Table Talk

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

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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.

Summer Squash Casserole

My friend Nancy Peterkin’s squash casserole has made the rounds! Nancy, a justifiably renowned Houston hostess and a cook of uncommon talents, gave my mother the recipe years ago and since then, I’ve published it in the food column I used to write for the New York Times Magazine and two cookbooks, including Julia Reed’s South. I’ve also tinkered with it over the years and served it at more parties than I can count. The shindig I’m hosting this coming Labor Day Weekend is no exception.

Mama's Chilton County Peach Cobbler

There is no better cobbler than the one my mother makes with peaches from Chilton County, Alabama.

Julia's Hostess Tips

I threw my first “grown-up” party when I was nine, for my father’s birthday. It featured surprise balls and Quiche Lorraine from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Though my party throwing skills have evolved a bit since then, that basic formula—good fun and good food—remains the basis of any successful shindig, and I still love a surprise ball. Here’s the formula: Delicious food and a lot of it; more booze and wine than you think you need; good music (even if it’s just a playlist and a speaker); a great mix of people and a festive host or hostess.

Fourth of July Sangria

Which means that this year I’ll kick off my Independence Day celebration with a pitcher or two of sangria.

Julia Reed's New Orleans

I’m glad I did—the months I spent on the campaign trail made me realize I never wanted to leave my adopted city. The temporary apartment I took that year was the first in a long string of New Orleans abodes.

Julia's Delta Retreat

Since I was twenty-five, by which time I’d been away from home for almost ten years, I’ve fantasized about building a house, a retreat of sorts, in or near my hometown in the Mississippi Delta. I hadn’t realized how long I’d actually had this particular dream until a few weeks ago when I found a love letter from the man I almost married that brought me to my knees. In it, he envisioned the place that even then he knew I’d always wanted, and that he had wanted for both of us. “Could you hang orchids from the veranda like you do in Malaysia, and grow mangoes in the garden?” he wrote. We would have a Vietnamese cook who would do miraculous things to catfish; we’d gaze out at the Mississippi in reclining wicker chairs “having some sort of long drink” or maybe “a fine old Armagnac.”

Tour Keith's Nashville Georgian

Take a look inside Keith & Jon's Nashville home filled with antiques, Southern art, and lots of spots for dogs and kids to perch.

Tour Julia Reed's New Orleans Apartment

A Greenville, MS native who’s written five books and served as editor and writer for the likes of Newsweek, Vogue, The Wall Street Journal, Elle Decor, and Garden & Gun, Julia Reed has had an envy-inducing career—and a lot of fun along the way. Whether she’s musing about politics, fashion, or grits, her sharp sense of humor and confident Southern charm put a dimple on even the dullest words.

Keith’s Kitchen Garden

Today’s garden is just this, a jewel box of an outdoor space. It is a distinct space that separates itself from the vast lawn that extends right beyond the crepe myrtles and just past the raised beds. But this kitchen garden starts in the kitchen, the heart of the home, and then carries on outside, and we are thrilled to share it with you today.

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