I took over cooking full time after Ken's surgery in early 2010. It was quite a shift for us because this role had primarily been Ken's. He was a supremely creative man and his cooking was no exception. His improv skills played a role in everything he did--particularly cooking. He often commented that he loved when we cooked together--which ultimately served as great training for me. I learned to get comfortable experimenting--no matter what the result. It was about the journ

Today had been marked on my calendar for weeks. "Holiday Baking." It's tradition I'd grow up with and then that Ken and I shared during our life together. But this year, I decided not to make any of our classic treats. It needed to be a whole new menu to expedient with. I'd also decided a while ago that the benefactors of my holiday treats would be the wonderful staff at the Creticos Cancer Center, where Ken was so lovingly tended to. I'd learned from my Zen cooking master ho

It's not often I'm able to get together with four of my closest friends--at the same time. The last time all five us were together was at my birthday a couple of years ago, where Ken orchestrated two of them who came the furthest (St. Louis and Los Angeles) as surprises. Alan, Kathy, Retta, Tina and I comprised "the A-List"--what we named ourselves when we met while studying at Second City--and they have been constants in my life ever since. We share the "wrongest" pleasure i