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For this party, we started outside in the garden, in a beautiful but completely casual setting. As the sun went down and we finished our cocktail hour, we moved into the dining room for an elegant sit-down dinner. The table setting reflected the fact that the meal was more formal, with everything plated in the […]
The yellow peaches and white nectarines I found at the market were so delicious, I wanted to use them in a white sangria. I decided on a white sangria with tequila and white wine. Usually, sangria is very sweet with added sugar. This has no added sugar. In fact, I kept it fairly simple, if […]
For my friend Krista, if it doesn’t include chocolate — it’s not dessert! I was playing with chocolate cookie recipes for ice cream sandwiches. I loved these Double Chocolate Cookies. But when frozen with ice-cream, they seemed a bit too hard to bite into. My dentist would not approve! They were so good, I decided […]
Growing up, we rarely ate fish. On the few occasions my mom made fish for dinner, the entire house took on a fishy smell. Not very appetizing. I don’t know what kind of fish she cooked because it was always served with a huge glop of heavy mayonnaisey tartar sauce. I figured that the tartar […]
My friend Dano, who volunteers to play bartender, is now a vegetarian. Over the years, during his pre-vegetarian days, we shared many meals. Dano and I worked our way through racks of lamb, short ribs and homemade tequila-cured gravlax. He hated vegetables and little by little I snuck a few on his plate. Surprise! He liked […]
If you’ve never worked with puff pastry, try these immediately! Don’t be afraid, it’s super easy. No matter how many you make, they will all be gone. This recipe makes use of readymade puff pastry. You will find it in the frozen food department of any supermarket. The most readily available brand which I use […]
During a vacation in Italy, a friend I was traveling with ordered prosciutto and melon as an appetizer. I thought of all the delicious choices on the menu, it was the most boring. And then I tasted it. Wow! The contrast between the tissue paper thin, perfectly cured, salty prosciutto and the juicy, ripe, sweet […]
I use kosher salt in many recipes. Kosher salt is a variety of edible salt with a much larger grain size than ordinary table salt. Kosher salt is easier to pick up in your fingers and evenly distribute over food. I use it in everything except baking. I use regular table salt in baking because […]