Carol Ann Kates

Treat Your Favorite Mother to Crab Cakes If you are cooking for someone this Mother’s Day and searching for recipe ideas, consider making crab cakes. Tom Douglas once said, “Who doesn’t love digging into a plate of crab cakes or going after a chilled cracked crab with a crab cracker, cocktail fork, and a plastic bib for protection?” I love digging into chilled cracked crab and proudly wear a bib for protection. I also love crab cakes. Because crab has gotten a bit pricey,

Just What Is Cinco de Mayo? Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner. What are you making? I’m serving Tequila Marinated Chicken Fajitas and margaritas, of course. I like giving a bit of history in my blog, and I must admit I always believed Cinco de Mayo was Mexican Independence Day. “Better double check this, Carol,” I said to myself. Boy, am I glad I did. Mexican Independence Day is actually celebrated on September 16. I learned this is the date Miguel Hidalgo and “Grito de

I won’t say just how old I am, but I am a grandmother. I have been doing things I never thought I would do; i.e., I have a TikTok account (OMG) and am a guest on podcasts. Why? To promote my latest book, Grocery Shopping Secrets, and my upcoming memoir Busted But Not Broken—my next chapter. I remember when my cookbook came out, and I had to do cooking segments on television. I was terrified. My son, Brian, gave me skydiving for my 58th birthday, thinking that would overcome m

This is one of my favorite recipes from my cookbook, Secret Recipes from the Corner Market . It calls for a pork loin or pork butt roast. I like preparing it with a bone-in pork loin roast; but, as we all know, sometimes when we get to the market, we can’t always find what we want. When shopping recently, I could only find a boneless pork loin roast. Although I think bone-in roasts have more flavor, this recipe produced a tender, juicy, delicious roast. Depending upon wher

My daughter, Alisa, traveled to Israel a few years ago. Upon her return, our family gathered for dinner to hear about her adventure, see her pictures, and receive the souvenirs she purchased for us. “Mom, will you make shakshuka when I come for dinner? It’s Middle Eastern huevos rancheros. When I was in Old Jaffa, I ate at a restaurant called Doctor Shakshuka’s. It is located near an antique market in an old stone-arched building. I ordered their signature dish—shakshuka. I l

We love eating at Bonefish Grill and are crazy about their Bang Bang Shrimp. When served as an appetizer, Bonefish Grill nestles their shrimp in a bed of lettuce. They also serve it as an entrée in tacos. My husband loves Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos, so I have been re-creating and perfecting this recipe. While many taco recipes call for shredded cabbage, I like nestling my shrimp in a bed of lettuce just like Bonefish. I garnish it with chopped tomatoes, pickled jalapeño slices, a

Carne asada is one of my all-time Mexican favorites. In Spanish, the name means “grilled meat”. Typically, carne asada is made from either flank steak, skirt steak, or flap steak. The meat is either rubbed with a combination of salt, pepper, and spices or marinated. You can eat the “grilled meat” by itself, with sides of Spanish rice and refried beans, or you can chop it and eat it burrito style. When serving carne asada, common accompaniments are shredded green cabbage, rice

Why are ham and lamb traditional entrées for Easter dinner? Historians trace eating lamb this time of year back to the story of Passover, which is celebrated by Jewish people. The book of Exodus tells the story of a series of terrible plagues inflicted by God upon the Egyptians to free the Israelites from slavery. The Israelites smeared the sacrificial blood of lambs on their doorposts so the Angel of Death would pass over, saving their first born sons. It became customary to

Looking for some traditional Irish fare to serve your family this St. Patrick’s Day? Nothing is more Irish than bangers with Guinness® gravy and champ. Such a funny name—bangers. Just how did they get this name? During World War II, meat was scarce, so sausages were made with a higher ratio of water to meat. When these water-heavy sausages were cooked, the water turned to steam, causing the sausages to explode or “bang”. The name “bangers” stuck. Another funny name—champ. Wh

My husband and I went to see “Water for Elephants”, at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts a few weeks ago. If you haven’t seen it, it was exceptional—part musical, part Cirque du Soliel, part circus. The world is such a small place. We fortuitously ran into his sister, Rori and her husband, Vaughn, and joined them for dinner after the play at Maggiano’s Little Italy. Three of us ordered the Blackened Salmon with Crispy Calabrian Shrimp. It is served over a bed of garli

We recently met our friends, Scott and Sheralyn, for Happy Hour at one of our favorite Italian restaurants, Rare . A dish called Polpette is on their Happy Hour menu, which is meatballs with arrabbiata sauce, crostini, and whipped ricotta. I ordered the Polpette, and it was so delicious, I had to re-create it at home. Meatballs are so easy to prepare and make a perfect, simple weeknight dinner. You can serve them so many different ways—over spaghetti, polenta, mashed potatoes

My daughter, Jenny, who cooks for three teenage boys, recently sent me the most hilarious video about a mother venting over the never-ending task of making dinner. Since I take shorthand and because I found her tirade so entertaining as well as true, I transcribed her rant to share with you. Please note that I am deleting the expletives. Her rant: “What is happening here? Do we just keep coming up with dinner ideas and making dinner over and over again until we die, or is the

Have you heard about Engagement Chicken? Legend has it that over 70 people got engaged after making this recipe for their special someone. Ina Garten has a recipe for Engagement Chicken, but people have been making a version of this recipe long before Ina shared it in her cookbook, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook , published in 1999. In 1982 a fashion editor with Glamour magazine shared a recipe for a whole lemon-and-herb roasted chicken with her assistant, who prepared it fo

How quickly time flies. Here we are again with Valentine’s Day colliding with Super Bowl. Going to the grocery store this time of year is interesting – Valentine’s flowers, candy, and balloons along with displays of football foods and party trays. I had intended to share my newest chicken wings recipe last week and Valentine’s this week, but my chicken wings recipe wasn’t quite ready for prime time. It needed a few more tweaks before I could share it. My husband complained, “

It has been really cold in the woods, and my husband asked me to make his favorite winter comfort food—beef stew. Making stew brought back fond memories of our trip to Ireland, where we were introduced to Irish stew. Traditional Irish stew is made with mutton, onions, potatoes, and carrots and is often thickened with mashed potatoes. The stews we are accustomed to here in the U. S. are normally made with beef. While in Dublin, my husband and I took a walking tour focusing on

One of my best friends died in 2024, and I still miss her very much. I used to meet her for lunch or dinner at either Austin’s on Harmony or the Moot House, and she would often order coconut shrimp and beer cheese soup. I did a recipe for Coconut Shrimp in honor of Nancy several months ago and wanted to also remember her by sharing my beer cheese soup recipe. I must admit I think my recipe is more delicious than either of the above restaurants. Following is my rendition of an

I don’t know about you, but with the increasing cost of dining out, we are eating more meals at home. Although we feel we are saving money, we do miss some of the dishes our favorite restaurants prepare. So, I’ve been on a kick lately—re-creating some of our favorite restaurant fare at home. The Rock Bottom Brewery used to have an Asiago-encrusted chicken breast on its menu. Of all the entrées their kitchen prepared, this was my absolute favorite. For some reason, which the s

Beef stroganoff has been a beloved comfort food for generations. When I was first married, I made it quite often. Longing for the good old days, I started making this delicious dish again. Beef stroganoff was gifted to us by the Stroganoff family. According to an article in the Moscow Times by Jennifer Eremeeva, legend has it that Count Grigory Stroganoff (1770-1857) had terrible teeth. In order for the Count to eat hard-to-chew beef, his French chef created a fricassee de bo

Chicken Cacciatore originated in the countryside of central Italy during the Renaissance (14th to 16th centuries). Cacciatore translates to “hunter’s style.” It is a rustic, hearty dish that was prepared for or by hunter’s using easily accessible ingredients. Originally, it was not made with chicken, but whatever the hunter’s had on hand, like rabbit, goose, duck, or veal. The protein was braised hunter-style with onion, tomatoes, bell peppers, and mushrooms. Some recipes inc

Several years ago on New Year’s Day, my friend, Martha Cranor, showed up at our front door with a pot of black-eyed peas. “In the South we eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day for good luck. Your luck hasn’t been so good lately. I brought you this pot of black-eyed peas to change that. You need to eat one pea for every year old you are.” “Thank you,” I said, not quite sure what to make of this gesture. We honored Martha’s wishes, and everyone in my family ate one pea for ev