I remember making taffy in girl scouts. We thought it was the best girl scout meeting ever, the kind of sloppy, messy fun that only an adult who’s never done it before would take on with a gaggle of giggling second graders. By the time we’d finished we were wearing more of the taffy than there was left to eat, and all those grubby little hands had left smudge marks in the candy. By the end of the afternoon, my […]
This recipe comes from my old friend, Nelly Salvacion. Her seven-year-old grandson, Aymeric, is a bit of a picky eater, so she invented this recipe for yogurt dipped chicken legs. Now it’s his all-time favorite food. Don’t be fooled by the yogurt in the recipe – there are lots of speecy, spicy ingredients in these legs – and be sure to make the mango cucumber salsa that goes with it. It’s heaven. I added a couple of chicken breasts just […]
Blueberries have a powerful flavor; the second one of these little blue miracles touches your tongue the brain shouts blueberry! – sweet and pure. What more could you want in a pie? Why, more of it – more blueberries piled as high as they go and covered with a dense rye flour crust. I love this crust because it’s not too sweet, balancing the overall taste experience so that the pie is not cloying (some blueberry pies can overwhelm with […]
“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 […]
