TIP OF THE DAY: 11 Exciting Bloody Mary Garnishes

New Year’s Day is also National Bloody Mary Day. So today’s tip is: Find a new garnish for your Bloody Marys, and change it up every year. A celery stalk garnish and optional lemon or lime wheel was de rigeur 20th century. Savvy hosts replaced them with a fennel stalk for the new millennium (there’s…
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Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Recipe With Sea Salt

We couldn’t close out the year without a batch of buttery shortbread. This recipe, from Spice Islands, adds creamy caramel, a dark chocolate ganache icing and a sprinkle of sea salt. The recipe includes cashews. You can substitute another favorite nut (macadamias, pecans, pistachios, walnuts) or omit the nuts entirely. This type of bar cookie…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Don’t Toss It, Transform It!

We love the food at Petrossian in New York City. It doesn’t have to be caviar (the restaurant’s most famous offering) to be wonderful, as we discovered when we ordered crab cakes. The chef stuffed sections of the crab legs with fresh crab and sea urchin and topped them with caviar: very upscale sashimi! We’ve…
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FOOD FUN: Popcorn Snowman

Take a bite of Frosty. Photo and recipe courtesy Popcorn.org.   Make these today for Christmas Eve, or to enjoy instead of traditional Christmas popcorn balls.     RECIPE: POPCORN SNOWMAN Ingredients For 5 Snowmen 10 cups popped popcorn 1 package (16 ounces) large marshmallows 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter 1 teaspoon vanilla Decorations: sprinkles,…
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GIFT: Gourmet Cocoa And Hot Chocolate

Winter Hot Chocolate is a classic cocoa mix with a touch of vanilla. Photo courtesy Lake Champlain Chocolates.   “Forget Christmas gifts this year,” said our friend Gerard, when he called to invite us to his annual party and gifting frenzy. “At this point in our lives, none of us needs another scarf, another basket…
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