Archive for the 'holidays' Category
Homemade Marshmallows
February 19th, 2010by Lisa
The Valentine’s Day lollipops were a disaster. Two recipes, three flavors, three batches, nearly 150 suckers later, and not a single one came out right. They were pretty, but not so tasty, and didn’t harden. They’re not a good activity for kids because well, candy is really hot.
So, on February 13 we were stuck. [...]
Pasta with Beets for Valentine’s Day
February 14th, 2010by Caroline
There was a time when Valentine’s Day had me making heart-shaped chocolate sandwich cookies, or even, just a few weeks before Ben was born, brownie ice cream sandwiches (I’ll never forget the lady who saw me standing in the ice cream aisle — I was looking for flavor inspiration — and commented, “It’s a [...]
Hickory Puffs
December 30th, 2009My dad and sons added a new cookie to their repertoire this year, one I grew up with thanks to the nut-gathering efforts of my dad: hickory puffs. Now, most Californians don’t know about hickory nuts; the trees grow in New England and Wisconsin, and the nut shells are so hard and the nutmeat so [...]
Chocolate Hazlenut Roulade
December 30th, 2009By Lisa
My Christmas table wouldn’t be complete without a chocolate roulade, which my sister calls a giant ho ho, or giant yodel, and she’s right. But it’s delicious, and deceptively easy to make. I’ve been making this recipe for about 8 years, though the recipe has morphed into its current incarnation.
I start with Jacques Pepin’s [...]
Cooking with Granddad
December 30th, 2009by Caroline
We don’t have quite as many holiday food traditions as Lisa’s family — the meals always vary depending on whether we stay in California or travel east to my parents’ home — but one tradition that reaches back generations is, as in many families, cookie baking. My grandmother and mother kept tallies of [...]
Tomato Confit
December 28th, 2009by Lisa
For two years now, I’ve served my Christmas filet with tomato confit. It’s totally delicious, sweet, herbaceous, jammy concoction that is pretty and complex enough for your holiday table.
But every year I have way too much left over. This year, I halved the recipe and still had too much, and so when we were [...]
Holiday Dining: Eating In
December 28th, 2009by Lisa
We are, when it comes to Christmas menus, a family of traditions. Though the side dishes and exact preparation may change from year to year, if my mother, my sister, or I are cooking, the meal is alway anchored by a beef filet. It’s a really expensive cut of meat, but our gatherings are [...]
Making Cookies, Making a Mess
December 22nd, 2009by Caroline
I was sharing some of my food writing with a friend recently — mostly stories of cooking with my kids — and she started shaking her head in wonder. “This is just so foreign to me,” she said, “All of your kitchen stories are so. . . happy.”
I reminded her I do have it [...]
Milk Punch
December 21st, 2009by Lisa
One of our favorite holiday traditions is Milk Punch. While the boys in the family could survive on Egg Nog and pumpkin pie from Thanksgiving until New Year, the girls here prefer Milk Punch, which is actually a traditional New Orleans drink. We are not in the least bit southern, but more than a [...]
Christmas Cookies: Pistachio-Cranberry Icebox Cookies
December 17th, 2009by Caroline
This is the third Christmas for this cookie recipe, which I found in Gourmet and love for all the reasons I love making candy: it’s quick, beautiful, and makes a lot.
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (did you [...]