About

Lawyer by day.

Chef by night and weekends.

After being a fry cook, a line cook, a saucier, etc., doing a stint in culinary school, running kitchens and managing restaurants, I made my way to law school, passed the bar and began practicing law in 1985. I am currently a partner with Scheef &  Stone, L.L.P. in Dallas, Texas. Throughout all the years and many ordeals, however, my love of food and cooking has never left me. I can be as busy as I can be fixing dinner for a large party but I am oddly relaxed and calm in the kitchen. For me, it is a catharsis where all the troubles and toils of the day disappear while I work on creating something tasty and aesthetically appealing. Ultimately, I met and married the most wonderful woman in the world, Elia aka “Baby Lady.”  She not only shares my life but also my passion for food, cooking and wine. We’re avid cookbook and food magazine readers, food show watchers and experimentalists. Most of the time our big adventure is going to the local market to buy groceries and getting excited about all the delicacies and comestibles available. Now, rather than trying to make a living plying my culinary craft, I get to play in our kitchen and entertain our friends, all while working on my epicurean skills, creating fun dinner menus with the Baby Lady, and trying new things and techniques on our journey through the world of food and culinary delights. I am the luckiest man in the world.

At the urging of my sister-in-law, Adela, we started this blog. It contains recipes and photos from a cookbook I have been building on my computer for several years (no, the cookbook is not for sale, not being shopped for publication and was simply to document what we eat and provide it to the children along with other family recipes). It also contains new recipes we are trying from day-to-day, as well as old favorites we have yet to write down. Many of the recipes only have photos of the finished product as opposed to step-by-step detail photos. As we repeat the recipes we will try to include step-by-step photos for those recipes not having them. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the recipes, photos and stories. Thanks for dropping by and looking around.

35 thoughts on “About”

  2. YAY! So glad you finally took the plunge into the blogsphere. I’m not a cook, but I love to salivate at your menus!

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  5. I enjoy reading your blog. You have a great way of talking about all kinds of new and interesting ingredients, as well as breaking down both new and familiar recipes, explaining the nuts and bolts of it in a way that makes me want to try and cook it myself!

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    • You are always so very kind. Baby Lady and I like to cook and we like to share our experiences with others. I am glad to hear what we write is readable and honored that it makes you want to try some of the recipes. You’ve made my day. Thank you.

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  6. Hi, Richard, I’m passing on TWO awards to you: The Sunshine Award and the Versatile Blogger Award! Reading your blog is almost like actually having you in the kitchen explaining things to me, so I’m really enjoying your recipe posts. I just ran out of Ras en Hanout (both recipes!) so will need to grind more soon. Thanks again, and keep cookin’! :)

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  7. Hi, Richard, I have a question about salad dressing, maybe you can help me out. We picked up a bottle of homemade dressing from a restaurant that I want to ship to my parents in Hawaii. It was refrigerated, and I asked the server if it had to be kept refrigerated and she wasn’t sure (that’s how they kept it.) I don’t think there’s dairy, it looks like those reddish colored salad dressings and she did mention there’s vinegar. It has a bit of a sweet-tangy taste, not very strong, and has a lot of herbs. It’s in a mason jar and I was just wondering if the dressing would survive 7 days in the mail. Let me know if you have any ideas, thanks!

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    • I would contact the restaurant and speak with a manager. The manager should know if it must be refrigerated. If he doesn’t know, find out who packages the dressing for them and give them a call. Given it is sold commercially, there are certain federal and state health and safety requirements the restaurant must meet. Also, labeling requirements should dictate the ingredients be listed somewhere on the label. The label should also indicate whether it should be refrigerated after opening. If all that is in it is herbs, vinegar, oil and sugar, it should make the trip as both vinegar and sugar are natural preservatives. If it has eggs, I would be hesitant to ship it.

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  8. What a great blog! I am collecting recipes for loved ones, too. Life is about making cherished memories, and how better to do that with sharing food and celebration? Love your style.

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  12. Hello Richard… I’ve just stumbled upon your blog and I have to say, it’s really inspiring. I started my blog for a similar reason: I have a slight obsession with cooking, I create lots of recipes, but (unlike you) I hadn’t really documented them anywhere. Well, now I have a bit of a public ‘archive’ that I can refer to whenever I want!! :) I’ll definitely be checking back in on your delicious recipes. Thanks for sharing your passion with us!

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  15. My hubs is a lawyer though he doesn’t have the passion for cooking that you do. I tried your roasted cauliflower recipe and you made several mentions of New Mexico stuff in there. I live 30 miles from santa fe and albuquerque, So it made me wonder if you lived in NM or just love the cusine. Loved your about page, it’s great to have something that you share with your wife and that it’s something that calms you.

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    • Baby Lady is from El Paso and I am from a small town outside of Dallas. We were married in the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe and live in a suburb of Dallas. We like NM and its cuisine so you will find several NM dishes in the blog, as well as Mexican dishes among others. Thanks for dropping by and your nice compliment. We hope you liked the cauliflower. It’s a tremendously popular recipe. :)

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