“And I think this word ‘sallet’ was born to do me good…” – Henry IV, Part II When I worked at the White House, the Bushes held a dinner one year to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday. The menu card contained a quotation from Shakespeare to accompany each course, and this quote from Henry IV came from the salad course. I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun planning a dinner, pouring through Shakespeare quotations looking for just the right one. (Dessert: […]
Cornbread is as American as it comes, and there must be thousands of family recipes out there that are passed down from one generation to the next. When I was growing up, cornbread was a savory food, served as muffins or in corn cob-shaped segments out of an old iron mold. I believe that the best cornbread comes out of an iron pan, whatever it’s shape, and this recipe is particularly good because it’s so versatile – moist as the […]
Sometimes things just work out. I found blood oranges and fresh rhubarb at the market and it gave me the perfect opportunity to try a recipe I’ve been hanging on to for years, in the hope that one day rhubarb and blood oranges would be available at the same time of year. And voila! A sweet, tart confection for those of us who like their sugar in healthier, manageable doses. The sweet oranges complement the rhubarb perfectly; not too sweet […]
Here’s an old-fashioned Memorial Day dessert idea with a modern twist. Remember the days of churning ice cream on the back porch on a summer afternoon? Me neither, because I’m not that old, but I love the idea of arranging a special treat for the long weekend. Homemade froyo is something I’ve never tried before, but if you have an ice cream maker, it’s as easy as sticking the insert in the freezer for a couple of hours, dumping in […]
Are you ready to kick off the first long weekend of summer with drinks al fresco and beachside snacks? These lobster kebabs are a clambake on a stick – all the flavors of a beach picnic, grilled to perfection and lashed with melted butter. This isn’t so much a recipe as a method of assembly; some of the ingredients need to be cooked first, skewered, and then dropped on the grill just long enough for grill marks to form. It’s […]
