I was bored with Christmas baking, and I hadn’t even started yet. Let me back up. On Friday, my mom called to ask how my Christmas preparations were coming along. I gazed out my window at the Halloween pumpkin still decomposing on my front porch and refused to assume her plan-ahead, Martha Stewart decorating drive. I don’t like to pack my holiday celebrations too tightly, and I was still working off Thanksgiving dinner, thankyouverymuch. Still, an examination of the calendar did indicate that perhaps some hustle on my part was in order. While I wasn’t ready to make a public lawn statement quite yet, I figured that some baking might help ease me into the spirit of the season. When… Continue reading »
Stores of Good Luck: Sauerkraut and the Birth of a Preservationist
The Saturday before Thanksgiving was our last CSA pickup, and since I was traveling for the holiday rather than cooking for an army of gathered family members, I wasn’t quite sure what kind of produce investment to make. It seemed regrettable to waste this last hurrah, but also a shame to let perfectly lovely vegetables rot in my crisper drawer while I was out of town. That’s where the cabbages come in. A few weeks ago, I got a copy of Canning for a New Generation and got really excited about, well, canning. Since it was already November, I figured I’d pretty much missed the boat this round but could spend the winter months making plans for storing next year’s… Continue reading »
Leave the Light On: To Saugerties Lighthouse
Even though my first viewing of the children’s film Pete’s Dragon left me inconsolable for days (Disney films were a bit darker in 1977), its setting also sparked in me a great love for lighthouses. That bit of personal history might have added an extra gloss of romance and nostalgia to our visit to New York’s Saugerties Lighthouse, but the place certainly didn’t need it. The restored 1869 structure sits in the Hudson River at the mouth of Esopus Creek, and we had a perfectly clear and crisp-but-not-cold November weekend to enjoy the views and the grounds. When we tired of that, the coal-burning stove in the sitting room invited us to camp out on the sofa and read the… Continue reading »
Pecan and Whipped Cream Cake (Twitter Made Me Bake It Edition)
Even though my professional life revolves around creating multimedia content for websites, I am a social media skeptic. I don’t know why I’m so contrary, but there it is. So when we were assembling Wonderland Kitchen and Brian twisted my arm to adopt my @wonderlandk handle, I’ll admit that I was a reluctant Tweeter. Still, I picked out a few foodies to follow, and enjoyed lurking in the digital shadows, checking in on their chatter and lovely recipes from time to time. When one particularly delicious blogger announced his latest cake creation, I threw in my first comment: I promptly wondered why I’d bothered. Then, a few seconds later, a response popped up: We went back and forth like that… Continue reading »
Epic Feast: Giving Thanks in Advance
I’d like to slip in an early “I’m thankful for…” acknowledgement to say that I’m thankful for cozy weekends at home with family and friends. It probably seems like a ridiculously simple thing, but a concentrated stretch of “closed laptop/turned off work life” and some steady human interaction provides powerful recalibration in life. My own priorities realigned, I was back at my desk this morning with fresh focus and a smile on my face. That in our house the embrace of these warm and comforting times usually centered around the kitchen is probably not a shocker, and Brian and I decided to throw a little pre-Thanksgiving feast on Sunday evening to cap it all off. There was food and food… Continue reading »
The Queen of Green: Fresh Cilantro Chutney
Even before I was addicted to that amazing spicy tomato jam, I had a thing for savory yet unconventional condiments. Many years ago when I lived in Jackson Heights, Queens, I purchased almost all of my groceries at the Indian shop on the corner. As a result, it was not unusual for me to cart home 10 lbs. bags of rice, bottles of imported shampoo, and parathas from the frozen food case. Of my many exotic discoveries, however, my favorite by far was a shockingly bright condiment: cilantro chutney. If you’re in the “cilantro tastes like soap” camp, this may not win you over, but for me it was love. When I moved out of that apartment, I feared that… Continue reading »
