Filed under Entertaining …

Canal House Cooking

Time to break out the perserved lemons – or make your own.  I have a jar myself, just like the one at right, begging to be used, and now that I have the newly released Canal House Cooking, I’ll crack that jar open posthaste. You can read more about this new cookbook in my Packet In The … Continue reading →

Nostrano @ Bistro Soleil

Jim Hayes, owner of Bistro Soleil restaurant in Hightstown, is a busy bee. Not only does he run his restaurant and catering business, he is also hard at work sourcing produce from local farms and the Hightstown wholesale produce market for his Nostrano line of foods.   (That’s the Tri-County Co-Operative Auction Market, no website found but info. on past … Continue reading →

Chez Alice Wedding Trends

I’ve been meaning to get back to this topic, continuing from my March 5 post.  Chez Alice Catering Company owner Kelly Hamdan had talked to me about wedding trends at her recent open house, and I wanted to give you a summary.  Green weddings (and other types of events) are in.  Couples want to honor the environment, whether … Continue reading →

Cheater’s Baklava

Thought I’d share the recipe for the baklava I took to the Mary Jacobs Library in Rocky Hill when I spoke there last week.  If you have avoided making this because of having to butter all those sheets of phyllo, have I got a solution for you.  Don’t do it.  Try my easy method below, … Continue reading →

Wedding Perfect

I’ll post more on this in the next few days, but just came home all fired up (okay, and a little sugared up), from sampling some delicious food at Chez Alice Catering Company’s wedding (and other special events) showcase. I’ll have another photo, too; this was is one of many on the Chez Alice Catering … Continue reading →

Are you ready for OTBN?

I love Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher’s wine columns in the Wall Street Journal.  The couple is about as unpretentious as wine experts (or anyone for that matter) can be, always encouraging you to try new things, and not to be afraid to like something that may not be in fashion right now. And they are … Continue reading →

New Year’s Treat

Here’s a fast and easy treat for New Year’s Eve or New Years’s Day brunch.  It was part of one of my first In The Kitchen columns written for the Packet, back in April 2002 (yikes!).  Where ever I take it, it gets raves, and it only takes moments to put together.  I almost always … Continue reading →

Cookie Haul

My first ever cookie exhange.   I tentatively show up with my Earl Grey Chocolate Shortbread Coins and Mexican Crackle Cookies (both from “The Art & Soul of Baking”).  Would I measure up?  Whew, mine disappeared off the trays and into our tins, right along with everyone else’s.  Humiliation averted, I scurried home with my haul, … Continue reading →

Time to Vote!

No, you’re not having an post-election flashback.  This is a different type of election.  Princeton’s own supreme culinary contestant, Devon Delaney, who has won mega cooking awards, is once again in the running, this time for a Super Bowl tailgating recipe contest at epicurious.com. She is one of ten finalists and you have until December … Continue reading →

Such is Life

I vividly remember the first time I had seafood on a pizza.  I was on vacation in Cozumel, Mexico years ago. Friends staying at the same hotel I was had raved about the seafood pizza at a local restaurant, and I was both intrigued and a bit put off by the idea – but as … Continue reading →