Carrot Soufflé

Grandfather Christmas

One of my favorite things about the Holidays are the traditions. We all have things we do each year to celebrate Christmas or Hannukah or even New Years Eve and Day.

In my family we have quite a few. I’ve written about Ebleskiever, and it wouldn’t be Christmas without warm Gingie Cookies. One of my favorites though has nothing to do with food. Well, it kinda does. Sort of.

My Grandfather (Dad’s Dad), was one of those people who would really put a lot of thought into a gift. As a kid, I didn’t really get it, but as I grew older I understood and appreciated his presents more. One of my favorite, were the porcelain figures that he bought from Phair’s (There’s a blast from the past!), and attached to our Christmas gifts. Each one was hand-selected to match our personalities. Mine was a duck in Victorian dress. Dad’s was a bear with a three piece suit and glasses with a newspaper under his arm. My sister’s was a cat, I think, also in Victorian dress. In later years the porcelain was replaced by another set of figures with Venetian masks a la the Three Musketeers. My mother used these figures on the table for Christmas morning and Christmas Dinner as place markers for seating.

Now that Christmas morning has migrated to my sister’s house, we no longer use the figurines. But my sister’s wooden Musketeers make an appearance, and it always reminds us of him.

As far as I know, my mother still has all of the porcelain figures safely (I hope) tucked in a box. I have my Musketeer, and it is my favorite ornament for our tree. Every year he goes up, and every year I tell my kids “This was a gift I got from Gumpa”.

Our menu for Christmas Dinner is always the same (yet another tradition!), and it was one Gumpa’s favorites. The menu remains sliced BBQ Chateaubriand, Barley and Pine Nut Pilaf, and Carrot Soufflé. Below is the Carrot Soufflé recipe. It’s easy, elegant and tasty with roasted meats. Read more…

Holiday Cocktails

Thanks for the Giving

This week is the busiest week of the year for us here at the store. It is also my favorite. This is the week, despite the craziness and stress, neighbors stop to greet each other in front of the stuffing mix to ask them how their family is doing and to wish them Happy Thanksgiving. This is the week where long-time customers and even a few new ones reach across or around the counter to hug our employees and wish them a Happy Thanksgiving. And of course, the sentiment is returned.

This is the week that while we are preparing for our meals with our family, we all take a minute to give thanks for the extended family we meet in our daily lives. It is the very definition of neighborhood and community, and it is a really great thing.

To all our friends, customers, employees and neighbors, we would like to wish you all a safe and Happy Thanksgiving and a very merry holiday season!

To help with the merry, try one of these tasty concoctions guaranteed to keep you warm when it’s cold outside, baby… Read more…

Leek Bread Pudding

Leek Bread Pudding Over the weekend we had our Cookbook Club dinner. The book we chose was Ad Hoc At Home by Thomas Keller. As you can imagine, the food was not only plentiful but also very, very good.

We had his famous fried chicken, a fig stuffed pork loin that melted in your mouth, a leek bread pudding that should be illegal, Swiss chard that was awesome, and a bevy of other tasty dishes that we will be paying for in miles walked or run.

As good as the food was, the best part was having us all together laughing around the dinner table. As we sat there wondering how we were going to tackle dessert after eating so much, the discussion turned to how thankful we were to have a group of good friends, who truly enjoy each other’s company, and share a real passion for good food. Our group has often remarked that the idea of the Cookbook Club was possibly one of the best ideas my sister ever had, and I whole-heartedly agree. No matter what our schedules are like, The Cookbook Dinner is something that we look forward to, and are loathe to miss–if only because of the company.

In this time of Thanksgiving, I give thanks for the many good things in my life. I am grateful not only for those who are part of my related family, but I am also thankful for the good friends both near and far that make up the family of my heart. Enjoy this season with family, good friends, good wine and, of course, good food! Read more…

Pumpkin Shrimp Curry

I sat down to write, planning a post about our traditional Trick or Treating Halloween Grilled Cheese dinner, but the only thin to pop into my head was, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

So I decided to go a different direction: East.

I admit I have been on a pumpkin kick lately. Don’t know if it’s because of Halloween or the time of year, but I have been making and consuming anything with pumpkin: Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, Pumpkin Spice Latte, etc. I’m a pumpkin-eating lunatic. Amazing I have not yet turned yellow.

Last week I made Pumpkin Curry for dinner from a recipe on epicurious.com, I adapted to my own tastes. (Read: spiced it up.) It was really good and, I bet it would be delicious even without the shrimp. You could easily substitute some browned chicken thighs.

Be prepared…this dish is heavy on the pumpkin. Not just a little thrown in, here’s some big-time pumpkin flavor. It’s all about the orange, baby.

So, whatever your plans are for the 31st—be it trick-or-treating, awaiting the arrival of the great pumpkin, or well, perhaps turning off the porch light and ignoring your front door—try this curry recipe, and at the very least spice up your Thursday dinner. Read more…