Anyone can cook a whole hog; it's not as daunting a task as it may seem. In the South, that kind of cooking happens every weekend. Whole hog BBQ is usually done in support of a big event, such as a birthday party, church gathering or a fundraiser for a...

I recently read that the Transportation and Security Administration is purchasing $50 million worth of new uniforms in spite of the fact that President Obama's "Sequester" is forcing sharp cutbacks at many government agencies. Damn, fifty mill is a big chunk of money. I actually like their royal...

For a cook, there's something very endearing about a cookbook that contains a recipe that begins with, "For 1,000 pounds of pork..." For a modern chef that would translate into 12 80-pound cases of pork butts. And that my friends, is a lot of pork.

From Rivets and Rails, Recipes...

A few years ago my wife and I were invited to a dinner party hosted by a professor of a local university. The guests were likewise on staff of this university and after dinner the conversation turned to the trauma of participating in a charitable endeavor. One of the guests...

Information traveled at a different pace in 1983. If you were a fan of a fringe sport such as cycling, then you might have to wait a week or two for the news. Such was the case for me and my cycling teammates in the summer of 1983. An American...

On the surface, Keowee Valley, the debut novel of Katherine Scott Crawford has all the right ingredients of a corset-ripping romance. There's a voluptuous blonde heroine with a heart of gold, a muscular tomahawk-wielding hero that no woman can tame, and simmering sexual tension all in an exotic...

It took me 20 minutes to make the 10 minute drive to the bank. My palms were sweating and my heart was racing as I finally came to a stop at the drive through. Sharon waved and smiled, pulled the microphone close and said "Hi John." I fumbled with the...

Mary Katherine was petrified and she wasn't going anywhere.

"Mary Katharine, your team needs you, come on sweetheart, I know you can do this."

She shook her head no. She was wringing her hands and beads of perspiration had bubbled up on her forehead and upper lip. Yet, I...

On first glance, Jessica Kristie's debut novel has a distinct Dickens' like narrative: Kidnapped pre-teen children living out a meager existence as slave labor of a shadowy manufacturing complex far removed from the caring eyes of civilized society. The child-laborers are coerced through beatings, rape, intimidation and starvation and should...

A short story inspired by all the broken-English Spam that my blog has received over the last few months:

Janice crumbled up her Starbuck's cup and tossed it disgustedly into the garbage can. She hated the thought of one more blind date and given her run of luck, why would...

Are you looking for a clever murder mystery? One with a unique sense of place and enough quirky characters to make the cast of The Big Bang Theory take notice? Can you deal with a ghost as a central character? And I don't mean a ghost in the traditional sense,...

Father and son. Both shirtless, we stood in front of the mirror, razors in hand. He carefully mimicked my actions as we apply a thin sheen of Gillette's best before he hefted the razor suspiciously.

"You don't need to rush this," I offered. "These blades may be incredibly thin...

Those were footsteps. No question about it. Even in the darkness I could see the fright on my wife's face. She threw the blanket over her head and clutched me like never before, my biceps proving no match for her recently manicured nails. Someone was walking on the third floor...

My wife's phone rings and we all know who it is. No one reaches for the phone, but my son takes a look.

"It's Grandma... again."

"Don't answer it, please."

The phone rings two more times before voicemail picks up. It's the third time in an hour that my mom...

Water. It's a common thematic element in fiction. It can signify cleansing, innocence, life and death. In Justin Bogdanovitch's short story collection, Sand Castles and Other Stories, water flows through his scenes as he gives seemingly innocent water borne pastimes a dark and vulnerable side. Warm beaches, languid cruise ships...

Candied hickory nuts, huckleberry and toasted chicory on the same plate? Are you kidding me? Paul Fehribach, the affable, enthusiastic chef/owner of Big Jones in Chicago, was in the tiny kitchen of one of the most quintessential Southern restaurants in the deep south, a kitchen that prizes bacon fat over...

Paul Fehribach isn't interested in coffee that comes in a can but he certainly knows how to use a coffee can. At Big Jones, his bustling Chicago homage to traditional Southern cuisine, he is recreating the type of homestead cooking that his great-grandmother pioneered at her family farmstead along the...

I loved watching the summer Olympics and its mix of ancient warrior sports tied with the relatively modern touches from cycling, tennis, diving and gymnastics. In the 16 days of competition there was so much exceptional athleticism on display, it's tough to pick a favorite, but I will. My vote...

As a kid growing up in south Louisiana our little town celebrated a smoked pork sausage with a three-day fair, the Andouille Festival. We would grill it, fry it, put it on a stick, toss it into jambalaya and gumbo and even award a local beauty with the title of...

Larry and I were a third of the way up the north side of Paris Mountain when a white-jersey clad rider flashed by us, descending at an incredible angle and speed.

"Dang, I think that was Hincapie!"

My cycling buddy Larry worked third shift and lived around the corner and...