LA Restaurant

By Joy Liao

Several years ago, while living in Los Angeles, I began toying with the idea of working in the culinary field. However, without a culinary degree nor any professional kitchen experience, I hadn't quite figured out how to jump start my career.

Fortunately, having gotten to know the executive chef at one of my favorite restaurants, I casually asked if I could shadow in his kitchen. To my surprise, he agreed.

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