Today is Mother’s Day, and for me that means mom’s clam chowder. Not only is it a wonderful chowder, but it’s also a bowl full of memories.

Morel season is in high gear here on the Pacific Coast, and they’re still popping in the upper Midwest and New England. So here’s a challenge: Tell me how you cook your morels.

I had my first Cajun sauce piquante a year ago, in a grubby cafe near Houma. It was made with alligator, and it was awesome. This version is made with venison, and it’s just as awesome.

Curing olives in springtime? Who knew? But early spring is the time to gather ripe black olives for oil-curing, and I love me some oil-cured olives.

Fishing for striped bass means far more to me than merely chasing my dinner. Stripers have become a marker for the key moments in my life.

Elderflowers have arrived in NorCal, and the first thing I make with them each year is elderflower cordial. I use this sweet-smelling syrup as a base for cocktails and soft drinks.

I make all sorts of Italian pasta sauces, but an authentic Bolognese sauce is something else entirely. It make look like any other meat sauce, but it isn’t.

I first learned about ventreche, a French bacon, from my friend Kate Hill. It is a very simple thing: just pork belly, salt, pepper and smoke. But that is the source of its beauty.

We’re in high season for artichokes, and when life gives you too many artichokes – especially the baby ones – this is how you preserve them for the summer.

Thank Holly for the name of this dish: Cheek by Jowl. Braised wild boar cheek served with fresh spring veggies, a saffron cream sauce, and crispy pork jowl.