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The holiday season was certainly hectic. So much so that Lou couldn’t help Debbie and I make Eggplant Rollatini (one of his Christmas day staples) as he had hoped. As it turned out though, Lou was with us in spirit. He not only sent us his recipe, but purchased the Caccio Cavallo cheese for us, ...
Kitchen Chronicles
Cookie Decorating — A Holiday Highlight
This blog posting was supposed to go up before Christmas but since we didn’t have internet service for ten days, it’s delayed. (I know holiday cookies aren’t the timeliest topic for the New Year!) I’ll admit as I’ve done before. Cookie decorating does not come naturally to me. I’m not a ...
A Very Special Guest
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Last Tuesday I brought a very special guest with me to the cooking class I teach at the Montclair Cooperative School. It’s a man who taught me how to roll, cut, mold and perfectly cook gnocchi, a delicate and decadent food I previously knew little about and had always been intimidated to make. Of ...
Most Thankful
It’s been a few weeks since Thanksgiving, with each passing day swiftly bringing us nearer to the holidays. But before the ball drops, welcoming us into 2013, I’d like to reflect upon a gratifying cooking date with Kathe, marking our fifth year cooking together in preparation for Thanksgiving. (I ...
Love of Teaching
I learned the coolest kitchen trick I’ve ever seen from one of my 7th grade students while teaching a cooking class. I was about to demonstrate my messy but effective hand method of separating an egg yolk from the whites when my student enthusiastically offered to share her no fail Chinese method, a ...
A Gnocchi Making Tradition
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When you’ve made something more than once with a friend, there’s no two ways around it, you’ve started a tradition. Last week, I was invited to Lou’s to make pumpkin gnocchi. Lou had been upset that a batch of roasted pumpkin puree went rancid, one of the lesser yet still frustrating casualties of ...
Blissful Baking
Storms can do a lot of damage and for me that manifested itself in my friendships, many of which rely often on cooking dates to connect. With tree limbs down, our roads were blocked, making even a quick coffee with a friend nearly impossible. Separated only by a few streets, we were estranged from ...
Post Sandy Reflections
It’s been an implausible two weeks in the metro New York area since Hurricane Sandy first struck. My family lost power for nine days and we were the luckier ones. In my last blog, with “Frankenstorm” looming, I wrote about the possibility of a power outage, which in effect would cause me to lose ...
Frankenstorm and My Freezer
It’s called Frankenstorm and it is barreling toward the metro New York City area as I swiftly type this blog in anticipation of a potential loss of power. The weather is starting to show signs of what’s soon to come — intermittent strong gusts of wind, swirling leaves and an occasional limb falling ...
Farm Fresh Thanksgiving
My childhood Thanksgiving table was colorful, but not with cornucopias and table decorations. The vibrancy instead came from gloriously prepared vegetables. Honey glazed carrots, sautéed Brussels sprouts with diced pancetta, slow cooked cranberry sauce, creamed spinach, cauliflower smothered in a ...