Mojito Ingredients
“My Mojito in La Bodeguita, My Daiquiri in El Floridita.” … Ernest Hemingway.
La Bodeguita and El Floridita were favorite Ernest Hemingway haunts in Havana. If you’ve read anything by or about Hemingway, you won’t be surprised that he lingered as regularly as possible in the proximity of his favorite drinks. La Bodeguita was his place for Mojitos. Continue reading
Pysanky – Watercolor by My Sister, Nanci Yermakoff, 2000.
Countries steeped in Eastern Orthodoxy celebrate Easter with glorious painted eggs and a traditional Easter buffet feast.
The eggs (pysanky) are quite an art form. The style of egg-painting is different in each country (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus et. al.), but perhaps the most beautiful are the Ukrainian batik (wax-resist dyed) eggs. Continue reading
Rosemary Rescued from the Snow
Cooking lessons are so much fun. I still dust off some of my old lessons when asked or, occasionally, as donations to charity. So, when a friend asked to sell one of my lessons at a live charity auction, I was delighted. The lesson, “Stocks and the Five Mother Sauces”, was from my repertoire of tried and true lessons. I could teach it in my sleep. Piece of cake. Sure, I would be happy to donate the lesson.
Then came the surprise from the buyer: Continue reading
Pickled Herring (Inlagd Sill), Eggs, Cucumbers and Beet Salad (Rodbetesalad)
Every year for the past 17 years, my good-hearted friends have allowed me to plan our menu for our year-end progressive dinner. They really are silly about the whole process — each year thanking me profusely for planning the menu and giving out assignments. Don’t they know that this is an ideal situation for me?? Have fun planning a lengthy menu and then give out assignments for everyone else to prepare?? It is second best only to having a commercial kitchen and staff at your beck and call. Continue reading
Fresh Cranberries
Three posts in one week – a first for me. Sorry I’m clogging your in-baskets, but I thought I would do my best to finish what I started before Thanksgiving.
This post will wrap up the key things you need to do a week (or a few days) ahead of your Thanksgiving dinner. Continue reading
Stuffing, Stuffing and More Stuffing
Since I’m cooking two Thanksgiving dinners in two U.S. states this year, I am fully immersed in “do-ahead” mode. How else could I possibly manage??
Working through my list in Do-Ahead Thanksgiving Dinner (Part 1), I have made my turkey stock and gravy, asked friends to bring pies and ordered my turkey. Now is the time to make my favorite part: stuffing Continue reading
Chicago’s Magnificent Mile – Perfect for Early Christmas Shopping
It is almost Thanksgiving and the start of holiday season here in the U.S. This is when I wish the moratorium on human cloning had expired, and I could be in multiple places at once. Continue reading
Asian Rolls
After much delay, I am finally getting around to posting the third (and final) part of my blog series: Do-Ahead Party for a Crowd – Easy Appetizer Menu. I had been waiting for an occasion to make the final recipe, and I could not have found a happier one – our youngest son’s wedding.
A WEDDING AND A WOMBAT
Lime-Cumin Chicken Salad in Square Won Tons
There are certain flavor combinations that I find magical.
Sometimes these are flavors that take each other up a notch when combined in sequence – like Roquefort with a good Cabernet Sauvignon. Both the cheese and the wine are excellent alone; yet, when you pair them in the right proportions by eating them sequentially, each one enhances the other. Continue reading
“Cabbage Bowl” and Vegetables Ready for Dressing and Service
When our son Alex, who lives in New York City, asked for help with his upcoming “house-warming” party, I was delighted.
ME: Would you like me to fly out and help? The party sounds like fun!
ALEX: Well, I hate to trouble you. If you could just send me some ideas, that would be nice. I was especially interested in the recipe for those Asian rolls.
ME: Oh, I’m shocked. You don’t want your parents to attend your first big party?? 
Needless to say, the end result was not a trip to New York – Continue reading
