Kerry Dunnington

539 days ago - My introduction to summer rolls was at an Asian-influenced neighborhood restaurant on an extraordinarily hot summer evening. I was hooked after the first bite. Each morsel delivered a tasty, refreshing, crispy, crunchy treat. 

623 days ago - Driving home recently I passed a restaurant my husband and I have enjoyed over the years. I reminisced “the special dish” I often ordered; a perfectly cooked fried egg (white: hard — yolk: runny) that lay in the center of a mound of steamy white rice served with a side of fiery, spicy red sauce. The trio was an unusual complementing combination of flavors and textures I’ve often thought of duplicating.

681 days ago - On the front of a Valentine’s Day card my husband Nick had drawn and hand-delivered to me were two beautifully shaped hearts that were bound together almost as one. Inside was a poem he composed that read:

693 days ago - As a family we ate together — we gathered around the dining room table, and enjoyed each other’s company and the delicious home-cooked meals my mother prepared. I feel fortunate to have carried on this wonderful family tradition.

700 days ago - For the upcoming weekend, I plan to snuggle up in front of our fireplace and reduce my reading pile a foot or so. I’ll prepare my recipe for pot roast, a roast that includes an array of vegetables. While languishing, I’ll enjoy the aroma that wafts from our kitchen stove and fills the house with the smell of a home-cooked meal. This recipe includes turnips and parsnips, some of winter’s root vegetables that are in season now. The recipe for biscuits is great for sopping up the seasoned broth. Keep the pot roast warm while the biscuits bake.

721 days ago - I learned about the extraordinary benefits of flaxseeds many years ago when my husband, Nick, went to a naturopath, a licensed practitioner who treats ailments without using drugs or medicines. Nick was feeling fatalistic from what turned out to be a poisonous spider bite. As part of the healing process, the naturopath suggested daily doses of flaxseeds or what she referred to as “nature’s perfect food.” Flaxseeds were not only essential for flushing the poisonous toxins from Nick’s bloodstream, the naturopath highly recommended them as a source of food to incorporate into our daily round of meals. A radical change in diet was suggested to include flaxseeds, and in a few days the foot-long scarlet-colored spider bite dissipated then disappeared.

735 days ago - Christmas dinner varied between my grandparents. My father’s parents traditionally served oyster stew; the stew accompanied thin slices of salty country ham that were sandwiched between hot-from-the-oven beaten biscuits.

749 days ago - Every year, my mother dedicates several days during the holidays to make an assortment of Christmas cookies. When we were kids, we participated; for us, making holiday cookies was an adventure. This was especially true of what became known in our family as Christmas kisses. We loved making Christmas kisses because each kiss looked like a little snow-covered mountain.