TIP OF THE DAY: Cacio E Pepe Spaghetti & The Recipe

In addition to National Pasta Day on October 17th, there’s a National Spaghetti Day and it’s today, January 4th. Today’s tip is to celebrate a preparation that is rarely found on restaurant menus: Cacio e Pepe. Cacio e Pepe, “Cheese and Pepper,” is a Roman dish from central Italy. Cacio is a dialect word for…
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TIP OF THE DAY: A Delicious Vegetable Mix At Breakfast (Ratatouille)

[1] You can dice your ratatouille fine or chunky. A fine dice is a better base for the egg, crostini, etc.; a larger dice is better as a side dish (photo © Elegant Affairs Caterers). [2] Make chunkier ratatouille for a side dish (photo © The Former Chef). [3] This preparation uses a jar of…
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Eggnog History: Know Your Eggnog!

Eggnog or egg nog is a descendant of milk-and-wine punches that had long been part of European celebrations when colonists arrived in the Americas. Rum, a New World distillation, enabled a spirited substitution for the wine. And eggnog history? Eggnog became a popular wintertime drink throughout Colonial America. Then as now, people loved the rich,…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Black-Eyed Peas For New Year’s Day

It’s a Southern tradition to eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day for prosperity in the new year. It may actually stem from an ancient Sephardic Jewish custom of eating them on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. This “good luck” tradition is recorded in the Babylonian Talmud, compiled circa 500 C.E., and includes other…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Berries In Champagne

For an easy, light dessert to cap off your New Year’s Eve dinner, we nominate berries marinated in Champagne or other sparkling wine. Some sparkling wines are vinified to be sweet (see below). But if you can’t find one, or have dry sparkling wine on hand, you can mix it with a bit of agave…
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