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The idea for this blog came to me after an elaborate Thanksgiving feast at my home. The menu included roast turkey, of course, three kinds of cranberries, mushroom herb stuffing, Moroccan vegetable stew, baked yams with maple syrup, mashed Yukon Gold potatoes, roasted purple potatoes, roasted root vegetable salad; and as a starter, whole wheat […]
I am very lucky to have so many great memories of cooking with my mom, planning parties, watching her meticulously decorate platters and charm her guests. My parents had a very long (over 50 years) traditional marriage and my mother was in charge of all the cooking and entertaining. My father helped. He loved to […]
Sometimes one or two pieces can inspire and set the tone for the entire party. In this case, the pieces were the table fabric and the vases. The vases were just something I fell in love with but had no idea when I would use them. I just had to have them. I found the […]
Everyone raved about the rosé I served at the Moroccan Feast. The flavor was delicious and of course it was pink. I wanted to make a specialty drink for the Baby Shower using this fabulous rosé. I came up with a Strawberry Rosé Spritzer which was perfect for a luncheon. STRAWBERRY ROSÉ SPRITZER EVENT: […]
This is another one of my go-to appetizers for parties. The richness of a triple cream brie or a camembert combined with the sweet surprise of fig jam is always a hit. It’s perfect when you are having a large number of guests and want to have something already out while waiting for everyone’s arrival. […]
When I was growing up, my mom made chicken that we lovingly called “crummy chicken”. She cut up a whole chicken, bathed each piece in melted butter and coated it with a mixture of seasoned breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper. I later saw recipes that called this Parmesan Chicken but I will […]
This is another composed salad that is simple to make and refreshing and delightful. The key to this salad is blanching the asparagus and plunging them in ice water (shocking them). This preserves the vibrant green color and fresh flavor. The orange zest surprises the palate and makes this a unique taste experience. This dish will […]
It’s great to have one or two cold pasta salads in your repertoire. They are simple to make and you can tweak them to your own taste. This one includes cheese tortellini and baby spinach. For this party, I served the pasta mounded on top of the spinach, but I have also tossed it all […]
There was an Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills, now closed, that served a shrimp appetizer on a bed of shaved fennel. This was such a distinct and refreshing way to the start of an Italian meal, I always admired it. The restaurant closed so I had to make it for myself. This salad combines the […]
