🍽Simple recipes, travel, and restaurant reviews blended to a juicy narrative…
“Mummy made the rice pudding,” my aunt Colette sputtered to my dad as she opened the door to their childhood home in south Manchester on a Saturday afternoon. With a glint in his eye and a slight smirk, he quickly led the way to the tiny kitchen that once fed a small Irish army. At... Continue Reading →
The best time of year to buy a big, gorgeous ham is the moment you finally pick the last sticky bit of fluorescent jelly bean from between your back teeth. A few aisles down from the half-priced Cadbury eggs and leftover green plastic grass, you’ll find a refrigerated “bin” full of bargain cuts. For as... Continue Reading →
Ragoût, Ragù, Ragú…turns out your favorite childhood jar of “spaghetti sauce” has a long and storied history with roots all the way back to Napoleon. In France, ragoûts have been served for centuries. Typically, a rich and flavorful meat stew, the word comes from the verb ragoûter, meaning “to revive the taste.” The first mention... Continue Reading →
From Boston to Philly, Stromboli is a pizzeria classic. Decidedly Italian-American, the most popular tale of origin starts with Nazzareno "Nat" Romano at his restaurant in Essington, just outside Philadelphia. Sometime in 1950, fooling around with the idea of Italy’s “stuffed” pizzas, Nat’s experiments yielded a calzone-like dish filled with cold cuts, cheese, and peppers... Continue Reading →
Inspired by New Year's Day, but equally appropriate at any celebratory brunch, there’s nothing like bubbles and eggs. Goldenrods are the type of charming dish where simple, inexpensive ingredients are transformed by a healthy dose of Southern ingenuity. Whipped up in short time, often without warning, by mothers and grandmothers alike for hungry crowds, it... Continue Reading →
Family members rush from overpacked cars colorfully-wrapped gifts in hand, trying to avoid the frigid night air. Inside, huddled around the fireplace or wood-burning stoves, groups form to exchange gossip and playfully tease loved ones. The Réveillon, or Christmas Eve celebration is a high point on the French-Canadian calendar. Whether held before or after midnight... Continue Reading →
I can't recall a single Christmas without these sweet, creamy peanut butter and chocolate confections. Often dismissed and lost in the oversaturated “holiday cookie” category, these decadent three-biters are more like an oversized candy or truffle. With fond memories and misty eyes, I opened my mother’s recipe box – an army green, utilitarian metal affair overstuffed... Continue Reading →
Long a staple of Puerto Rican holiday celebrations, coquito which affectionately translates to “little coconut” makes for a festive sip in any climate. Often appearing after Thanksgiving straight through Christmas to Three Kings Day, family visitors and guests are always offered a shot of the sweet, tropical “nog” no matter the time of day. Stateside,... Continue Reading →
Growing up in New Hampshire, maple syrup practically ran through our veins. With the first snow, we’d bundle up to spend hours outside, building forts and sledding down whatever bit of hill we could find. Armed with jugs of maple syrup, usually tapped from trees just down the road, neighborhood mothers would con us into... Continue Reading →
DISH...with Sean Brady 