Ann Lemons Pollack

  • Gingerbread Real Estate

    "The fine arts are five in number," wrote Careme, the great French chef, "painting, sculpture, poetry, music and architecture – whose main branch is pastry." Recently we were reminded of that when  we were invited to help judge a gingerbread house competition. Lydia’s House, a group that helps women and their families make the transition

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  • Dinner with Marc Felix

    When dining is both vocation and avocation, life can be very good. When your spouse would rather – well, most of the time — visit a farmers’ market than a shoe store, it’s a start on an excellent relationship. There are many kindred spirits out there, and they tend to congregate. It can be an

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  • Christmas Shopping On The Hill

    Lots of folks like to do a little shopping on The Hill this time of the year. It’s fun, although our best advice is to avoid Saturdays if possible. A recent run produced a couple of finds, although not the mostarda di frutta we were searching for. Joe’s always been proud of the old advice,

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  • This Week’s Wine December 9, 2007

    A cooper, as we all know, is someone who makes barrels, whose best destination is as something in which to age wine or whiskey, providing richness and flavor. Removing the last two letters gives us a coop, which is a good place to house chickens or other fowl. Even a most diligent punster or player

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  • Robust

    Neiman-Marcus made popovers a lunch-time staple at its Dallas flagship, but as the N-M ships set sail for many other ports, they took the popover recipe with them. Even to St. Louis and Plaza Frontenac. As a result, Greg Maggi prepared thousands of them while he ran the kitchen. He’s moved, and while his new

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  • Queen of California Cake

    Late last week, I got an email from a reader, ardath2, searching for the recipe for Queen of California cake. It originally came from Cocolat in Berkeley, CA, a product of Alice Medrich, a real queen of chocolate. I’ve been making this cake for probably around 20 years, thanks to a recipe I found in

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  • A Baker’s (or Eaters’) Ten Holiday Gifts

    An informal group of St. Louis food bloggers has decided to offer suggestions for holiday gifts for folks who like to eat, cook and/or drink. Never hesitant with opinions, we were glad to participate. So for folks on your list, near and far, here are some ideas. We never visit Hermann, MO, without a cooler

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  • If You’re The Bakery Fellow…

    If you’re the man who stopped to ask Joe about bakery items at Schnucks Saturday, will you please contact us here? Thanks.

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  • Prime Steakhouse

    Nobody visits a casino without being prepared to take some chances. But taking a chance on eating at the Casino Queen’s top-flight restaurant seems to provide odds more in the diner’s favor than even the "loosest slots," that the boat boasts about. The re-making of the Casino Queen has drawn good crowds, no question about

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  • This Week’s Wine, November 21, 2007

    The Ides of November were last week, and if March can have Ides, which Julius Caesar was advised to avoid, why can’t November? Many European countries look for excuses to have holidays, not just on Mondays, and France has made a sort of informal holiday out of mid-November, when the first red Beaujolais wine of

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