Home

'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.
Read More...

You've earned it. The right to put your feet up. To zone out. To nap. To sit in front of the fire reading that book that's been tempting you for months. To try a new recipe, listen to music, have a long, meandering chat with a loved one. To trawl the interwebs for loot. To watch silly YouTube videos, favorite movies and fabulous TV shows. To stuff your face. To get drunk or high, or both. To go for a run, a ride, a hike. To pray, to celebrate, to review the past year and meditate on the future. To be grateful for what and whom you have. Remember, even though the kids are melting down and your mother-in-law is irritating and your sister is crying and your husband is gone: This is your time. Carve out some space for yourself and do exactly as you please.Here are some links I've been compiling for you. May they bring you pleasure, inspiration, knowledge and fun, as you sip some delicious wine (or sparkling cider) and dream of what's to come.
Read More...

I'm a wee bit pressed for time, having slated today for making two more batches of caramels for my loyal readers. G and I just returned from the city and a round of Christmas parties, and it's already 3pm and things are barely getting going. And then I remembered my promise: the holiday soundtrack. I have all my picks lined up and ready for you. So without further ado (except to say that I am still and always enthralled by the pieces I recommended last year), here are my musical selections for Christmas 2011. (Chanukkah music is, sadly, not my forte.)A Very She & Him Christmas - This hipster collaboration features the successful though somewhat unlikely pairing of country-folk artist M. Ward and wide-eyed faux naif actress Zooey Deschanel (seen above in an ironically fabulous pose). Highlights: their renditions of Silver Bells and Baby It’s Cold Outside.
Read More...

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.
Read More...

I threw my back out. Had a fabulous massage on Monday night and by yesterday afternoon I felt that weird incipient wobbliness (this has happened before) and soon enough I was in full-on crisis mode. I have to lie on the ground and put my legs up the wall for 30 minutes at a time—not the best position for cooking, or anything else for that matter—and thus far it hasn't helped much, so the first thing I'm grateful for is that I'm at my sister-in-law's house and not welcoming the hoards into my own. Tomorrow I'll be thankful when I look around at this wonderful family I married into, complete with adorable nephews and a mother-in-law who likes my cooking, not to mention for the gargantuan feast that will be laid out in all its aromatic glory. Our menu? Since you asked:Devils on Horseback (Dates stuffed with Parmesan & Wrapped in Bacon)Pigs in BlanketsSalami Chips with Spicy MustardCheese with Pickled RampsChicken Consommé with Mushroom RavioliTurkey Two Ways, Deep-Fried & RoastedBrandied CranberriesGingered Green BeansShaved Fennel & Brussels Sprouts SaladClassic Billard Stuffing2 kinds of GravySpicy Yams with PancettaMashed Potatoes & Celery RootApple-Cranberry PiePumpkin Custard with Candied Pumpkin SeedsVanilla Panna Cotta with Wine-Poached Apples (Winos)Chocolate Cake (for the kids)3 kinds of Cookies (brought by Mum)Life is short, life is sweet, we're so lucky to have plenty to eat. Seems excesssive, no? Hopefully no one will slip into a food coma. In case I do, let me say thanks to you now, gentle reader, for your support and encouragement. I picture you out there, clutching your morning latte or evening glass of red wine, maybe stealing a moment at your desk or while the baby's napping, and I am inspired to keep sharing with you all the things for which I am grateful so that together we can make every moment count.  I wish you all a happy, healthy Thanksgiving!
Read More...

When you're a cook, cookbooks spur you on, inspire you, guide you, educate you. They can introduce you to exotic flavors, school you in new cuisines, generally rock your world. Within the pages of a new cookbook lies a whole odyssey. This is why they pile up on my bedside table; cooking from them is actually optional. Sometimes I just read them and what I've learned seeps gradually into my everyday cooking. But I definitely use them in the kitchen as well. That's the beauty of cooking: if you can read, you can do it. That said, I have compiled a large list of some excellent tomes that came out this year, some of which I have cooked from but all of which I will get to at some point. For all the reasons above, I think they make great gifts for cooks and dreamers alike.
Read More...

I'm one of those people who prefers to think of coincidence as convergence. You know those moments when you're hoping for a job and the phone rings and it's someone offering you one? Or you read about a restaurant, make a reservation and when you walk in your good friends are already having dinner there? It's not happenstance, it's meant to be. Well, something along those lines happened with 603 Here & There. First, I read an interesting interview with founder Nell Dodge on a favorite blog. Then, my friend Peter asked me to test-drive some maple syrup he's selling on his website—sourced for him by Nell Dodge in New Hampshire. So 603 Here & There became here, there and everywhere. It was time to investigate further. Turned out that I fell in love with Nell's online holiday pop-up site and was able to chat with her about some of the wonderful items she sells. The best part? Nell, a New Hampshire native who has returned to her hometown for a spell, features lovely work from local artisans. Two of them, Ann and George Saunderson, a couple married for 40 years whom Nell has known for most of her life (pictured above), really captured my fancy.
Read More...

You can run but you can't hide. I kind of hate to bring it up, but you'll love me when they're all said and done. The holidays, that is. (Hey, don't shoot the messenger. They're on their way whether I announce it or not.) Which is why I'm posting my collection of online shopping resources even earlier than last year. By the way, I still stand by all the suggestions of 2010, so you may want to have a look. Gwyneth already posted hers, and they're worth a gander, too. Because you really, really, really don't want to leave this until the last moment. If you look up hell in the dictionary, there's a picture of a mall on December 23rd. Don't go there. I do confess to feeling a little guilty about the carbon footprint of mail-order shopping, but then I think about the gas I would use to get to the store, and the karmic goodwill I am preserving by not having to engage with fellow humans in combat-shopping mode at this time of year. So make your list, and don't dwell too long on naughty or nice. Save your energy for finding gifts that will leave them all gob-smacked with glee.
Read More...

This weekend, we're heading north to visit friends who have a farm near the Vermont border. They've just bought a load of Angus cows and are going to start producing grass-fed beef. The weather is meant to be clear and crisp and I'm so looking forward to being outdoors and exploring the area a bit. Last time we were there it was springtime and I bought the most gorgeous bag of emerald-green fiddleheads. I'm sure good things are in store, and I'll definitely write about them next week. In the meantime, I leave you with some entertainment recommendations, a list of resources that will have you surfing the far corners of the web,  and a gentle reminder that the holidays are right around the corner. Let's all get a jump on things, shall we?
Read More...

Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do. Do without.Eleanor Roosevelt said that, probably during the Depression or some wartime crunch. But I love its sentiment: the idea that what we have is enough. "Making do" is not really something you see advertised alongside Big Gulps and $35,000 handbags. Last weekend in the Times' opinion section, I saw this piece about a divorced Brooklyn mother of two who fell on hard times and resorted to starting a victory garden and baking her own bread to get by. (A former Bergdorf Goodman shopper and unwilling to give up perfume, she now makes her own from fragrant herbs!) It was very inspiring, and it gave me serious pause when I went to write "mint tea" on the grocery list that's posted on the door of our fridge. Instead, I went out to the garden and harvested huge armfuls of fresh mint. I had cut the unruly plants back a month ago—and frozen and preserved some leaves then—but they had grown in more vigorously than ever. While I was out there, I also snipped lots of other things to dry and use over the coming winter months.
Read More...