With Valentine’s Day almost upon us, I prefer to opt out of eating out. Ask anyone in the restaurant industry and they’ll confirm that Valentine’s Day is right up there with Mother’s Day as a disappointing dining experience. Besides, it’s hardly a night to be part of a crowd.

This year, I decided to surprise Jim with one of his favorites for dinner, swordfish. No chocolates while on a low carb diet so I decided to crown the swordfish steak with my favorite, king of sauces. Hollandaise is sinfully indulgent without having to give a thought about calories (if you’re not counting them) because there’s not a single gram of carbohydrate in the sauce. That is if it’s the real deal.

The same is not true for hollandaise sauce made from a mix. These products are usually thickened with some form of starch and have a disappointing watery flavor. In fact, most brands don’t even resemble hollandaise sauce if you were to do a side by side taste test. Hollandaise from a mix may be lower in calories but higher in carbohydrates. I think most people resort to a mix because hollandaise has a very temperamental reputation. As a teenager, I tried mastering the sauce the old fashioned way over a double boiler of barely simmering water. It was very frustrating as I would hold my breath praying it wouldn’t break down and curdle.

Then came the “blender hollandaise” phase followed by the food processor version. Both are the same idea. Hot melted butter is gradually poured into egg yolks and lemon juice while the blender  or processor is running. This insures a  smooth sauce. However it’s so emulsified and aerated that some of that distinctive hollandaise flavor is lost.

Over time, I came up with this microwave version that is quick to make, holds up reasonably well and has all the full bodied flavor of traditional hollandaise. The key to making this is to know your microwave as some cook faster than others.

Hollandaise sauce usually works out best in small batches and my method is no different. After all, should a disaster strike do you really want to throw out a pound of butter and a dozen eggs! No fears here though. I’ve never had a problem with this recipe.

Begin with 1/2 cup (one stick of butter) and melt in a 1 quart glass measuring cup in your microwave. Proceed slowly as you don’t want to get this so hot that it explodes. I start melting at 20 second intervals until it liquid but not boiling.

Next, beat 3 large egg yolks together with 1 Tbs lemon juice in a microwave safe glass bowl.

Gradually beat in melted butter

Heat 30 seconds in the microwave.  The sauce should thicken around the edges. Blend with a wire whisk.

Return to the microwave and continue cooking at 20 second intervals, whisking smooth  each time until the sauce is lightly thickened.

Here I’ve served it over a poached swordfish steak and served it with asparagus and minced cauliflower.  Love at first bite!

Fruitcakes are brunt of many bad jokes. So the thought of receiving one actually causes anxiety for some (as in how to dispose of it graciously). I never had this problem because I grew up enjoying what was the most delicious cake-like confection called Manor Fruitcake. It was locally popular in Kansas City at the time. There was nothing bitter about it as it wasn’t flecked with that strange tasting candied citron you’d find in cheaper cakes. No, this was a delightful, concoction of pecans, glazed pineapple, candied cherries and golden raisins with barely enough moist, buttery batter to hold it all together. Best of all, it came in a blue, western-style tin with conestoga wagons blazing the Sante Fe Trail. I felt so sad when I moved to New York and it was no longer available to me. For years, friends would ship us one and then they stopped as they were no longer in KC grocery stores either. Ok… enough of this. If you think I’m going to be baking fruitcakes today, I’m not. I don’t have a recipe that does the memory of that cake justice.

However, Mom always said the real secret to the cake was in the golden raisins, so that lead to a Christmas tradition I came up: Orange Ginger Creamsickle Cake. It’s based on an old colonial recipe with the addition of, you guessed it, GOLDEN RAISINS! then I topped it off with a yummy orange frosting reminiscent of a “Creamsickle” . The best part about this cake is that people don’t look scared when you hand it to them as a gift. These freeze really well and can be made ahead of time. In fact, it’s a good thing I did that because I’ve been sort of sidelined . (I pulled out my back out of whack shoveling snow last weekend.)

GINGER CAKE

2 1/2 cups allpurpose flour

1/4 cup shortening, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup molasses

3/4 cup hot water

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cionnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

2 tsp fresh grated orange peel

3/4 cup golden raisins

Creamsickle Frosting (recipe follows)

toasted almonds

Preheat oven to 325°. Line the bottom of a 9″x9″ baking pan with a square of baking parchment. Beat all the ingredients except raisin with an electric mixer on low speed for about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl and beat 3 minutes on high speed, scraping down bowl two or thee times as you go.

Stir raisins into batter and spread into pan.

Bake for 50-55 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center. Cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap to keep from drying out until you are ready to frost. and frost with orange cream cheese frosting and garnish with toasted slivered almonds.

CREAMSICKLE FROSTING

4 oz cream cheese softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tsps fresh grated orange peel

1 Tbs frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy and well blended. Beat in remaining ingredients until creamy and smooth.

Tip– in toasting almonds, spread on a pan and bake at 350° for about 6-8 minutes.

Just one more cake story– This is my fiance Jim reverting back to his childhood title of “The Cake Eater” . One of his family’s legends involves his sister’s birthday cake. As a small child, Jim watched it on the kitchen counter while his sister was having her birthday party in another room. Finally the temptaion became too strong and he began scraping all of the icing off the cake to eat for himself. (I guess some things are hard to outgrow!)

As you can see, these are easy to bake as gifts if you buy pans with snap on lids. I often double or quadruple this recipe as it works very well in an assembly line process. Just add a bow and you’re good to go!

Every year I face the same Thanksgiving delimma– what to serve guests who are coming over in the evening for their second Thanksgiving dessert after already having had turkey dinner? The standard pumpkin and pecan pies are already ho hum by now and whatever I present has got to be intriguing enough to tempt them into loosening their belts just one more notch.

Well yesterday I was roaming around Stop & Shop (and yes I’ve been there way too many times this week and confess I even went back there this morning) when I saw this in the refrigerator case:

These are sheets of pre-rolled gingerbread dough (please excuse my thumb in this photo). I got the idea of making pumpkin ice cream turkeys and using gingerbread for the tails and heads. It really couldn’t be more simple, like working with clay.

First you cut the sheet into strips like this and arrange six pieces in  fan shapes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Pinch the tips and lightly score to resemble feathers without cutting all the way through the dough.

Model strips of dough to resemble a neck

Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 7-8 minutes and cool completely before removing from baking parchment.

For presentation- plate eack turkey tail.

For every turkey, scoop out some pumpkin ice cream on to each plate. This will form the body.

Press tail into scoop of ice cream and neck into the other side. Got kids in the house? Not only will they enjoy eating these but will gladly help with the process.

It’s the 11th hour on the last day of the month and I’m trying to write a July blog post before midnight and the month turns to August! Where have I been? Doing one of the most unpleasant things I can think of short of extracting my own tooth: I’ve been “downsizing” or at least digging into the process. I always hate asking myself: “Should it stay or should it go?”. Somethings are simple like stuff that never belonged to you in the first place. It’s easy to give all of those re-gifted Christmas presents to Goodwill since you can’t remember who gave them to you last. What’s harder for me are the items that fall into “What if I need it later?” category.  The “If you haven’t used it in the past six months” rule never has worked for me. Sure enough, I toss it out and that’s when I need it in the next sixty days (kind of like losing a Home Goods receipt).

But what really gets to me is that I’m the sentimental type. I’m the family historian with no heirs to even care about the heirlooms. (More on that later as I pack up antiques to be sold at auction in San Francisco). All weekend, I’ve been tackling the library. I thought books should be easy right? Wrong. If you are an author, you accumulate a lot of them that you collect along the way or were given to you (or were just always there). So here I start with a “no brainer”,  Encylopedias:Nobody needs these anymore! But in this set, JFK was still president and I had circled my favorite breeds of dogs that I wanted someday. So I move on to the next set of encyclopedias that belonged to my father:

Well that should be easier except I can read all his notes that he made in margins while writing reports for school. So I go to an simpler shelf. My family had filled the bookcases on one whole side of the room with out-of-date travel guides and guides to country inns (most of which are no longer are in operation).

There are also lots of recipe books from restaurants that no longer exist :

All this time I’m wondering: “Where are my childhood books?” As often happens with anything of meaning around here, it can be found rotting in the basement!

Aghh! How I would have loved to thumb through these pages again but they are sadly, disintigrating upon touch. So parents out there remember to think about what stands the test of time and what doesn’t (and keep what doesn’t in the basement).

Since my very first cookbook, I’ve acccumulated a lifetime supply. Now I have to start weeding out the ones I know I’ll never even flip through. It’s daunting!

What I’m finding is that I’m really not drawn to keeping coffee table books like The French Laundry Cookbook or themed books with some marketing hook.

For me it’s nostalgia, nostalgia nostalgia. Like the first cookbook my grandmother Molinare gave to me (little did she know that I had made a Linzer torte on my own a year before.)

And then there are those mid century classics like this one:

The deeper I get into this the more I realize this could take a long  time so I turn to the other items I must make tough decisions about…

There’s the London bus Dad brought back from England in 1961. He flew home with it on his lap after buying it for us at Harrod’s.

There’s my Mom’s high school “Hollywood Suitcase”. It was a fad back then to collect stickers from all the places you traveled.

And then there’s lots of eclectic stuff that’s like an armor breast plate and battle axe:

There’s a broken balalaika my brother collected back when he was fascinated by all things Dr Zhivago. The movie came out when he was in grade school and motivated him to learn to play the balalaika. Of course, it was about as difficult to master as his Russian language lessons. He eventually switched to the Saxaphone lessons and French class.

Well it’s close to midnight and you prabably get the idea… I still have A LOT of work to do! So stayed tuned as I try to sort through an entire lifetime, starting in the library.

This weekend I found myself drawn to a package of “beet noodles” in the produce section of Whole Foods. I’ve used raw, shredded beets on salads all of the time and assumed it would be the same thing. Close but not quite… Who remembers the “Mobius Strip” from middle school math class? It’s a sort of symbol for infinity, being a surface with only one side.

If your teacher was anything like mine, she had you take a pair of scissors and split the paper band by cutting it around the middle without touching the sides. This turned into a bigger Mobius strip. Do it again and it just keeps growing into a larger and narrower loop. Well, that’s the best way to describe opening the box of beet noodles. As I kept pulling out the red shreds, It was like an endless tangle with no beginning or end.

I had to start cutting them into about 4″ sections. My goal was to mix them into a red cabbage slaw. Rather than let the cabbage dilute the dressing as it macerates, I always soak my shredded cabbage overnight in a brine of water.   To do this: Place shredded cabbage in a bowl and cover with water with 1 tsp added salt. Refrigerate at least four hours . Squeeze the cabbage until all of the water is wrung out and allow it to drain in a colander. This reduces the moisture content of the cabbage so your slaw won’t have watered down dressing.

Next, I toss the beet noodles with the cabbage and a creamy coleslaw dressing. Serve garnished with chopped scallions. I can’t tell you how refreshing this on a hot summer night  paired with with something from the grill .

BEET NOODLE AND RED CABBAGE SLAW

3-4 cups of beet noodles

3 -4 cups brined, drained cabbage (as described above)

2 Tbs minced scallion

Creamy slaw dressing

Toss beet noodles and cabbage with dressing and garnish with scallions

CREAMY SLAW DRESSING:

3/4 cup mayonaise

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbs cider vinegar

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 tsp celery seed

2 Tbs minced scallion

salt and pepper to taste.

Combine ingredients for the dressing with a wire whisk until blended. This is approximately the amount of dressing you’ll need give or take so start adding it gradually to the consistency you prefer.

OK– most people don’t mark this day on their calendar…

It’s not like you are supposed to prepare a special menu, buy someone a gift or attend a religious service. Nobody gives or gets candy. Nobody fire’s up the BBQ grill.

Although there are many theories as to why mankind has maligned the number 13,  going back to Jesus and the last supper’s 13 diners, it is more likely  a culmination of coincidences. In my life, it’s exactly that…a culmination of coincidences.

Here’s how it all started for me:  I was born on the 13th of May. No it wasn’t a Friday. Mom went into labor on Mother’s day and I came into the world on a Monday morning. (Maybe that’s why I find it so hard to leap out of bed on Monday mornings.) I recall two Friday the 13th birthdays in my childhood and teens. Both parties were preempted by severe weather and tornado watches/warnings. I know, I know, it’s the Midwest in May— what do you expect!

But then it gets creepy. Pets start dying on the 13th or at thirteen years of age. I’ve had a lot of pets in my life although I do concede that none of them passed on a Friday. My parrot, Captain Coco, actually died on Easter Sunday when it was on April 13th. I walked into the dining room carrying a sweet potato casserole and there he was, feet facing up on the floor of his cage.

Then came “the big one”, the San Andreas Fault of superstition. My beloved father died on October 13th. Ironically, as a child I used to barter with him about changing my birthday to an unbirthday celebration on  October 13th because the weather was more predictable that time of year. No, Dad’s death wasn’t on a Friday either. It was Columbus Day, a Monday. Nonetheless I was starting to get a little PSTD about the number “13” on the calendar, especially when it fell on a holiday.

Finally, Friday came through. It was a hot afternoon on July 13th, 2012. I was on my computer in the den and Mom was sitting on the sofa complaining of thirst. I walked into the kitchen to get her some water and heard a thud and a moan behind me. Mom had decided to follow me and apparently tripped on our Boston Terrier, Toby. She broke her hip and our lives have never been the same since.

For three and a half years, Mom has been in hospice at home in our living room. Now, coming up on the 13th of the month, Mom has abruptly been discharged from hospice care. (This is not because she doesn’t still need it but that’s a whole other blog post). So I’m starting to feel the stress set in as my birthday looms closer by the hour.

According to Stuart Vyse, professor of psycology at Connecticut College, “Most superstitions arise as a method of coping with uncertainty”. I totally get that. So now I’m trying to fight back by  owning my superstition and identifying examples to disprove it.    Maybe I can prevail over the Jinxism mentality. Maybe I can avoid noticing patterns in case anything does happen. Maybe I can actually learn to smile when I hear “Happy Friday the 13th!” instead of “Happy Birthday!”.

It’s that time of year again for the annual Project Return Birdhouse Auction. For those of you who’ve followed my blog from previous years, you know that I don’t do birdhouses. Not that I wouldn’t love to design one but I’m not skilled in carpentry.

My forte is drawing anthropomorphized animals in vintage clothing. I’m not sure if that’s actually a skill or simply a childhood obsession I never quite outgrew. What I find fascinating about the “birdhouse” theme is that so many donations are loose interpretations, defined by the artist as a birdhouse. This is particularly true of the indoor variety. Then there is bird-related art (where I come in) along with whimsical jewelry.

So this year I was searching for some inspiration and thought out loud: “What more logical historical character to morph into a bird than Admiral Byrd!” I usually begin with lots of doodle sketches from vague images I carry around in my head. Kind of like this one:

But then I thought: No… no, the century on this admiral uniform  predates Byrd. So I started searching for his image.

What first comes to mind is Byrd, the Antarctic explorer. Hmmm, I should draw him in a parka? But then I think of him with penguins. I should either draw Byrd with his penguins or maybe as a penguin?

On second thought, it’s kind of hard to draw a uniform on a penguin other than a tuxedo so I think I’ll go with some kind of gull.

Thinking of birds and flight, I thought about Byrd being a pilot— so maybe I should draw him in aviator goggles with his plane?

However, this poster of his plane made me think of Byrd in a military dress uniform (as was my first inclination) .

.

So I drew my version of “Admiral Bird”…

and framed it.

As a bonus, I’m also throwing in an autographed copy of The First Turkey Day. It’s in the spirit of fractured fairy tales where the Pilgrims are turkeys who came over on “The Mayfowler.”

This will be the fifth year I’ve submitted a donation for the event. What’s new this year is a big change of venue. Instead of the Rolling Hill’s Country Club in Wilton, CT, the auction will take on a whole new vibe at FTC (Fairfield Theater Company) on Sanford Street in Fairfield, CT,  right next to the train stain. Also new will be the FREE preview reception on Friday, April 1 from 6 to 8 p.m.  So come meet the artists (and me)! On Saturday morning, April 2, it’s a family event with a bagel breakfast from 10  to noon.  Of course, the main event will be the Latin Dance Party Auction Gala from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. All proceeds go to a most worthy cause that helps change girls lives for the better. For tickets and info visit: http://www.projectreturnct.org/

Once upon a time, I wrote my first book. It was simply called The Children’s Party Handbook and subtitled Fantasy, Food and Fun.

Back in the day, my publisher was more concerned with focusing on timeless themes and avoiding trends that would make the book seem dated in a few years. The photos were intentionally set up without a child in view because their clothing or hair might “date” the book down the road.

In this new world of publishing, the opposite is true. It’s all about riding the crest of trends before they’re already over. In a paperless world, a book’s shelf life no longer matters and longevity is not the goal.

Now I thumb through these pages with nostalgia.  I had a very good run with my first book and have no regrets with the decision to feature classic kid’s parties and holiday themes like a Beatrix Potter Easter Brunch.

In addition to the traditional Easter egg, kids step into the storybook world of Beatrix Potter with games like Mr. McGregor’s Garden, The Pie and the Patty Pan and The Roly-Poly Pudding. Cake and ice cream are quintessential to all kids parties and this one had Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-Tail Cakes along with Puddle-Duck Ice Cream…

What’s my favorite recipe from the Beatrix Potter Easter Brunch? As an adult I find “Rabbit Eggs” in Easter Baskets a great dish for entertaining. You may ask what are rabbit eggs? Some kind of Cadbury chocolate fondue? Not exactly, but you might be on the right track…

Golden buck or Welsh rarebit is often referred to in England as “rabbit.” By any name it’s a dish consisting of a rich cheddar cheese sauce, kind of like a cheese fondue. Add hard-cooked egg whites and grate the yolks over the top and you are channeling a vintage dish known as eggs goldenrod ( a popular menu item  from 1920s tea rooms).

For this party, the idea is to serve them in pastry baskets made from cream puff dough. That’s what I’m going to show you how to do today, step by step:

For Baskets:

1 cup butter

2 cups water

2 cups flour

8 eggs

Preheat oven to 400° F. Butter the sides of 10, 6- oz custard cups and place in the freezer for a few minutes so that dough will adhere to the sides which should only take a few minutes. (If you  don’t have that many custard cups,  do these in two batches. You can also cut the recipe in half if serving fewer guests.)

Bring water and butter to a boil in a large saucepan. As soon as butter melts, add flour and beat vigorously with a wire whisk over medium heat until the mixture forms a ball.
Remove from heat and beat in eggs one at a time until smooth.Place about 2-3 heaping Tablespoons of dough into each chilled custard cup and spread evenly with a spatula covering all of the surfaces. Bake 30-35 minutes.

Meanwhile, Line baking sheets with parchment paper and fill a large pastry bag with remaining dough. Pipe U shapes for basket handles.Bake about 18 to 20 minutes until golden.

At this point, baskets and handles may be prepared a day ahead and rewarmed on a foil covered try before serving. The filling may also be prepared in advance.

“Rabbit Eggs”

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dry mustard

grated black pepper and rosemary to taste

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 cups milk (warm in microwave for 2 minutes)

2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

12 hard cooked eggs

1/2 cup chopped parsley or arugala

Melt butter, flour, onion powder, salt and dry mustard in a medium saucepan and stir over medium heat with a wire whisk until you have a bubbling roux.Now blend in milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thickened. Season with Worcestershire, pepper and rosemary to taste.

Blend in cheese until melted.Split eggs in half and separate yolks from whites.Slice up egg whites and stir into sauce, reserving yolks. Trim bottoms of handles so that they are flat. Fill baskets with egg filling and top with chopped egg yolk. Garnish around edges with parsley or arugula for “grass.” Use pieces of dried spaghetti like you would toothpicks to anchor the handles in place on baskets (this is safer to do around small children than using toothpicks).

The idea of using cream puff bowls is not limited to this dish. It works equally well with egg salad or chicken salad. Want to make a big impact? Try spreading the dough into a high rimmed glass pie plate and make yourself a full size Easter basket! Speaking of Easter baskets, be sure to swipe all of those hard cooked eggs and put them back in the fridge tonight so you can have “Rabbit Eggs” tomorrow.

The party’s over, so now what? You’re probably thinking that it’s time for me to move on from St Patrick’s Day, with Easter coming this weekend.Well, I promise I also have that on my radar, but I just wanted to share tonight’s dinner with you. Move over, lobster mac and pulled pork mac. You’ve got to try Irish mac & cheese!

First, you start with leftover corned beef.

That’s the whole point. You know how some of us will roast two turkey’s on Thanksgiving just for leftovers? We do the same thing on St. Patrick’s Day, with corned beef brisket, as I love my hash for brunch. Start by making a Béchamel sauce with butter, flour and milk, and then stir in grated cheddar cheese. In this dish, I prefer to use Kerry Gold’s Vintage Cheddar. Remember to add 1/2 cup grated cheese for every cup of milk.

Next, add cooked elbow macaroni.  The magic ratio is two parts sauce to one part pasta, to guarantee a creamy mac & cheese casserole.  I can’t emphasize this enough. It’s always disappointing to spoon into a casserole of dried out, gluey macaroni mass. In fact, you may notice I’m not giving specific measurements for the recipe. That’s because I believe in making mac & cheese to order according to the number of servings I need. If it sits in a casserole overnight, the pasta will absorb even more of the liquid as the pasta continues to swell from the sauce and the goal is to keep it creamy (also we’re making this with leftovers from the fridge so whatever quantity you have is the right amount).

After stirring in cubed corned beef, spread it into a casserole or ramekin and top with a mixture of buttered, dry bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. (I always use leftover Irish soda bread for this if I have any.) Bake uncovered at 400° until bubbling and golden brown on top.

So with that extremely comforting comfort food, I’ll say goodnight and start working on my Easter post in the morning.

It’s that time of year again when Monday holiday sales become a festive event to break the tedium of cabin fever. I even ventured up to the mall this morning to beat the snow and noticed how it was already filling up with stir crazy school kids (parents in tow) on their day off.

I started thinking about President’s Days past from my childhood. Actually, there wasn’t such a thing yet. We acknowledged George Washington’s birthday on February 22nd and Abe Lincoln’s on February 12th.  I liked celebrating  two separate birthdays back then but I guess it made more economic and political sense to roll it all into one three day weekend and pay tribute to unsung presidents like James Polk and Millard Fillmore.

So what did we do to honor our founding fathers? It all depended on the weather. Sometimes we’d go to a museum or a movie and sometimes we went ice skating and had snowball fights. On Washington’s birthday, we always baked a cherry pie and

(if it was a really wintery day like today) we’d serve it with SNOW ICE CREAM.

Snow ice cream is a very ephemeral dessert. It’s only available on certain days of the year and it doesn’t last very long while you are making it so you have to eat it really fast. That’s what makes it all the more alluring to children. It’s so easy to whip up and can be adapted to dietary needs. For example, you can substitute honey for sugar. Lactose problems? Almond milk  can be used in place of milk or cream. (In fact, if you do that and use “sweetened vanilla” you can just mix it with snow and you are done!) Just remember to tell the kids that the most important ingredient is CLEAN snow!

Here’s how mom did it: For two kids she’d mix 1/2 cup of light cream or half and half with 2 tsps of vanilla extract and 2 Tbs of sugar.

Then we’d mix it with 4-5 cups of snow (depending on if it was wet or dry snow).

Remember this can be made with a lot less fat if you use milk or dairy free altogether if you try almond milk.

For most of us, I’m not sure snow ice cream comes to mind when thinking of “All American” or patriotic desserts but it is symbolic of a season that would seem endless if we weren’t distracted by ground hog shadows, chocolate hearts and presidents.