Table Talk

Join me to talk entertaining, gardening, Southern recipes and timeless decorating. And meet the makers behind our collection of handcrafted beauty.

Articles Tagged with Keith meacham

Autumn Sunday Lunch at Brookside

Of the many gifts Julia gave me during our long friendship, one of the very best was an introduction to Libby and Ben, two of the most talented people I've ever known. Like so many of the folks Julia brought into our lives, Libby and Ben have become the dearest of friends to Jon and me. That doesn't mean we aren't a little bit in awe of their prodigious talents. They can both do anything. Capable doesn't begin to describe it.

Julia & Keith on Father's Day Gift Giving

Father's Day is coming up, and there's still time to shop our uncommon collection of handcrafted gifts. Here are a few that we love for the Daddies in our lives.

Honoring Graduates Without a Graduation Ceremony

Here, Julia and I share a few recommendations for those resilient graduates in your life who are making the most of this rite of passage, even if they’re collecting their diplomas in a drive-by ceremony.

Julia & Keith Share Their Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Below, Julia and Keith choose gifts to honor their own mothers. We hope they'll inspire you to do the same.

The Art of Sheltering in Place

In this time of social distancing, I’ve been thinking a lot about my grandmother, who died four years ago at the age of 95, and whose voice I keep hearing in my head when I start to feel anxious. Despite all the confusion and fear in the air these days, Nanny—were she alive— would have recognized the gift of grace in all the turmoil, taken a break from the news, and headed to her bed with a stack of books at hand. She was into social distancing long before social distancing was a thing.

Julia's Seafood Gumbo

I've been making this gumbo ever since I was in college and found a similar version in a Junior League cookbook, the name of which now escapes me. When I lived in New York in the 1980s and '90s, I served it along with a bucket of Popeye's fried chicken to my Yankee friends, who found both things wildly exotic. The okra added in the beginning gives the soup body, while the okra at the end provides texture. The all-important addition of andouille lends a deep flavor to the broth. If you can't find andouille, Polish sausage will do.

Julia's Milk Punch

I adore a properly made Bloody Mary and I would not turn down a refreshing screwdriver, but there is no better hangover cure on earth than a milk punch. Addictively tasty and immediately restorative, it is a staple in bars and restaurants that understand such things (Galatoire's offers up an especially good one, as does Commander's Palace), and de rigueur at daytime Mardi Gras gatherings.

The Crabmeat Caucus: A Brief History

I can see it even now, all these years (and, in those days, a good bit of Jack Daniel’s) distant: a seemingly bottomless silver bowl, sitting on Julia Reed’s dining table at the far end of her spectacular double-height-ceilinged apartment on East 78th Street in New York. Bill Clinton had just been re-elected; Osama bin Laden was a familiar name in only the most elite policy circles; there was no email, and to “cc” someone still meant trying to find a sticky piece of carbon paper.