Walking home from choir through midtown I pass a veritable forest of Christmas trees. Some, like the one at Rockefeller that presides over the skaters and the shoppers, are a joyful cacophony of light and sparkle. Others, guarding the banks and corporate HQs, wear more minimalist icy accessories. Continue reading
The Wednesday Tipple – Tree Trimming Punch (and vanilla star cookies)
Posted in The Wednesday Tipple
Tagged apple, apple cider, apple juice, biscuit, Christmas, Christmas tree, cinnamon, cocktail, cookie, holiday party, tree trimming, vodka
Leave a comment
The Monday Treat – Warm panettone bread pudding
I was heading to my choir rehearsal when I heard a New Yorker having a really good day.
A group of tourists in brightly colored ski jackets (why?) approached him as we waited at the lights.
“Excuse me,†asked one, “But how do you get to Carnegie Hall?†Continue reading
Posted in The Monday Treat
Tagged bread pudding, Carnegie Hall, Christmas, cream, custard, dessert, eggs, nutmeg, panettone, vegetarian
Leave a comment
This Dinner Will Get You Laid – New York eliminates the possibility of Ninja Romance, but luckily, there’s always chocolate cake
It was Abigale’s birthday this week, and boyfriend Simon planned a romantic surprise. He would sneak into her apartment while she was at work, and fill it with flowers.
He could see it in his mind’s eye; roses in a vase on the coffee table, roses on the mantle piece, flowers in a jam jar in the bathroom, flowers in the kitchen in an old glass milk bottle by the sink, petals on the bed. It would be the ultimate romantic surprise. Continue reading
Posted in This Dinner Will Get You Laid
Tagged baking, cake, chocolate, chocolate cake, icing, ninja, ninjas vs pirates, pirate, pirate treasure, sneak like a ninja day
2 Comments
The Wednesday Tipple – Well behaved Lychee Martinis (with edamame) in preparation for Sneak Like A Ninja Day
I’ve been perfecting my lychee martini recipe in anticipation on Sneak Like A Ninja Day, which, of course, I’m sure we’re all celebrating on December 5th.
It’s one of my favorite parties of the year – lychee martinis, sushi for the Ninjas and pizza for the Ninja Turtles. Then we sneak.
You’d think a lychee martini would be a fairly innocuous sort of drink. After all, look at it. It’s got an air of sophistication, of exoticism, or elegance, even. But in my experience of cocktail hour no other single drink has been responsible for so much disaster and carnage. Continue reading
Posted in The Wednesday Tipple
Tagged edamame, edible flowers, Grace, lychee, martini, ninja, sneak like a ninja, vodka
1 Comment
Apple pierogi with warm apple compote
Last Hanukkah our friends Ingyin and Yosi cooked us the greatest latkes in the world and then promptly moved to Abu Dhabi to set up the new NYU physics department. Just the two of them and a whole bunch of undergraduates in the middle of the desert. Which is rather heading into Lord of the Flies territory. In any case, they left and took their latkes with them.
So this year, if we are to celebrate the Festival of Lights, we must do it on our own. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged apple, cinnamon, cream, Festival of Lights, Hanukkah, perogi, pierogi, recipe, vegetarian
Leave a comment
The Monday treat – Warm pear and gorgonzola tart with arugula salad
I met Lizzy in Columbus Circle for wine and macaroons and to offer my opinion on which of two Coach bags was the cuter, and found her in a rather more than usually agitated state. Continue reading
Posted in The Monday Treat
Tagged arugula, blue cheese, gorgonzola, honey, J, kazoo, Lizzy, pastry, pear, puff pastry, rocket, salad, tart, vegetarian, walnuts
2 Comments
This Dinner Will Get You Laid – Detox Coronation Turkey Salad
Yes, it’s been thanksgiving, but there’s also been a lot of Royal engagement fun occurring. Kate’s blue dress has sold out, the Tesco fake blue dress has also sold out, and the dress in Macy’s that I was intending to buy on sale is sold out too – too close to the soon-to-be Princess Kate’s wrap style, you see, even though it was green. Copies of the engagement ring are on the shopping channel. Engagement fever is in the air. Continue reading
Posted in This Dinner Will Get You Laid
Tagged apple, Christmas, coronation, coronation turkey, cranberries, detox, Kate Middleton, leftovers, lime, mango, royal wedding, Sara, Thanksgiving, turkey
1 Comment
The Wednesday tipple – Vanilla Vodka Hot Chocolate for fortification against the cold while watching the inflation of giant balloons
The thing that astonishes me about Thanksgiving is how quickly something becomes a tradition. This will be my 5th celebration of the holiday, my 3rd in New York, and already there are things I have to do otherwise it just wouldn’t be a real Thanksgiving. Continue reading
Posted in The Wednesday Tipple
Tagged balloons, chocolate, cinnamon, Dora the Explorer, honey, hot chocolate, milk, Parade, Thanksgiving, vanilla vodka, vodka
7 Comments
Wines for Thanksgiving
My sister Sarah is the Wine Buyer for Amathus Drinks, a London based importer and wholesaler. I know, great job, right? She discovered her calling at University where she became that rare thing, a discerning student drinker. Upon graduating she had to break the news to our tea total Methodist grandparents that she was going to study for her Masters in Wine rather than, as they had hoped, becoming a doctor. As with all things wine related, I bow to her vastly superior knowledge and palate, and leave you in her more than capable hands.
My sister tells me that Beaujolais is the classic pick for Thanksgiving, and, like most of the best traditions, there’s some method to it. It’s often tricky to find a wine that won’t overwhelm the flavour of turkey, but that will also be able to cut through the rich and sweet flavours of gravy, sweet potatoes butternut squash, marshmallow topped yams (can this really be true?) and the rest. Continue reading
The Monday Treat – Tasty spiced apple cupcakes and an extremely tasteful manicure
It finally happened; after weeks of obsessing about pumpkins, carving them, buying mini ones to decorate windowsills, roasting them, boiling them, pureeing them I may have reached my pumpkin quota.
It was all going so well. My skin hadn’t turned orange. There was still produce left in the shops. I could not see a problem with my pumpkin consumption. But then, yesterday, in a fancy Upper East Side salon while friend Kathleen opted for a tasteful plum mani pedi, I took down the bottle of vivid pumpkin orange and held it up to my nails and thought about how well it would match my Thanksgiving table cloth.
And suddenly it was all too much. Continue reading
Posted in The Monday Treat
Tagged apple, cupcake, Thanksgiving, toffee apple sauce, vegetarian
2 Comments