Interior Design: Boolsie’s Pouf

Monday, September 14, 2009

A couple of weeks ago I was walking through Manhattan’s Chelsea Market (on a mission to buy Mahi Mahi fillets, gin and green beans) and something caught me eye.  Oddly, for a food market, Chelsea Market has among its tenants, Imports from Marrakech, a shop featuring Moroccan lanterns, tile, rugs and other decorative accessories.  Piled […]

Baking: Interesting, Delicious Shortbread Variations

Sunday, September 13, 2009

I can see why many of my friends dislike baking.  Baking instruction always seems to begin with a stern admonition that goes something like, “Unlike cooking, baking is serious business requiring great precision.  It is gravely important that you follow all instruction to the letter — all improvisation, experimentation and other forms of self-expression will […]

DaddyStyle: Sharp Inexpensive Umbrellas

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Labor Day has come and gone, it’s breezy and cooler in New York, and they’re predicting rain tomorrow. A quick search of the coat closet for an umbrella to stash in my bag revealed a sad but familiar situation: a little pile of three tacky black folding numbers, complete with ugly chromed plastic doo-dads on […]

Guilty Pleasure: Graham Cracker Sandwich Cookies

Thursday, September 10, 2009

An interesting thing about having a child has been the way my own childhood memories have crept back into my consciousness.  When my mother was finished frosting a cake, she would use the leftover icing to make graham cracker sandwich cookies, wrapping them in wax paper and putting them in the freezer to be rationed […]

Interior Design: Painting Stripes

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

About a week before Julia was born, I set to work on her first room in San Francisco.  She was to be born in California, and our plan was to spend a month at our home there before bringing her back to New York.  I wanted her first room to be cheerful, bright, whimsical and […]

Drinking: Three Margarita Alternatives

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Warm weather, meat on the grill, margaritas — they all go together, at least at our house.  While I can’t really get enough of the first two, I can max out on the third, and not just because of my blood alcohol level.  Of course, there are other refreshing summer cocktails, like the WASPish gin […]

Cooking: Green Olive, Lemon and Almond Relish

Friday, August 21, 2009

This relish is a culinary magic trick I learned from the great Judy Rodgers of San Francisco’s beloved Zuni Cafe and perform regularly, particularly in the warmer months.  With the exception of the optional preserved lemon, it’s made of common pantry ingredients (which, I think, should include preserved lemon, but that’s another subject), comes together […]

Chicken Tagine with Green Olives and Preserved Lemon

Thursday, August 20, 2009

What’s makes a perfect dish?  The answer, of course, depends on the circumstances, but, in my world at least, it’s likely to meet the following criteria:  delicious, uniquely flavored, quick, inexpensive, good to prepare in advance, nearly foolproof.  This one handily passes all of those tests, but even if it didn’t, I’d still make it […]

Cooking: Secret Ingredient –Preserved Lemon

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Preserved lemon is a complex, almost exotic flavor that really needs a better name.  Calling this condiment “preserved lemon” is sort of like calling a nice Bordeaux “preserved grape juice:” it’s technically accurate, but it misses the point.  Forget candied lemon peel and its sticky sweet fruitcake friends.  Originating in Morocco, preserved lemon is a […]

Drinking: Gin Fizz

Monday, July 27, 2009

“I don’t know whether to drink this or dab it behind my ears.”   So said a friend last weekend when I handed him his first gin fizz.  Made correctly, the gin fizz is an ethereal drink, an aromatic, ultralight concoction whose pleasures lie at the intersection of our senses of taste and smell.  (Made carelessly, […]

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