{Eating, Home}

Fête Accompli

12.26.11
photos by george billard

‘Twas the night before Christmas and we were invited to spend it at Beaver Dam. You may remember it as the gorgeous house to which we fled last winter during the DBR (Dreaded Bathroom Renovation). Or perhaps you recall an impromptu potluck there about which I posted this fall. For Christmas Eve it had been splendidly decked out for the season, lit by candles and smelling of pine and woodsmoke from a blazing fire. Such hospitality! Dear friends, delicious food and wine, beautifully wrapped presents: it was an outpouring of love.

 

I awoke this morning to learn of a terrible tragedy that befell a family on Christmas morning, and I feel it is even more crucial to appreciate the good times we have together. This time of year is an especially good opportunity to express to your loved ones how much they mean to you. Don’t wait.

 

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{Home, Travel}

Party On (& Caramels for All)

12.14.11
photo by gluttonforlife

What a week. Did I mention I am making my first personal appearance for Glutton for Life? My dear friend Peter, he of Best Made fame, asked to me to participate in one of three evenings he is hosting at the Warby Parker Holiday Spectacle Bazaar, a SoHo pop-up happening (for lack of a better word) featuring stuff to eat, drink, buy, see and learn. It was initially pitched to me as a hands-on workshop for a couple dozen people, where I could talk about whatever I wanted—oh, and there’s a whiskey sponsor. So mixing cocktails seemed like a no-brainer. Then, to put my own little upstate spin on things, I decided to use foraged ingredients. This seemed to pique everyone’s interest. Done deal. Then, I find out they’re expecting upwards of 100 people. And I stop to consider that the dead of winter might not be the very best time to forage for ingredients. Um, time to regroup.

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{Eating}

Gather Together

10.10.11
photos by gluttonforlife & friends

The plan was to invite a bunch of friends to our new property by the reservoir in Forestburgh on peak leaf weekend to gather around a big bonfire, eat chili, sip mulled wine and make s’mores. Wrong. Each morning during the week leading up to our party, G would tell me the weather forecast, and each day it would go up several degrees. By the time the actual day dawned, we were preparing for a scorcher, and the leaves had only just begun to display their showy colors. But what a glorious day it was! Perfectly clear and without a trace of humidity. I had been threatening to change the menu if the mercury rose above 70º, but in the end—despite it hitting 77º—we stuck with the chili and just swapped out the mulled wine for rosé and cocktails on the rocks. Later this week I’ll post the recipe for the thick, brick-red Texas-style chili, made with plenty of beef and no beans; and also for the caramel apples that were dessert, a great easy treat for this time of year. But for now, some photos to inspire you to get together with friends wherever/whenever/however (preferably outdoors while you still can), and a recipe for the perfect bourbon cocktail.

 

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{Eating, Home}

Smoking Hot

7.5.11
photos by gluttonforlife

July 4th may be my favorite holiday. It has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with freedom. It’s a chance to celebrate the founding of this country which, though seriously flawed and in grand decline, is still the place I choose to call home above all others. This year, we also raised a glass to gay marriage in New York! What a day. It dawned clear and warm after days of torrential rains and lightning storms. G had to stand outside in the downpour for hours the day before to smoke the first half of the 60 pounds of pork we served to the hoard of hungry revelers. It was nothing short of heroic. Gin cocktails were sucked down, pickles were scarfed, ice cream sandwiches demolished. Groups congregated in the screened-in porch, on the lawn and front patio, and even in the house. Dogs frolicked and begged. Screams of laughter rang out, joints were passed and kids got purple popsicle juice everywhere. In short, a great party.  Read the rest of this entry »

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{Eating, Home}

Festivities

7.1.11
iphotos by gluttonforlife

We’re expecting 60 people at our house for pulled pork on the 4th and I am up to my eyeballs in chores! The bustle around here is impressive. And guess what—THE BATHROOM IS FINALLY DONE!!!!! I even had a new shower curtain made from one of those antique batiks I got in Indonesia. I promise to post pictures very soon. Anyway, all this to say that I’m much too busy to be writing here, but I couldn’t resist sharing a few snaps I took at a lovely party the other night. Cooking for such a crowd gives me renewed respect for caterers. How do they manage to keep doing it night after night, for people they don’t even love? I imagine they work like dogs. This party we went to, a 50th birthday celebration for a dear friend of many years, was intimate and beautifully orchestrated. It didn’t hurt that it was being thrown by hosts of impeccable taste and sophistication, in the most beautifully appointed pale-grey apartment. Would it surprise you to know the owner is one of the pivotal geniuses behind the Martha Stewart brand? And the other host is the co-author of this gorgeous tome. Every detail was perfection, including the artful nibbles by Gaylinn Fast.  Read the rest of this entry »

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{Eating, Travel}

¡Feliz Año!

1.5.11
photos by george billard

As it turns out, Villa Santa Cruz in Todos Santos, Mexico, is absolute perfection. This funky and spacious 4-bedroom home is just off the best surf beach in the area and has a gorgeous view of the Pacific. We could lie in bed and watch the sunset—not to mention the all-day show of whales, dolphins and pelicans. It was a bit cool so we didn’t do a lot of beach time, but we did go out for a lunch of fish tacos, hike in the desert among the dramatic cacti, and host an impromptu poolside gathering on New Year’s day. Our good friends Sarah and Gordon have a house in town and brought other expats over to enjoy our spacious digs, partake in some sweet local shrimp and toast the new year with delicious house tequila, aging in an oak cask just inside our front door. Read the rest of this entry »

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{Eating, Health}

Prelude to a Feast

11.24.10
a hot pink watermelon radish

I don’t want to harsh your mellow, and I do know that Thanksgiving is a special day, a time to throw caution to the wind and loosen your belt, but I just read that “more than half of Americans will have diabetes or be prediabetic by 2020, at a cost to the US health care system of $3.35 trillion, if current trends continue unabated.” Staggering, no? What trends does this refer to? Too much processed food, too much sugar, too much fat. So I’d like you to reconsider all those cream-laden dips and greasy chips that seem to be so popular for snacking on before the big turkey feast. All those cheese plates and fistfuls of roasted nuts that go so well with the wine and cocktails you’ll inevitably be knocking back. Look, I’m no killjoy. I want you to indulge! But I also want you alive and healthy and fitting into your skinny jeans. So ponder some of these options, starting with a plate of fresh, crunchy, spicy watermelon radishes—in season now!—irresistible when sprinkled with some Maldon sea salt and maybe drizzled with a little green olive oil. That’s a great way to really wake up your palate. Read the rest of this entry »

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{Eating, Home}

Up in Smoke

7.6.10
photos by george billard

Low and slow, that’s how we cook it. Our two 12-pound Boston butts from Dickson’s, rubbed with a heady mix of chile powder, cumin, brown sugar, salt and cayenne, were on the smoker by 10am the morning of the 4th. G actually prefers smoking on the Weber, because it retains the heat much better, but ours is just not big enough to accommodate all that pig. Several hours of smoking over hickory and apple wood, a couple in the oven, an hour to rest and then G and Philip were up to their elbows chopping barbecue. I almost fell flat on my face in the kitchen, the floor was so slippery. After they pulled and chopped the smoky, fatty pork, I doused it with an Eastern North Carolina hot sauce made from vinegar, Tabasco and red pepper flakes. It’s an irresistible combination: salty, tangy, spicy, smoky richness. Then this gets piled on a cheap, soft potato roll, smothered in pickles (dill or bread-&-butter, your choice), with perhaps an extra dash of hot sauce, and you’ve got some authentic barbecue. A high-falutin’ roll is not welcome; you need something that breaks down easily and sops up all that juice. And though we don’t do white flour in our house, this is a worthy exception.


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{Home}

Group Hug

7.5.10


The drinks were devoured at an alarming rate, G’s barbecue was delicious, and the freezer went on the fritz endangering the ice cream sandwiches and liquefying the popsicles. All in all, our July 4th festivities were a great success, but I can’t really attribute that to the menu. It was all about old friends (and new) coming together to enjoy each other’s company, the haven of a cool porch in the summer heat, the lush green of the yard. There were excited dogs and kids underfoot, tours of the garden and lolling in the hammock. Laughter, loud music and the lingering smell of applewood smoke filled the air. A core group followed the last rays of the sun out to the front patio and somehow the bugs stayed away as we lit sparklers and celebrated our freedom. So, yes, the gin cocktails and “special” brownies certainly didn’t hurt, but it was love and friendship that made the day. Read the rest of this entry »

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