Chris Nordquist
“Lil’ trees!” is what Julia said when she saw these on the kitchen counter. Maybe it’s because I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, but I’ve always loved the sight and scent of evergreens, and I’m eager to bring them indoors in the wintertime. I bought these lil trees in the plant and flower district […]
It’s done! As promised, we painted the foyer before Thanksgiving. (But only just –we were removing the last of the masking tape the night before.) Thank you to all of you who weighed in when I asked for help choosing a color. Your comments were very helpful. Those favoring the green swatches were in the […]
Our friend Catherine is an elegant and accomplished hostess. I picture her on Thursday emerging from the kitchen bearing a huge, perfectly dressed turkey –and without a bead of sweat on her brow or a spot on her vintage Chanel– and I’ll bet there’s little exaggeration in this vision. A week or so ago she […]
“I can do it!” Julia said (with surprising force) when I tried to cut a scone or two myself out of the soft spongy dough. She was into it. Maybe it was because the dough was easy to handle, or because the cutters were small enough to fit her two year-old hand. Or maybe it […]
Thanksgiving’s just a week away, we’ll have a houseful, and it’s time to get my act together. It’s not the turkey dinner that trips me up, it’s all the other meals for the extra long holiday weekend that I often find myself scrambling to prepare. Well, not this year. I’m doing my peripheral Thanksgiving menu […]
We had some memorable meals on our recent trip to Tokyo, but one dish stands out in my mind for its exquisite simplicity: a seasonal dessert composed of slices of Fuyu persimmon sprinkled with pomegranate seeds. I love each of them — the tender flesh and gentle, honey-like sweetness of the Fuyu persimmon and the […]
We’ve got 8 people coming to dinner in Southampton on Saturday. It’s going to be a busy weekend, though, so my culinary efforts need to be extra efficient. Here’s a repost of favorite recipe for something very special that comes together in just a few minutes. Last Tuesday my partner David was bringing home two […]
Last Friday our friends Visnja and Franck came to dinner in the City. One nice thing about being the cook for the evening, of course, is getting to choose the menu, and I put together a line-up of old favorites: Dried Figs in Red Wine (that I had on hand) with blue cheese and crackers […]
I actually enjoy a complicated baking project now and then, but I can’t really remember when I last had the time to tackle one. Probably last Christmas . . . . Most of the time, my test for a homemade dessert is whether the active time to make it is more or less than the […]
Nearly every morning, Julia and I make breakfast together. It’s a nice little ritual shared by two non morning-people: she sits on the kitchen counter and helps me whip up something delicious to compensate us for the fact that we have to get out of our pajamas before 10. Like me, she has an on […]
