Category Archives: Christmas

Happy New Year! Cooking with Mom – Chicken Provencal

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s. We finished off 2016 in Edinburgh, Scotland spending Christmas with Cheryl’s sister Shelly and her husband Ross. On the way back we stopped off to see my family in the beautiful Mid-Hudson Valley of New York which is where we rang in 2017.Continue reading “Happy New Year! Cooking with Mom – Chicken Provencal”

Cotechino – Buon Anno!

I think this last post of 2015 pretty much sums up my excellent sausage-making year and kicks off the next in an awesome style. Cotechino and lentils is a traditional Italian New Year’s dish served for good luck, much like black-eyed peas here in the US. The lentils are supposed to represent coins, no ideaContinue reading “Cotechino – Buon Anno!”

Merry Christmas! Christmas Salami!

I’m deep into prepping our Christmas Eve dinner but wanted to share a photo of some salami I made yesterday, some Christmas Charcuterie if you will. Instead of wrapping and putting under the tree, I stuffed and hung them in the curing fridge. Makes quite the Christmas card, no? Should be ready in a monthContinue reading “Merry Christmas! Christmas Salami!”

Vin Chaud – Mulling Over a Paris Inspiration

I could not let our Paris trip go by without trying my hand on at least one thing we experienced there. As I mentioned before, the chilly December weather in Paris made vin chaud a perfect café drink to warm ourselves up with. Perfect winter warmer for Chicago too.

Roast Duck with Apple-Chestnut Hash

A few weeks ago I decided to roast a duck for our weekly Wednesday date night. Looking at The Flavor Bible, duck has a pretty wide and interesting mix of flavor ingredients and most are very seasonal for fall and winter; like apples, potatoes, ginger, allspice, chestnuts, cinnamon, and more. There were many ingredients onContinue reading “Roast Duck with Apple-Chestnut Hash”

Panettone Bread Pudding: Using the Custard Ratio

One last post for 2013.  Here’s a dessert which has become kind of a tradition for our Christmas Eve dinner: panettone bread pudding.  This Italian Christmas loaf makes a superb bread pudding since it’s already sweetened and is chock full of raisins and other fruit.  It’s usually the last bit of holiday baking I doContinue reading “Panettone Bread Pudding: Using the Custard Ratio”

A Twist on Fruit Cake: Pan del Marinaio (Sailor’s bread)

Fruit cakes are synonymous with Christmas and ever since my mom sent me Carol Field’s ‘The Italian Baker’ I’ve had my eye on the ‘festive’ breads section.  There are a number of recipes for holiday sweet breads in it, including…fruit breads.  While thumbing through it the other day I came across a fruit filled breadContinue reading “A Twist on Fruit Cake: Pan del Marinaio (Sailor’s bread)”

Christmas Cookie: Lemon Squares

There is not much time left to get your Christmas baking in.  I’ve been churning out my regulars this week but I wanted to add a new one to the rotation: lemon squares.  They are pretty popular any time of the year but I think they’re great around Christmas since they are a bit lighterContinue reading “Christmas Cookie: Lemon Squares”

Baked Ham with Apple Cider Glaze

Baked ham.  A staple of the Christmas season.  You see one at almost every party you attend, usually a spiral cut ham for easy servings, with a small dish of mustard next to it.  By the time Christmas rolls around you’re sick of it.  Unless of course you’re my wife.  Cheryl loves ham.  And byContinue reading “Baked Ham with Apple Cider Glaze”