food

The Broken Compass

My hangover days are well behind me, but I still have sympathy for those who revel into the early hours of the New Year, aided by fortifying servings of distilled spirits. There’s always a price to be paid the next day. This post comes in the nick of time: before tonight you should take heed of the following advice about hangovers. It may help you to enjoy New Year’s Day in a happier state. The title for this post comes […]

food

Vegetarian Supper

I don’t know about you, but I need some relief from the holiday food extravaganza. It’s the time of year when I feel entitled to indulge – until the over-indulgence starts to make me long for a healthy vegetable entrée to redress the imbalances of the season. One of these recipes comes from Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook, It’s All Good. I like this cookbook for its original recipes and healthy approach. (The avocado toast, which is simply a piece of gluten-free […]

food

Bohemian Buns

Do you have a memory of a particular food from your childhood that is so strong you can see it in your mind’s eye and smell it, just by thinking of it? Kolace (pronounced ko-lach-eh) is that food for me. It is a yeasty pastry round filled with apricot preserves, poppy seed, prune preserves or cheese. My grandmother made them every Christmas, and for special occasions throughout the year. It’s a sweet snack or a grab-and go-breakfast treat, lightly dusted […]

food

White House Eggnog

One of the highlights of a White House Christmas party is a cup of the luscious, velvety, high-octane eggnog. If you’ve never had real eggnog, this is the recipe to use. It’s nothing like the stuff that comes in a paper milk carton in the dairy section of the grocery store, which usually ends up tasting more like the milk carton than like the actual beverage. This is a complex mix of alcohols, cream, eggs, and spices – so rich […]

food

Laura Bush’s Beef Tenderloin Dinner

As I was noodling over what constitutes the perfect Christmas Day dinner, I received a number of recipes from Laura Bush via email. One of her meal suggestions was just the ticket: it used high quality ingredients to create simple and flavorful foods of various textures that complimented each other, and ended a luscious chocolate dessert to round out the experience. This is a quintessential American meal, and would make a satisfying and memorable holiday dinner, whatever your holiday might […]