TIP OF THE DAY: Low Calorie Egg Nog

With all of the holiday advice on how not to overeat, we haven’t heard one word about avoiding the most caloric food of the season: egg nog. Delicious and addictive (you can’t help but want another cup…and another), there’s a good reason to steer clear of the egg nog bowl: the calories. Our survey of…
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RECIPE: Christmas Oysters

Marinated with some heat, garnished with red and green, we could eat a dozen of these Christmas oysters. Photo courtesy Louisiana Seafood.   Oysters are a treat at any time of the year. The old advice to avoid them except in months that end in “r” came from the time before refrigeration, to avoid potential…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Make A Cheese Christmas Tree

By the 18th century, candles lit up Christmas trees (how did they not set the place on fire? Engraving by John Whetten Ehninger published in 1870 in Harper’s Bazaar magazine. Image courtesy Wikimedia.   This tip is about making a cheese Christmas tree. But first, here’s the history of the Christmas tree, also called a…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Uses For Cardamom

Green cardamom. Photo courtesy Suvir Saran | Indian Home Cooking.   Cardamom, a member of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), is a highly aromatic and flavorful spice from from a plant native to India and its northern neighbors, Bhutan and Nepal. The name derives from the Latin cardamomum and the Greek kardamon, which referred to a…
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RECIPE: Mistletoe Margarita, A Christmas & New Year’s Margarita Cocktail

The mistletoe plant has ovoid green leaves with small white berries. Why is it associated with Christmas? Here’s one explanation: The Druids of Britain (think Stonehenge), circa 100 C.E., thought that mistletoe had magic properties: a cure for disease, a fertility aid, protection from witches and so forth. In a special ceremony held in late…
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