Cookbook Gift Ideas
December 3, 2010
With the holiday season in full swing, it’s always nice to put forth a little effort and give gifts with an added personal touch. For my friend Leslie’s birthday, I thought it would be perfect to give a journal for recording all of her dinner recipes and party menus in one place. I found this 1970’s cookbook at the Skaneateles Antique Center. Personalizing the cover, and adding envelopes and cards from Kate’s Paperie to the blank pages, it not only has traditional American recipes from decades past, but a space for all those personal favorites to be added one meal at a time. You don’t have to be too crafty to put something like this together, just a few skills in the glue and stamping department and you have yourself a standout gift this season.
Leslie's cookbook and recipes journal
Italian Comfort
December 1, 2010
My father’s homemade Italian sauce, meatballs and sausage.
Spaghetti & Meatballs
Late Autumn Picnic
November 28, 2010
Strolling through Syracuse’s Sunday morning flea market, I found amazing vintage Native American fabrics that inspired me to have an afternoon picnic with fresh bread, cheese, fruits and my great-grandmother Hazel’s cheese grater, before heading back to the city and work tomorrow morning.
French bread & pears
Cranberries, Challerhocker cheese, apples & pears
Thanksgiving Dinner
November 26, 2010
Hope everyone stateside had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday yesterday. Here’s a sampling of our traditional dinner enjoyed by the family at my grandmother’s house in Syracuse, NY.
Banana bread & dinner rolls
Olives & Pickles
Turkey & Stuffing
Thanksgiving Prep
November 26, 2010
My contribution to the family Thanksgiving feast this year was a Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter that I found thanks to Giada with the Food Network.
Mixing together the cinnamon, maple syrup, sugar and pepper for the sauce
Turning the sweet potato dough into gnocchi
The finished product: after/before
Deep Fried Pickles & Pastrami
November 23, 2010
Dinner at 5 Napkin Burger on the Upper West Side. Besides having some of the best snacks & burgers in town, I love the vintage meat hook turned lighting fixture. Of course completely clean and lacking any sort of real meat, that was best to be kept cooked on our plates. Check out our appetizers. Now it’s off to Syracuse for Thanksgiving and a whole slew of home-cooked deliciousness.
Deep fried pickles and pastrami with sauerkraut and mustard oil
Sunday Brunch in the City
November 22, 2010
“There is no such thing as breakfast or lunch on the weekends, it’s just brunch.”
Eggs benedict and salad at West Village's rustic and quaint, Extra Virgin
Welcome
November 19, 2010
A traditional Sunday meal with friends at Lucia's casa.
Fruit smoothies at a café on a rainy Milan day.
Salads, fruits and cheese at Seebad on Lake Luzern. While in Zurich, I had time to spare while my friend was at work, so enjoyed an afternoon at a neighboring town, basking in the Swiss sun at this bathhouse with an amazing view.
A fresh loaf of bread from Jones Dairy café. A hidden gem on a side street off Columbia Road, host of London's Sunday flower market. Quite possibly my favorite place in the world to be on a Sunday afternoon.
Modern English cuisine at the industrial chic, Wapping Project restaurant in East London. Once an old hydraulic power station, this half art/half dining venue was perfect for a dinner catch up with the old crew from Amelia's Magazine.
Hot summer evenings on my roof, with a pitcher of Pimms and Lemonade, garnishing the leftover fruit with mint, and smoked salmon bruschetta.
Mac and cheese at Montauk's Navy Beach for a mid-summer escape to show my friend from Sydney a taste of our local beaches and sunsets.
Lobster rolls at the restaurant at Rowayton's Seafood. While my parents were in town visiting we spent a day dining by the Long Island Sound.
A backyard barbeque in Brooklyn at my friend, Geordie's home. All vegetables and mint for the mojitos grown locally, right from the back garden.
Fresh vegetables
An italian dinner at Margherita's Pizza & Café in Hoboken. I love taking summer ferry rides across the Hudson to relax, enjoy the view of the city and visit my friend, Beth.
Sandwiches, soups and salads at Cathryn's in Cold Spring, NY with some friends to celebrate my birthday and explore the small town about an hour north of the city.
Perfect autumn meals
And the party continued back in the city as we prepared stuffed squash boats, roasted potatoes and much more for a dinner party that evening.
The ingredients for the feast
Fresh fruit from Santa Monica's farmers market. By far the best fruit I've ever tasted.
While taking a mid-October break out on the west coast, we prepared a dinner with a couple old friends, new friends and family. Buying fresh from the market, we enjoyed pumpkin pasta, prosciutto wrapped pears and roasted potatoes.
a camera in the kitchen 