Regina’s Table

via Amazon

As a Midwesterner, I cherish good weather–the sun, light, flowers and leafy trees. I love farmer’s markets with fresh produce.

This season, when I shop the markets, I’ll tuck a copy of Regina’s Seasonal Table in my canvas bag.

Written by Indy-based chef and restauranteur, Regina Mehallick:
“Regina’s Seasonal Table focuses on Midwestern USA’s bounty and recognizes the joys of eating seasonally. The 124-page book includes more than 100 beautiful photos and four seasons’ worth of good eating geared toward the home cook. Recipes include Indiana watermelon with prosciutto de Parma and Gorgonzola; Seared beef tenderloin bruschetta with roasted peppers and red onions on Asiago bread and arugula salad; and Ruby red trout with wild rice succotash and Pernod sauce.”

Usually, I don’t like or recommend cookbooks by chefs, but this cookbook is different. Although the recipes are for restaurant-quality presentations, Regina Mehalick speaks to the home cook.

Perhaps it’s because she didn’t start out in a commercial kitchen. She cooked at home for her husband and family, then went to culinary school. Perhaps it’s because she cooked professionally and studied in England and Scotland where in she learned to appreciate balance on the plate.

The instructions are straightforward and homey. As implied in the title, the recipes are organized by seasons, starting with Spring. Chef Mehallick is respectful of her audience and doesn’t overload home cooks with recipes requiring excessive numbers of ingredients.

Chef Mehallick came to Indy in 2000 and opened her restaurant, RBistro, in 2001. It was a dark time in Indy’s food scene and she was a leader, promoting seasonal, local cuisine.

Now she’s graced us with a beautiful, practical cookbook using our food and our ingredients.

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Joy, Sorrow and Glory

This was a special week. Yesterday was Easter; at sundown last Wednesday, Passover began. An oppressed people freed from bondage by plagues. The son of God, idolized like a rock star, jailed, foresaken by friends and fans, then executed and, eureka, brought back to life.  

No matter what you’re religious persuasion, you  have to admit Passover and Easter are great stories And with all good stories, food is front and center. It’s all about suffering and victory. It’s Matzo and the Host.

This blog has gone through suffering and now a resurrection and victory.

I haven’t posted in ages and a few weeks ago we shut down completely. All seemed lost. It’s a long story, but my blog was bundled with a couple other blogs on Bluehost. Our relationship deteriorated. (I’m being nice. Andrew said” I’m sorry about all this, but bluehost totally f* us all and I’ve spent hours in crisis/fixit mode.”)

The blog came back to life. Andrew switched most of it to WordPress. Then we set about retrieving the domain name. I signed up with godaddy and Andrew transferred indieats and redirected traffic. Type in http://www.indieats.com and you’re directed to https://indieats.wordpress.com.

Now I’m on my own. It feels invigorating but scary.

I’ve been reading, reading, reading about WordPress. I have two options: WordPress.com or WordPress.org. WordPress.com is safe, affordable (free) but limited. WordPress.org offers more creativity, but more work and expense.  For now, I’m sticking with WordPress.com. It’s in my price range and comfort zone.

I’ve wanted to change the direction of indieats and this is the time. While the blog started as a lark, there’s so much to say, so much to do and so much to cook and eat.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing my vision for the new indieats. See you soon with a brand new look and brand new posts.