Cooking Articles

Waking Up For Christmas Eve

The night before Christmas can be filled with sleepless hours for many people, those who look forward to waking up in the morning to filled stockings and present-laden trees. For some, such as a lucky...

'Tis The Season For Eating

‘Tis the season for festive holiday merrymaking and nonstop eating. From stringing popcorn for tree decorations to helping to fry the Hanukah potato latkes at grandma’s knee to baking cookies to leave...

A Taste of Hannukah

A tradition for many centuries, candles and menorahs are lit around the world during the eight-day celebration of Hanukkah. Family and friends gather for feasting, fun, stories and games. And, of course,...

Veggies to the Rescue! What's-on-Hand Soup

It’s been one of those weeks: seems like every time I turn around we’re out of something, somebody needs something, or there’s email, texts, phone calls, deadlines, errands, chauffeur-duty, homework...

Blended Wines and Other Such Faux Pas

Growing up, I never saw my parents drink wine or even beer. My dad would drink an ice cold non-alcoholic O’Doul’s; occasionally, he let me have a sip but I wasn’t impressed by the taste. Even after...

Whole Holiday Dinner, Easy and Impressive

Impressive: a word never far from my mind when dreaming up Christmas dinner. Easy: probably the last word I am thinking of when plotting for a full day in the kitchen. Impressive and easy are two words...

Holiday Cookie Extraordinaire

The year I turned sixteen, a friend and I were inspired to dig into baking some Christmas cookies. My mom was all for it—and even gave us the money to go to the store and buy the ingredients. So we...

Kill 'Em With Kahlua Cake

Last week I suggested that one can clobber the holiday blues by getting into the center of holiday spirit: make some food and give it away! My first thought with this week’s advice was to share my bourbon...

How Many Fishes On Christmas Eve?

We were just puzzling over the family holiday plans, and came to a little stumbling block. With a couple of different outings scheduled for Christmas Eve, the seven fish dinner we usually like to enjoy...

A Brunch of Christmas Presents

Christmas is most certainly my favorite holiday of the year. More than the presents, turkey dinner, or Christmas Eve feast, I think it is Christmas morning that I most look forward to. It is the time...

Christmas Cookies With a Kiss

Baking cookies at the holidays holds many fond family memories for me. And it certainly is that cookie baking time of the year. From when I first remember watching my mom drop the teaspoonfuls onto the...

Boughs of Holly

Christmas gifts have begun to arrive at our home. Many of them are live plants including poinsettias and miniature evergreen trees. Other gifts, such as loaves of homemade bread, cookies, candy, and Christmas...

A Better, Edible Fruitcake

Fruitcake. The very word is enough to make the most die-hard Christmas fanatic shudder. But when was the last time you had a fruitcake? It was probably more recently that you think. And you just might...

Ho Ho Ho and Some Holiday Munchies!

If your family is anything like mine, then holiday excitement has reached a fever pitch! We’ve spent the past few weeks decorating, baking cookies, wrapping, and planning our Christmas menus. With...

The Twelve Days of Slow Cooking

During this season of giving, why not celebrate the twelve days of slow cooking and share some special holiday dishes? Good food is central to almost all holiday celebrations and holiday feasting is one...

Thinking Outside the Christmas Dinner Box

It all started with a goose. Some years ago while I was living in New York, my parents called from California about five days before Christmas asking if it was possible to procure a goose for the holiday...