Come December, it’s hard not to think about cookies (especially since today is National Cookie Day).  For me, it’s usually a vision of a pretty box full of ten different kinds of cookies I can send off to my far away friends.  I’m usually lucky to end up with a few bags of toffee.

But Cookie Swap, Julia M. Usher’s beautiful new book, offers a better way to have many types of cookies at your disposal (whether or not you’ll want to give them as gifts is up to you) – have a party.

Cookie swap parties ask each guest to bring a batch or two of cookies to exchange with friends.  Even despite all the eating that will go on at the party, each guest should leave with a variety of cookies.

Usher is a pastry chef and food writer with a multitude of writing credentials, though before pastry she was a mechanical engineer.  She decided to channel her lover for baking in 1994 when she enrolled in Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, switching from one type of yellowcake to another.

Cookie parties, believes Usher, don’t need to be just at Christmas.  They could celebrate spring, a wedding, or Valentine’s day.  A first flip through the book leaves one thinking, “these are beautiful, but way too complicated to actually make!”

Indeed, Usher’s cookies are flawlessly frosted, adorned with perfect roses and nonpareils in just the right places.  Upon a thorough reading of the recipes, though, you find that nearly all can be made as easy or difficult as you’d like.  Sure, Usher offers excellent instructions on how to apply fondant leaves to pumpkin shaped cookies or make the marbled pattern on the butterfly wings, but the cookies manage to be beautiful and delicious even when the professional touches are omitted.

And, if you’re ready to take on the challenges of a pastry cone or fondant, Usher’s step-by-step instructions in the back of the book are more than able to get you on your way.  Her comprehensive party guides include ideas for decorations, invitations, and activities.

So go ahead, plan a party.  Just make sure all your guests have a copy of this book so the cookies you get are as fancy as the ones you’re giving away!

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Categories:	Baked Goods • Cookbooks • Entertaining • Holiday • Sweets • books • desserts	1 Comment
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Ugly Christmas sweater party, white elephant exchange, Hanakkah dinners and winter solstice gatherings all call for festive food and none more coveted in my opinion than the cheese tray.  I simply adore good cheese in all forms, but when a cheese platter is done right, I don’t even think about seeking out other appetizers, I’ve found the cheese!

Instead of preparing a 1970’s cheese ball, or cheese fondue, I invite you to get your creative juices flowing and create a cheese plate. With a couple tips and techniques, your cheese platter can look like an edible sculpture.

Cheese Tray Making Tips

• Choose a variety of cheeses made from a variety of milks: cow milk, goat milk and sheep’s milk.
• Think color. You don’t want all your cheeses to be cream or white colored. There are a variety of gorgeous blue cheeses, bright cheddars, wine-soaked rinds and yellow goudas.
• Allow cheeses to come to room temperature before serving, approximately 25 minutes. Soft cheeses need to be served soft. When cheese is cold, like most food, the true flavors are hidden. Only once cheese has acclimated to temperature, can you truly taste all the delicate nuances.
• With anything salty, it’s always nice to pair it with something sweet. Add seasonal fruit, jam or mostarda to balance out the flavors as well as bring out the subtleties from the cheese. Many people add honey or even a lovely honeycomb for a show stopping presentation.
• Provide dried as well as fresh fruit. A lovely prune can often match a cheese better than a plum.
• Think wine. If you are building a winter cheese plate, you may be pairing it with deeper reds. That may lend you to more blue style cheeses, or other aged or richer styles like Camembert. If you were building a summer cheese plate, younger cheeses and lighter cheeses will likely pair better with white wines. Like goat cheese, gouda and truffle-infused cheeses.
• Provide a variety of “vehicles” for the cheese, like soft bread, crackers and pita chips. Nothings more sad than a gorgeous gooey brie with nothing to smear it on.
• Provide appropriate cheese knives. There are hard cheese knives and soft cheese knives. Hard knives can help people easily slice through a hard cheese like Pecorino or Manchego cheese. Soft knives help guide gooey slices of soft cheese from plate to bread.
• Provide proper cheese labeling.  If not for your cow milk- intolerant guests, do it for education and as a conversation piece.
• For a tasty and colorful twist to stark white goat cheese, you can mince a variety of fresh herbs and roll your goat cheese roll through it. Great to do it with spices, nuts or simple black pepper.
• Lastly presentation. There are so many lovely cheese trays, slate boards and granite slabs out there to show off your cheeses. For something quick and easy, you can use any large plate and use fresh spinach, basil or another leafy herb to give a little more oomph to an everyday plate. Or is you live near an Asian market, you can buy fresh or frozen banana leaves for a striking green contrast.

Use these tips next time you are building a cheese tray for your own party or need a quick and tasty potluck dish to bring.

Above photo by: Gorgeoux

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Categories:	Cheese • Cooking tips • Entertaining • Holiday • Uncategorized	4 Comments
Tags:	Christmas • goat cheese • hanakkah • Holiday • how to make a cheese plate • how to make a cheese platter • potluck idea • solistice • Thanksgiving

Ah, shopping on the day before Thanksgiving.  The crowd makes it a stressful experience even if you know what you want – add having to make a wine choice while you’re there and the whole thing can be come miserable.

There’s an easy solution, however, (to the wine problem, not the parking) and it’s bubbles.  “Champagne” may be synonymous with “expensive”, but luckily it’s far from being the only option.  There are a number of widely available, affordable, and delicious bottles of sparkling wine.

Which is great, because dry sparkling wine is perfect for making everyone feel festive and for loosening up guests (drinks with bubbles enter your bloodstream quickly).  They can be drunk while cooking, passed as a welcoming glass (sparkling wine is less filling and has less alcohol than a cocktail) or, because they are so versatile, poured throughout the meal.

Gruet - Made in New Mexico by French transplants, Gruet makes excellent bubble for the price (about $14 a bottle).  Made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, using the Methode Champenoise (the same technique used to make Champagne), the wines have small bubbles and complex flavor.  A delicious rosé is also available.

Lucien Albrect Crémant d’Alsace Brut Rosé – You’ve probably seen this beautiful bottle of peachy bubbles, as it’s quite a popular sparkling pink.  Crémants are generally a good, affordable option if Champagne is out of your reach (they’re made by the same method, just not in the designated Champagne region), but this rosé is especially lovely.  Tart and creamy, and more than able to stand up to turkey, it’s a great way to spend $20.

Domaine Ste. Michelle Brut – The most affordable yet, this bottle from Columbia Valley is about $12 and worth every penny.  Again, made by Methode Champenoise, from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the wine is straight-forward,  crisp and a bit toasty.

Saracco Moscato d’Asti – In case you do decide to stick with bubble throughout dinner, here’s the way to end.  Low in alcohol and lightly sparkling, the Italian Moscato d’Asti is the perfect way to end a meal.  A bit sweet, floral, laden with peaches and apricot, this is a wine to be drunk young and often (it’s $16 a bottle).  Many brands of Moscato d’Asti are available, most are affordable and tasty.

None of these available in your store?  Look through what’s available for labels with the words Methode Champenoise or traditional method on them.  Crémants are generally a good way to go as are Blanquettes, and some Cava.  Remember that “Brut” means dry, “Sec” means extra dry, “Demi-Sec” is half dry, and “Doux” is sweet.  And never forget that the beauty of having a large group at dinner means more wine can be bought and tasted!

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Categories:	Beverages • Entertaining • Holiday • wine	4 Comments
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Top off your Thanksgiving table setting with an extra special touch.  Place cards are often reserved for more formal occasions, but I love to include them for my guests.  They add an element of surprise, whimsy, and elegance.

Plus, the components are right under your nose.  Literally.  Simply step into your front yard or reach into your fruit bowl.  These one-minute place cards are the perfect way to welcome your loved ones as they sit down for your much anticipated Harvest Feast.

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Categories:	Entertaining • Holiday	Leave a Comment
Tags:	placecards • thankgsgiving

No matter how packed full of turkey, potatoes and stuffing our bellies become, everyone I know has an uncanny ability to make wiggle room for dessert at the end of Thanksgiving dinner.  I mean, how could you not?  I’m sure everyone you know has this same natural ability.  It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without having at least a small sliver of the Aunt Betty’s famous pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin pie, however, was never a mandatory staple during our family’s Thanksgiving dinner ritual.  In fact, I never remember a single pumpkin dessert of any kind growing up.  What I do remember is fruit.  Lots of fresh fruit.

When I saw this beautiful pear dessert, I knew I had found the ending I’d been seeking for the big day.  It’s light, elegant, and doesn’t involve the words cream, butter, or sugar.

My belly will be happy with me.

Source:  NY Times, Fitness and Nutrition

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Categories:	Entertaining • Holiday • desserts	1 Comment
Tags:	Dessert • Entertaining • Holiday • Thanksgiving

Tonight the Hunt Club at the Sorrento Hotel will host bartender Alex Day and writer/bartender Toby Cecchini for another round of Drinking Lessons.

When Alex is not bartending at Death and Company,  he is cocktail consulting for bars and restaurants around New York City. Alex’s cocktail creations have been featured in several media outlets from web, print, radio and television.

Toby, also based in New York City, is an experienced bartender and food and beverage writer for a multitude of publications.  Besides being credited for making the Cosmopolitan cocktail the drink it is known so famously today, he is also the author of the book Cosmopolitan: A Bartender’s Life and is currently in the process of writing his second book.

Join us at the virtual bar at Nightschool as we upload photos, recipes and information about the current cocktail culture in America. Or follow along with us tonight on twitter.

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Tags:	drinking lessons • michael hebb • Nightschool • sorrento hotel

What you can prepare ahead, how to keep hot dishes hot and cold dishes cold and other food safety tips.

The holidays can be frantic; house guests fly in from out of town expecting an entire feast, presents must be wrapped and the house decorated with pumpkins and then immediately replaced with sparkling lights. Food safety can be easily forgotten in the rush of holiday cheer. To simplify your life remember these golden rules when preparing to entertain guests, so they remember your fabulous cooking and adorable holiday decorations and not the stomachache they had after eating:

1. Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold:

Keeping hot dishes hot can present a special challenge without proper equipment. Consider investing in a chafing dish, which works great for saucy items such as pot roast. Warming trays are another option, which are especially good for casseroles.

If you don’t want to invest in special equipment, you can serve everything at room temperature, just be sure it doesn’t stay out for more than two hours. An easy way to accomplish this is to have replacement trays of heated food ready to put out.

2. Prepare foods ahead.

Free oven space and avoid waking up at 4 a.m. the day of the gathering by preparing food ahead and freezing it. Casseroles and meat dishes freeze especially well, but you can freeze almost anything. Consider freezing food in individual portion sized containers for even reheating. For example, separate mashed potatoes into a muffin tin and freeze it. When you are ready to serve it, simply pop the tin in the oven. Just be sure to reheat all food to at least 140 F to kill potential bacteria.

3. Plan for last minute disasters.

Your turkey is golden brown and cooked to perfection, the table is set and the wine is poured, but your guests call at the last minute to let you know they’ll be two hours late, what do you do? Pop hot foods back into the oven and cover them with foil to prevent them from drying out. Keep any dishes that can be served cold in the refrigerator. If your guests are delayed more than two hours or have to reschedule you can safely keep food in the refrigerator for up to four days, otherwise freeze all the food.

4. Wash your hands. Constantly. Encourage others to do so.

Fifty percent of foodborne illness is spread from unwashed hands. Be especially careful when handling raw meat and produce.

This post was written by guest blogger, Danielle Koagel, who is the At Home section editor for EatDrinkandBe.org.

Eat, Drink and Be is an online food news magazine dedicated to educating consumers about all aspects of food production, safety, and quality.

Our goals are to present accurate and updated information by using the most qualified resources and interview subjects, and to promote awareness of food ingredients, sources and production procedures so individuals have the resources to choose wholesome foods. For more articles on holiday food safety and healthy eating tips, visit www.eatdrinkandbe.org.

Above Photo by: B Tal

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Tags:	health and safety tips • Holiday • Thanksgiving

Blood.

Ok… what do humans who like vampires eat? New Moon comes out in just over 9 hours, and we’ve been thinking about what foods will enhance the viewing experience.

Standing in line for tickets: You could be in for a long wait, so bring a snack. Apple Sandwiches are fitting on several levels. First, a shiny red apple graced the cover of the first Twilight book. Second, they have bacon. (Vampires are hot right now. Bacon is hot right now- see the connection?) Finally, the two slices of bread represent Bella being sandwiched between the Vampire world and the human one. Or something like that.

Dinner: Bella ate Mushroom ravioli on her first date with Edward, but that’s so cliched. Because the crew travels to Italy in this installment, crimson Beet Risotto is doubly appropriate- just leave out the garlic.  Pork Blood Stew or blood pudding will also work.

Dessert: Red velvet cake is a safe bet. However, milky white Alabaster Pudding with blood-red pomegranate sauce adds a distinct gothic feel to any meal.

Drinks: Vampire’s Kiss cocktail and Bloody Mary’s are both excellent choices, though a Blood Orange Bellini is a classy alternative. For the young adult crowd, try a Blood Orange Granita.

(image by andrew mason)

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Categories:	Entertaining	Leave a Comment
Tags:	Movies

For many of us, Thanksgiving is about the day, not just the evening meal.  And though eating is a time consuming affair (in my family we have one meal mid-afternoon and a second later in the evening), there’s always some down time.  Here are five ways to fill it – consider them ice breakers, education tools, or the Thanksgiving equivalent of a treadmill.

1.  Food Lover’s Trivia – With food as your game pieces and 1800 questions about all things food, this game may replace the turkey as the highlight of your Thanksgiving.  It manages to be a challenge to the food-educated without isolating the less food saavy.

2.  Foodie Fight – A somewhat simpler version of Food Lover’s Trivia with a thousand questions about all things foodie – formal service, celebrity chefs, cooking methods, cookbook authors, and ingredients.  There’s room for debate with some of the questions, which can lead to discussion, debate, laughter, and occasionally an actual food fight.

3.  Celebrity Chef!  The Game - Do you have what it takes to land a TV show, run a fabulous restaurant, or sign a book deal?  How’s your chef pop culture knowledge?  Take a break between stuffing and pumpkin pie to find out.

4.  Winerd – Move your cork playing piece across wine label spaces by answering wine trivia questions of all sorts…and by drinking wine.  The blind tasting aspect of the game keeps things interesting in a way other trivia games just can’t compete with.

5.  Eat It! – The perfect way to distract guests from a turkey that’s taking a bit longer than planned.  No questions about grass fed beef here – instead, find out how much you really know about Keebler, Little Debbie, and Cheetos.  What is the oldest Girl Scout cookie, anyway?

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When you think of MSG, greasy Chinese take out might come to mind.  As an artificial flavor enhancer, it seems to make everything in its path taste unnaturally good, but unfortunately, is not necessarily good for you. In fact, artificial monosodium glutamate in large quantities has been linked to health issues such as brain damage and endocrine disorders.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have a natural and safe source of MSG?  Look no further.  Mushrooms are not only praised for their rich, meaty flavor, but also have a high content of free amino acids.  One in particular, glutamic acid, is a concentrated natural source of monosodium glutamate.  Go figure.

No wonder mushrooms add such intense flavor to any dish.  For instance, you can start the night off with a Mushroom Pate that will be the new crowning glory of any cracker.  Follow that up with a Mushroom Ravioli using your favorite fungi.  Finally, finish the evening off in style with a scoop of Porcini and Honey Ice Cream.

Greasy Chinese food?  Fuggedaboutit.  Why not give magic mushrooms a try tonight?

Photo by daneen_vol

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Tags:	mushrooms

The trick-or-treaters are barely gone. Jack o’ lanterns still adorn many a front doorstep. And I’m sure we are not the only household with a bowl full of candy leftover. But when I turned the TV on this morning I was inundated with Christmas commercials! Christmas! Come on! We haven’t even had Thanksgiving yet! Not that I don’t enjoy Christmas – quite the contrary – I belt out carols for a good month and leave my tree up until New Year’s. But, advertisers, you need to just slow things down a little here. Don’t rush the process. We want to enjoy fall. We want to soak it all in and lavish in the holidays the season has to offer – in order of appearance. We’re all so busy all the time, why rush? Let’s just take a deep breathe….

…and start planning that Thanksgiving menu!

If it freaks you out, return to your breathing exercises. But to me, I love nothing more than perusing and bookmarking recipes – dreaming up how my Thanksgiving menu will shape up. Do you do that too?

We’ve put together a collection of great holiday recipes for you in one easy spot. If you’ve got something fabulous to share with the food-loving community we’d love for you to add it to Foodista! Check out our Thanksgiving recipe collection, and enjoy the next few weeks pondering and planning your holiday meal!

Photo by: D’Arcy Norman

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Categories:	Entertaining • Holiday	2 Comments
Tags:	holiday cooking • side dish recipes • Thanksgiving • thanksgiving recipes • turkey day • turkey recipes

Recently, I posted a blog about non-alcoholic Halloween drinks for kids but as we all know, Halloween is just as much a holiday for adults as it is for kids. Instead of bringing spooky cupcakes or Halloween truffles to your Halloween gathering this weekend, mix up some creepy cocktail concoctions to share with your adult guests.

Dressing up? Bring a special potion that goes with the theme of your costume. For example, if you are going as Don Draper, you should probably bring the ingredients to make an Old Fashioned. Going as a vampire? A Bloody Mary is more than fitting. Want to bring enough for a crew? Here is a list of  Halloween cocktails that are to die for!

More Cocktail Inspiration
Cocktail Culture- Absithe Cocktail
Sloshed!- Hard Pumpkin Cider
Nightschool-Professional bartenders share their secrets
Vintage Cocktails on Facebook

Above photo by TangoPango

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Categories:	Beverages • Entertaining • Holiday • Uncategorized • cocktails	Leave a Comment
Tags:	drinks • Halloween cocktails • Halloween party beverages

This weekend I had the epitome of a “staycation.” No plans except to sleep in, cook good food and watch the second season of Mad Men with Mark. On Sunday night we decided to open up a great bottle of syrah and slow cook a pork belly with a homemade huckleberry sauce. We had gone to the Sunday farmers market earlier in the morning and purchased a pint of foraged huckleberries from Christina Choi at Foraged and Found Edibles. The berries were plump and glistening, looking like violet caviar, simply perfect for a thick piece of pork belly.

We roasted some golden beets and Ozette potatoes we had purchased from another vendor to add to our pork belly. After searing the pork belly on all sides, I removed it from the heat and set it aside. Next I added 1/4 cup of finely chopped shallots and sauteed them over medium-high heat with a good pinch of salt and pepper. I deglazed with some balsamic vinegar and syrah wine. Next I added 1 cup of wild huckleberries, 1/2 sprig of fresh rosemary, two fresh sage leaves, a fresh oregano sprig, two garlic cloves that were smashed only slightly and a sprinkling of brown sugar.

I brought the pan to a simmer and let the sauce work it’s magic for a couple minutes. Next I added the seared pork belly back to the sauce, covered it and let it cook at 300 F for almost two hours, turning the meat half way through cooking. Once the meat was more than fork-tender, I removed the pan from the oven and onto a plate. I covered the pork in the sauce and sprinkled on another handful of the uncooked huckleberries for color and a nice tang to balance flavors.

The result was rich, juicy and over the top indulgent; absolutely perfect for a weekend all to ourselves.

For the whole recipe for Pork Belly with Wild Huckleberry Sauce go here:

Can’t get enough of pork belly, check out these other recipes:

Cucina Rebecca

Cook it Simply

Wrightfood

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Categories:	American • Cooking tips • Entertaining • Meat & Poultry • Sauces • condiments • wine	2 Comments
Tags:	huckleberries • pork • pork belly • staycation • syrah

So much bacon, so little time. Why is the world obsessed with this greasy side of pork? Everything from Bacon Maple Bars to Baconnaise, bacon has found its way into our hearts and into a million and one recipes. What do you plan to make with bacon today?

One of my personal favorites, Bacon Vinaigrette, turning a very healthy salad into a flavor explosion!

Meatloaf Cupcakes with Bacon Sprinkles!

Need More Bacon?!
International Bacon Day Blog
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Maple Bacon Cupcakes, by Vanilla Garlic

Above photo by: Chotda

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Tags:	bacon • international bacon day • national bacon day

Just this last weekend, I catered a party with one of my close chef friends, Kristen Schumacher.  For me, there is nothing more fun than geeking out over cook books while planning a dinner party menu, especially when your co-chef is also a fan of local and seasonal cooking and  not afraid of experimentation. In the summer months, ingredient options seem endless and with a little bit of inspiration, ordinary ingredients can be transformed into delicious dishes.  Given the small size of the group, (nine) and a good budget, we were able to focus on ingredients and take extra care for plating. For the salad course we tossed arugula and finely chiffonade sorrel with a honey citrus vinaigrette and topped each salad with shaved pecorino, chive blossoms and a soft-boiled duck egg sprinkled with black Hawaiian sea salt. Since a soft-boiled duck egg is one of my favorite foods, I couldn’t wait to share this dish with you all.

Here was the rest of the menu:

Appetizers
Dragon Roll  (sushi of unagi, cucumber, seaweed, avocado and toasted sesame seeds)
Herbed Goat Cheese Stuffed Peppadew Peppers
Amuse Bouche
Balsamic Pork Belly Skewers with Caramelized Figs
Salad
Arugula  and Sorrel Salad with Soft Boiled Duck Egg Sprinkled with Black Hawaiian Sea Salt
Shaved Pecorino Cheese,  Chive Blossoms, Honey Citrus Vinaigrette
Intermezzo
Mango sorbet with Kaffir Lime and Mint Simple Syrup topped with Borage Flowers
Main
Marinated Grilled Flank Steak with Basil Chimchurri
Heirloom Tomatoes, herb mash
Dessert
Grilled Pound Cake with Mike and Gene’s Berry Farm Sauce
Grilled stone fruit, local cream freshly whipped

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Tags:	Dinner party • duck eggs • summer menu