The Perfect Cup of Cocoa

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

It’s cold in New York this week.  Really cold.  Cocoa weather.  Ironically, I learned to make good cocoa in sunny California.  During my first year in law school at Berkeley, I rented rooms from a wonderfully eccentric Dutch artist.  One rare chilly day when I was hunkered down studying for my exams, she taught me […]

Light and a Little Exotic: Rose-Flavored Milk Pudding

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

I think the cleaners have shrunk my trousers over the last month or so.  I don’t want to spring for alterations, or new trousers, so I’m trying to reduce their contents a bit by lightening up my meals and getting a little more exercise.  This dessert fits right into my program. It’s creamy and silky-smooth, and […]

Don’t Worry, You Don’t Need a Diaper Bag

Monday, January 4, 2010

Last weekend we got the happy news that our good friends’ first child had been born, a healthy baby boy.  Of course, I had been dispensing unsolicited advice for months.  I remember one evening in particular.  Between cocktails and dinner we had taken the couple to a baby superstore in Manhattan with the aim of […]

No Tannenbaum

Sunday, January 3, 2010

The dreaded event has come and gone:  taking down the Christmas tree, and, with it, the garlands, wreaths, flower arrangements and candles that decorated our Southampton home for the Holidays.  It always makes me a little sad, but sooner or later, I just have to pull up my socks, vacuum up the pine needles and […]

Spectacular (and Achievable) 18 Layer Cake

Thursday, December 31, 2009

It looks like something the Grinch looted from Whoville, but it’s actually a Norwegian Kransekake (literally “ring cake”), traditionally served at Christmas, New Year’s and on other special occasions.  I always bake several around Christmas to give as gifts and to serve to Holiday guests, and they always make a big impression.  More a tower […]

Fragrant Winter Greens

Monday, December 28, 2009

This is the second arrangement I made for my pre-Holiday week in San Francisco in my quick/easy/inexpensive Holiday decorating experiment.  (The first was the table arrangement detailed in my December 24 post.)  You may recall that the rules of the game were that all of the materials had to be purchased in a single outing […]

Winter Sunshine: Lemon Lover’s Tart

Saturday, December 26, 2009

I love Holiday desserts –gingerbread, pumpkin pie, persimmon pudding, multitudinous cookies, chocolate everything– but, as the season goes on, one becomes increasingly aware that they’re mostly, well, brown.  And eating them on top of meals of roasted meat and fowl, rich sauces, root vegetables and full-bodies wines tends to lull my already heavy-lidded palate toward […]

Stylish (and fast) Holiday Arrangement

Thursday, December 24, 2009

During the Holidays, most of us end up in a sort of decorating/cooking/baking/eating/drinking/entertaining hyperdrive.  It can be great fun, but it can also be too much, and it comes too fast.   This year, with a wide-eyed toddler to entertain, I’ve been looking for ways to streamline and simplify our Holiday preparations and carve out […]

Gear: Handsome (and Economical) Soap Dispensers

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Last weekend one of my errands was to replenish the liquid soap in our Manhattan kitchen.  I had used Molton Brown products for years — White Mulberry was my favorite scent– and I thought I’d stick with that.  Until I actually looked at the price:  $25 for the standard 10 oz bottle.  With the matching […]

Cooking: Delicious Pantry Pasta

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

One evening a few months ago we arrived in Southampton very late.  There was no fresh food in the house, all of our take-out sources were closed, and we were hungry, verging on cranky.  Rather than brave the late-night supermarket, I decided to see what I could do with what we had on hand.  After […]

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →