An old friend messaged me on Facebook the other day. I hadn’t seen her in person in about 35 years. But we were connected on the Book of Face, though we didn’t really communicate. Maybe a “like” on a comment or photo here and there.

Looking through some old photos that I had at one time scanned and shared on Facebook, I found one of my Aunt Mary and me when I was about 8. It was an unfortunate photo of me. I mean, really, how many 8-year-olds were wearing leather mini-dresses in 1970?

When it’s hot and you just don’t feel like cooking or when you can’t cook because some unexpectedly powerful Category 1 hurricane (we’re looking at you, Beryl) wipes out your power for a week, it’s tempting to rely on pizza and fast food.

Growing up, I never equated macaroni and cheese with any kind of outdoor eating. For barbecues, the only food served hot came from the grill. Corn on the cob that was boiled on the stove and carried out to the table in a pool of butter was the only exception.

I love it when someone hands me something and says, “I saw this and thought of you.”

Nothing lights up Fariborz and Dana Kiasi’s faces like each other. But if there’s a close second, it’s got to be food.

Memorial Day may mark the unofficial kick-off of summer, and June 1 is the meteorological start of the season. But astronomically, summer is about to hit its peak, or mid-point, at the summer solstice.

Railroad lovers and history buffs have a treat coming up on June 15, when the Galveston Railroad Museum hosts a “Harvey House Dinner” in the restored Northern Lights rail car and adjacent dining car.

One of the culinary curiosities that took me aback when I moved to Texas was potato salad.

Despite the weather for this weekend predicting heat indexes of over 100 stinkin’ degrees, I wanted to share some of my favorite soups this week.

Family traditions are wonderful and sometimes weird. And the weirder they are, the more wonderful they are.

Just use kitchen shears to cut the marshmallows into flower petals, they said. It’ll be fun, they said. And easy.

Mr. Eats Beat was suspicious.

I’m not great at taking time off. But sometimes the body forces you to.

I vowed not to try to teach anyone who might be reading this anything about making crawfish, so instead this week I’ll offer some recipes for some light side dishes for any (other) occasion.

I vowed not to try to teach anyone who might be reading this anything about making crawfish, so instead this week I’ll offer some recipes for some light side dishes for any (other) occasion.

Maybe Texas isn’t the first place you think of when you think of local wines. But maybe you should think again — and this year’s Herb Fair hosted by The Friends of Moody Gardens can help with that.

Growing up, all holidays started out pretty much the same way at my house. First, there was a breakfast casserole made the night before and left in the fridge for an easy meal amid whatever holiday goings-on were going on in the morning. Growing up Catholic, mostly that was Mass.

Editor's note: This column was edited after initial publication to state that Easter is "next" Sunday, March 31, not "this" Sunday, March 24.