TIP OF THE DAY: Crabtini, A Simple & Elegant First Course

A delicious crabtini. Photo courtesy Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.   When you’re cooking a fancy dinner, there are tricks to shave time and effort. We typically do this by making first courses and desserts that are simple yet impressive. One of our go-to first courses is a slice of store-bought pâté with a lightly-dressed mesclun salad,…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Truffle Cheese

A good truffle cheese is a knockout. It you’re going to serve one cheese for a special occasion, this is it. There are different truffle cheeses from the U.S., France, Italy, and elsewhere. Some deliver the aromatic, spectacular truffle aroma and flavor you’re looking for. Others don’t, the black flecks of truffle seemingly there like…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Cinnamon Coffee

It’s easy to brew delicious cinnamon coffee with any coffee maker. Photo courtesy McCormick.   If you enjoy cinnamon coffee, here’s a recipe from McCormick, that adds real cinnamon to your ground coffee for a far more exciting flavor. (Commercial cinnamon-flavored coffee uses an extract to flavor the beans.) The coffee is brewed with brown…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Break Wine Barriers

Most people who drink wine regularly have learned “rules” of pairing wine with food. There are very precise rules—Chablis with oysters is one—and general pronouncements, such as white wine with fish. You can go to the website FoodAndWinePairing.org and get guidance such as a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Malbec with lamb. But conventional wisdom, which…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Rainbow Vegetables

Baby carrots move beyond the familiar orange to purple, red and yellow. Photo courtesy Sprinkle Side Up. See her recipe for glazed rainbow carrots.   In picking up supplies for our “diet Oscars menu,” we came across rainbow baby carrots—our first sighting—and rainbow cherry tomatoes, which have been available in our market for a few…
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