Stuffed mussels were Marsh’s signature dish, and he made them often. He dazzled me with a batch on our first serious date. He’d made them ahead, then reheated them in the galley of his sailboat. I’d never set foot on a sailboat before, much less been served fresh seafood prepared especially for me. Over the [...]

Last night  I swept a snake out of my kitchen in San Pancho. Not a big snake—maybe three feet long, fat as a garden hose, brown with black diamonds. But still, I vibrated with fear as I ran for a broom. I had to act this time. Last year, when a similar snake appeared in [...]