Hi Friends, As noted over the weekend, tomorrow morning I'll be heading to my sister's, and in additon to the dog, a hockey bag, 6 humans, and many suitcases, the car will be transporting a bowl of rising dough, for focaccia of course, and a tub of ricotta to make the above-pictured whipped ricotta, which gets drizzled with both honey and olive oil, as well as crushed pistachios. It's exceptional. Later that evening, we'll sip on David Lebovitz’s tangerine spritzes while making resolutions in...
5 days ago • 1 min read
Friends, hello. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, filled with delicious meals, lots of family time, cozy fires, snowy skies, and maybe a nap or two. If you're gearing up for a New Year's Eve gathering, I hope you feel rested... I'll be spending it in sweatpants on my sister's couch, and I am so looking forward to it. Yesterday, the day after Christmas, I made turkey tetrazzini with leftover braised* turkey leg meat. A few weeks ago, just after Thanksgiving, I shared the tetrazzini...
8 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Friends, I didn't think I'd pop in here till after Christmas, but as I began drafting my shopping list, I found myself thinking about Christmas morning and how, in addition to having something sweet on the table, it is so nice to have something savory, like this, this, or these. Also, I can't tell you the number of times Christmas morning has rolled around, and I have opened the fridge to find zero eggs. Stewart's to the rescue! Below you'll find 10 favorite holiday brunch ideas, both...
12 days ago • 1 min read
Friends, hello! This week I found myself baking for all the various things — cookie exchanges, secret Santa events, teachers' and coaches' gifts. Of all the things I baked — shortbread, peppermint bark, cream cheese cutouts, and peasant bread — I found the peasant bread to be the easiest/least demanding of all, and found myself thinking: next year, it will be peasant bread for all! Friends, if you've found yourself in a baking/gifting marathon this week, I hope it's gone smoothly, and I hope...
15 days ago • 2 min read
Friends, hello! Today I have three things to share with you: muffin tin focaccia, a holiday party trick, and the three cakes I rely on during the holiday season. First: focaccia. Recently I've been asked multiple times if the focaccia could be made into mini loaves by using a muffin tin. I had my doubts, worrying the focaccia would be too squished in those little wells, so decided to give it a go to confirm. I made the dough Thursday and stuck it in the fridge. Yesterday afternoon, I removed...
22 days ago • 2 min read
Friends, hello! Next year, woven into my countdown-to-Thanksgiving timeline, I am going to include holiday shopping deadlines. Every year, I obsess about Thanksgiving and being organized, and then as soon as it passes, I feel panicky because I have not purchased a single gift. Alas. I do always keep a little tally of things I've loved over the year, and I've compiled them all here: Holiday Gift Guide 2025. This year's guide includes delicious flour that works beautifully with the peasant...
29 days ago • 1 min read
Friends, hello! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent it at my parents' house in Connecticut with my sister's family and my brother and sister-in-law. It was a treat to all be together, and, as always, the time passed too quickly. By Friday afternoon, we had all scattered in different directions, and the weekend madness had begun. Yesterday, before leaving, I made turkey tetrazzini, a variation of a recipe for chicken tetrazzini one of you had emailed me a few months ago. I...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Pie Dough and Gravy. Pie talk first. Without question, the comments and emails I receive most often this time of year relate to pie dough. This week, upon finding a disk of pie dough in my vegetable bin, I found myself with my own question. It looked a little gray, but it smelled fine. It was at least 2 weeks old. Hmmm, I wondered. Is it OK to use? Let's find out. I rolled it out: Pinched and chilled it: Then parbaked it: Friends, it was as flaky and crisp and buttery as ever! Phew. All of my...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Friends, Greetings from Buffalo 👋 I have been here since Thursday evening, of course, for hockey, and while the games in the outdoor rinks have been thrilling, can I tell you the highlight thus far? I spotted turkey wings at Wegmans! I have yet to purchase them because I thought it might be weird to store 5 pounds of turkey parts in my hotel fridge, but I will be returning to my favorite Western New York store before heading home tomorrow, and my only goal for the evening will be to get those...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read