Ten top reasons to love fall in Southwest Florida. By Judi Gallagher     1.) You can still wear white pants after Labor Day while you are grilling barbecued duck breast and the last of the Florida- grown sweet corn.   2.) You spend the day before Halloween drinking cold spiced cider [...]

Shortcut spaghetti Bolognese and dining at Derek’s. By Judi Gallagher   I always appreciate it when I’m in the grocery store and people recognize me from my cooking shows. Yet many of them make little eye contact. I used to think maybe people were shy or that I’m so tall they’re just uncomfortable stretching their [...]

Slacker week in Judi’s kitchen.   Do you ever have a week where you just cannot get inspired in the kitchen? Yup, even chefs do, and this must have been my week.   Monday night, both my husband, Paul,and I were pooped, so off we went for comfort food at Cosimo’s Brick Oven (www.cosimosbrickoven.com).There might [...]

By Judi Gallagher   Dining our way through the weekend.  It certainly has been a great week for dining in and around Sarasota. First we ventured over to Main Street, Lakewood Ranch to peek at the new Morton’s Market (www.epicureanlife.com). Cheese lovers, beware: The selection is extremely tempting with large displays of imported and domestic [...]

Rising to the Chef’s Challenge with double dinners out.   By Judi Gallagher   Last week my husband and I decided to try two of the restaurants participating in the Chef’s Challenge benefiting Historic Spanish Point (www.historicspanishpoint.org). The idea, formulated by Cliff Whatmore of Southgate Gourmet (www.southgategourmet.com) is brilliant. Four participating restaurants present two entrées, [...]