The best cooking is home cooking

As a kid, I loved my mom's spaghetti and meatballs. When we lived in Denver, sometimes we ventured into the Italian neighborhood of North Denver and had an Italian meal. In suburban Chicago, we would trek to Highwood for Italian food.

At one point, I joined Smokenders in a major effort to quit smoking. Didn't happen then, but one of the "smokenders" invited the group for a meal at her house. She was Italian. Yowza! I had never eaten food like that. A real revelation. Stuffed shells to die for.

My friend Jim makes the best Oysters Rockefeller in the world, and my friend Karin cooked the best wild mushroom lasagne that you could ever imagine. Toothsome. Perfect.

A few weeks ago when we were in Germany, my nephew Alex and his wife put together a feast that boggled the mind. First of all, we started with huge scallops in a curry sauce. Each scallop was garnished with a sauteed slice of avocado. The sauce was perfect, with the exact right amount of heat. The main course was Wiener Schnitzel. I've eaten that dish all over Germany, the U.S. and Austria. Alex's was by far the best. Tender and perfectly seasoned. Pefectly seasoned.

Amazing how perfect seasoning resonates. The sides were a delicious green salad and a freshly made hot potato salad that one could just keep eating and eating and I did.

Dessert was chocolate mousse. Yum. Garnished with a delicous little kumquat-thingy. Something fruity in a dry husk. They were all over Germany and I have no idea what it actually was. Everything in that meal was so special. The wine was tres potable as well.

I'll put Alex and Palle's meal up there with Laperouse (in the old days) in Paris and Roger Verge's cooking in Mougins. The brunch at the Warwick in Houston. Unlimited raspberries, anyone? Some food just lasts forever in one's head.

Legal Seafood used to serve a mussels appetizer like that. Loads of butter, cheese, garlic and breadcrumbs. They tinkered around with it too much, and cut out the butter and cheese and it became pedestrian and is no longer on the menu. Wow! Was that ever good!

But nothing beats good home cooking. My mom's angelfood cake and strawberry pie, my grandma's pies and chicken and noodles, and fried chicken. Karin makes a mean pie, too. I have made a few in my day. What is it about pie? The best breakfast in the world is a piece of cold fried chicken (or two) and a slice of pie.

So. . . when I go to a potluck or a brunch at someone's house, I always head for the home made stuff. So hie thee into the kitchen and cook up a storm. Someone will always remember how good it tasted.

Oh yeah, and I make the world's best traditional lasagne and some mean potato pancakes. Let's hear it for the home cook!

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