Nine of us sat around the table Sunday night, tired and hungry, as the husbands heaped generous portions of chicken parmesan and sausage lasagna onto their plates and thanked cooking with friends. It was two days of fantastic skiing in the Catskills, as we relaxed around the table, filling our ...
Cooking with Friends (in rollers)
Yes, that’s me pictured in hot rollers by the stove with a friend. Looks like a snap shot from the 1950’s, right? Well, there’s actually a cute story behind it (at least I think so!). You see, Lynn and I have known each other for years and I’ve always thought she had the best hair! We’ve grown ...
A Conversation with Suzan Colón
We are thrilled to share our interview with Suzan Colón, author of Cherries in Winter. In your new book, Cherries in Winter, you describe so well the intermingling aromas of Irish and German immigrant cooking in the tenement housing of New York. For us, we envision open doors to kitchens, where ...
Hop on the Bread Baking Wagon
Mix three cups flour, 1 ¼ teaspoons salt, ¼ teaspoon active yeast and 1 and ½ cups cold water together in a bowl. Cover the bowl and forget about it for 12, 18 or even 24 hours. We’ll come back to it later. (Adapted from Jim Lahey’s book “My Bread.”) Sometimes a nudge from a friend is all it ...
Decorating with Friends
Congratulations to Jackie in NJ for winning the Dolce Gusto coffee machine. Jackie's story about decorating holiday cookies with her two close friends illustrated how much one can learn by teaming up with a friend that has a special talent. Jackie, who had felt nervous going into their cookie ...
Desserts for the New Year
Last Wednesday, Debbie and I enjoyed our annual Day-before-New-Year’s Eve-dessert- making- session. Although we part ways for the last night of the year, making our desserts together is our New Year’s celebration as friends. It’s a rewarding way to make some of our gourmet meals in advance. We’ve ...
Hearty Minestrone
This is a soup we crave on cold winter nights, and one that we’ve found is a good food gift for friends. Accompanied by a loaf of hearty bread, it is dinner by itself, but it can also be a perfect lunch or afternoon warm-up. One thing that’s so great about Minestrone is that you can vary the ...
New Year's Gift from Sam's Club
Happy New Year! As you’re running around doing all your New Year's Eve preparations, we have a gift for you. That’s right, you. Sam’s has generously provided Cooking With Friends readers with three $100 gift cards. If you’re already a Sam’s member, you’ll have $100 to spend any way you want. If ...
Holiday Reflections
The holiday season comes and goes every year the same way for me. It barrels in, full force and then, as quickly as it came, leaves. Empty boxes, broken cookies, falling gingerbread houses, fragments of leftover holiday meals, happy memories and exhausted children all left in its wake. To ...
A Re-Purposed Porch
I was thankful for the freezing cold weather this week since my covered front porch served as an extra freezer for my baking date. My friend Kathe and I got together, as we usually do at this time of year, to crank out loads and loads of edible sweets -- including peanut brittle, pralines and ...