Today is the first day of Hanukah, and it always reminds me of my introduction to the latke. My mother and father-in-law were coming from Florida (where else?) for a visit, and I’d been flying around the house for two days with my infant daughter on my hip, cleaning everything that could possibly be cleaned. My mother-in-law was a neat freak of the highest order and I wanted to impress her with my housekeeping skills, though things had become much […]
This is quite the season indeed for friendly meetings. At Christmas every body invites their friends about them, and people think little of even the worst weather. I was snowed up at a friend’s house once for a week. Nothing could be pleasanter. I went for only one night, and could not get away till that very day se’nnight.” – Janet Austen, Emma Today is Jane Austen’s birthday, and if you’re as big a fan as I am, you’ll be […]
We eat a lot of chicken, and as much as we like it, it can become a little predictable. Spatchcocking, said to derive from the term “dispatch the cock,” is an 18th century English or Irish word, and refers to a method of cooking a chicken by removing the backbone and flattening it. The chicken cooks more quickly, and all of the skin is nicely crisped, so it is more tender. It also makes it easy to cook a whole […]
There’s never a better time than the holiday season to fire up the stove and create some homemade gifts. As much as I love a good cookie, there’s something especially toothsome about homemade candy. If you have a candy thermometer, which costs as little as $5, you can make candy at home. It’s much easier than you think, and this is a wide-ranging compilation of recipes, in terms of the level of difficulty. Just take a look: Two of the […]
Sometimes a special birthday deserves a special breakfast. These eggs are memorable for both their presentation and flavor. You don’t have to go to the extra effort of fitting the eggs back inside the eggshell, because the eggs and caviar will taste equally delicious either way, but if you really want to knock someone’s socks off, the filled eggshells are the way to go. I’ve had this recipe for years, and because it is somewhat labor intensive, I like using […]
