March 24th is National Cocktail Day, a day we’re using to revisit cocktail garnishes. Many standard garnishes have been used since the advent of the particular cocktail—they’re what that first bartender used when he mixed the first Sazerac (America’s first cocktail) or Gin Fizz. We’ll look at them as well as at modern cocktail garnishes. […]
[1] You can have these tamales shipped to you: Beef Tenderloin, Ancho Chile Pork, and Chicken Tomatillo (photo © Mackenzie Limited). [2] The masa filling is wrapped in a corn husk or banana leaf. In a pinch, in the old days, even tree bark was used (photo © Broken Spanish | Los Angeles). [3] Open […]
March 22nd is National Bavarian Crêpes Day. What are Bavarian crêpes? Called palatschinke in Bavaria (the singular is palacinka), these crêpes (some people call them pancakes, but see the next section) are typically made from wheat flour or buckwheat flour. You’ll also see them referred to as Balkan-style crêpes, Croatian crêpes, Hungarian crêpes, Serbian crêpes, […]
[1] A bowl of Pink-A-Boo variety pineberries (all photos © Wish Farms). [2] You can find them at stores nationwide. [3] Growing on the plant. [4] Pineberry and poppyseed salad dressing. Here’s the recipe. [5] Pineberry garnish on a vanilla butter cake. Here’s the recipe. [6] Top a bruschetta with goat cheese or ricotta. Here’s […]
October 4th is National Taco Day. So why do we need a second holiday, March 21st*, National Crunchy Taco Day? To celebrate hard tacos a.k.a. crunchy tacos. They may merit their own holiday because in Mexico, tacos were traditionally made with soft corn tortillas. While today you can find tacos with flour tortillas, and with […]
[1] Mr. Carrots’ Mango-Passion Milk Chocolate Almonds (all photos © Omnom). [2] Mr. Bunny’s friend from the farm, the sheep, delivers a salted-almond chocolate bar. [3] Introduce the Easter bunny to a unicorn, who brings a caramel chocolate bar. Instead of a chocolate bunny rabbit, how about something crunchier? Mr. Carrots’ Mango-Passion Milk Chocolate […]
Does the spring salad recipe in photo #1 look complicated? It couldn’t be easier. So start your celebration of spring with a lively spring salad. Photo #1 is a simple mixture of: Pea shoots (photo #2), a fleeting spring treat Fresh mint Baby radishes Snow peas Edible flower petals Vinaigrette of EVOO and fresh lemon […]
[1] A fancy breakfast, brunch or lunch: a Crepini crêpe filled with asparagus, pancetta and scrambled eggs (all photos © Crepini). [2] Tex-Mex favorites are easy to recreate, from tacos and tostadas to these enchiladas.
Following the popularity of the gingerbread house, there’s the Easter Bunny Hutch. Create an Easter centerpiece every bunny will love with this Ready-to-Build Chocolate Cookie Bunny Hutch Kit from Wilton. The kit has everything you need: 6 chocolate cookie panels Decorative candies Icing (blue, green, yellow, pink) Bunny butt icing decoration 2 decorating bags and […]
[1] Classic Irish Coffee (photo © Slane Irish Whiskey). [2] Irish coffee shots (photo © Rogers & Cowan). [3] Make an Irish Cream “Martini” with Irish whiskey and Irish cream liqueur. Here’s the recipe (photo © McCormick) . [4] Iced Irish Coffee (photo © Cask & Kettle). [5] A coffee bean garnish. Another modern touch […]