Cooking Articles

Christmas morning is a time of celebration and the last thing one wants is a kitchen debacle to interfere with the day’s fun. When balancing church-going with stocking rituals and present opening, a...

Did you ever stop to wonder how the delicious tradition of Christmas cookies came about? Cookies are as much a part of the holiday celebration as the nativity scene, a decorated tree, and prettily wrapped...

When trying to come up with a fun dessert to bring to a family Christmas Eve party, I recently came across a pretty cool idea ñ an chocolate sandwich cookie cake! Everyone loves Oreo cookies, right?...

Right now, you might still be debating what to do on New Year's Eve. Should you travel to a happening spot like Vegas in order to go to an expensive, crowded club or should you shell out for an expensive,...

There is something about watching a very big apple drop that causes Americans to plan big parties or big trips in anticipation of that life-changing moment when one Western Calendar year passes into the...

In my book, the winter holidaze ain’t a daze without the egg nog! I’ve never quite understood why people turn up their noses at this delicious concoction. For Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s...

Classic Cocktail Party, Redux

December 31, 1955. Any Town, USA. A beaming housewife in satin and pearls opens the door to greet her guests for her New Year's gathering. She takes coats and makes introductions, air kissing the husbands...

As you probably know, I not only love food and cooking, but am also intrigued by the history of food. For this Christmas column, I did a bit of research on the traditional foods and customs of Christmas...

Today it’s too early to think about health. It is Christmas morning, a time for leftover Santa cookies, flaky scones, smoked salmon, and maybe a fruit squeezed in there somewhere. Later there will...

Tis the season for sweet beverages, and it's the only time of year your Aunt Edna allows herself to punch it up with some nog-love. Of course, if there's one culinary constant during the holidays, it...

Face it, whatever your plans are for New Years Eve, the food plan should come down to one thing: eat whatever you want because tomorrow the diet starts. For some people this plan might involve sharing...

As the holiday season winds to an end, we start to think about how we will usher in the New Year. In the past, I have had some pretty memorable New Year’s Eve experiences, everything from walking into...

As this decade comes to a close, it might be nice to look back on some of the most influential cooking trends of the last ten years. Whether or not you realized it, not so much a trend as a revolution...

We could all use a little luck with the coming of the New Year. In America, particularly the American South, that often means sitting down to a bowl of black eyed peas. As the name suggests, the legume...

New Year’s Eve always comes so quickly, with a breathless, in-your-face reality check that another year is gone. I’m always a bit saddened, but am also glad and ready for a new year, a fresh start. When...

From Eve's Indulgence To Morning's Resolutions

I’ve spent New Year’s Eve in about every way imaginable. There have been intimate home-cooked meals for four and large appetizer spreads for forty. I have been at a resort in Bali standing in line...