Everyone could use a little help going into 2018. There are kids to feed and parties to throw and Chef Tom Gray of Moxie Kitchen & Cocktails, Town Hall and Culivino is here to help. In addition to being one of the most respected and decorated chefs in all of the Southeast, he is also a father and husband. Let’s get you headed in the right direction as we cruise into the New Year.

Feeding your children is the adult version of solving a Rubik’s Cube. You want your kids to enjoy what they are eating but “don’t assume they only want monotone flavor and foods of one color. We started off by feeding our son whatever it is we were eating. He loved scallops, duck, shrimp and fish. As he got older, his own preference kicked in,” Gray said in a recent interview.

“Some of the cooking at home, you are subject to whatever I am working on at the moment. Luckily, my family loves fish so if I’m doing that, he’s thrilled. My son’s favorite is linguine and clam sauce and a nice garlic bread to go with it. He loves vegetables, but he loves them more raw and crunchy than cooked. For school, he always has a packed lunch so at the grocery store he has a lot of influence.”

Everybody would like to throw a great party. By doing a little prep work and focusing on simplicity, you can make things a lot easier on yourself. Take inspiration from things that you personally enjoy and go from there. Tom said, “I love nachos. So, for a huge game we hosted at the house I made an In-N-Out cheeseburger dip, which is ground beef, cheese, mustard and you scoop it up with a chip. Beer is included in the snacks, right?”

“When you are having a party, I am all about setting up a nice bar at the house. I figured out that the smartest thing to do is that I’ll batch 1 cocktail if not 2, one brown and one clear. It might be a batched bourbon drink and a batched gin or tequila drink. I’ll have them in bottles or in pitchers and will make a simple little sign like “3 ounces of this over ice.” In addition, I’ll set out something simple such as a few tonic sodas, a couple of liquors, beer and wine. The last thing you want to do when you have friends over is to sit there measuring an ounce of this, an ounce of that. Have your fruit or garnish ready to go in order to make it as self-serve as possible. Keep it simple and you’ll enjoy the party.”

From my family to yours, I would like to wish all of you a happy, healthy and fun 2018. Let’s choose to focus on the positive, take care of those that are most important to us and thrown some epic parties.