We are remembering, honoring and celebrating today, and wish you all a happy and safe Memorial Day 2020.

Graduation 2020. Anyone who has ever been proud of their kid knows how I feel, that telltale lump in the throat and feeling that your heart might burst into a thousand pieces of joy-light that shoot out into the universe as sparkles of optimism for the future, theirs and the world’s.

Crab Louie is a perfect summer salad, but you don’t have to stop at crab – other seafood like plank-grilled salmon or shrimp are just as good.

The loveliness of gardenias evokes memories spanning the length of life’s journey.

This is a wonderful article about a couple of terrific people I am very blessed to know. Tom and Marti embody open-mindedness, curiosity and the wisdom that comes from seeking knowledge and letting your understanding of the world evolve.

This original jazz composition is solemn, pensive, lush and finally, optimistic, an anthem for looking forward, beyond recovery from COVID-19 and all its repercussions.

I found this letter to my Mom in a box of treasures I’ve had for a while…it was a homemade Mother’s Day card from when I was about 22. It made me smile.

A video that conjures the feeling of the New Orleans Jazz Fest.

We took a walk on the wild side and used blacked fish on nachos. Here’s how it went down … it’s not a recipe as much as a set of loose guidelines, kinda like jazz is.

UNESCO is promoting International Jazz Day to “foster greater appreciation not only for the music but also for the contribution it can make to building more inclusive societies.” We’re in!!!

Instagram food pics by Carl the Roaster remind me of a lovely charcuterie board at the Gatehouse in London’s Highgate area.

A Jazz-Fest inspired recipe: to soothe our lonesome-for-NOLA feelings, I made a Muffuletta Pasta Salad.

Jazz Fest was supposed to start today, but it was a casualty of COVID-19. There are still things to celebrate, though. Music, in general. Jazz Fest music, in particular. WWOZ is hosting “Festing in Place: An On-Air Festival” on the radio and live-streaming. Yay!

What does it really look like when we get down the road? It’s up to us, isn’t it? This is no time to blink.

Burgers are classic comfort food, a warm and satisfying heartland-conjuring entree you can eat with your hands, accompanied by sides you can also grab and gobble. We’ve perfected our recipe in a dozen years of cooking together.

We are all armchair travelers right now during the trials of COVID-19, and today I’m thinking of an afternoon stroll, a long conversation and the birds in St. James Park.