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…
Continue reading “RECIPE: Christmas Oysters”

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…
Continue reading “TIP OF THE DAY: Make A Cheese Christmas Tree”

How To Cook A Perfect Prime Rib

Many families enjoy prime rib for the holidays. At our mother’s house, a bone-in prime rib (a.k.a. standing rib roast) was always on the holiday table. Jan Birnbaum, Executive Chef at Epic Steak, a steakhouse on the San Francisco waterfront (great view of the Bay Bridge!), shares this advice so that you, too can cook…
Continue reading “How To Cook A Perfect Prime Rib”

TIP OF THE DAY: Homemade Pizza Dough

Pizza is one of our favorite foods. When we make it at home, we typically purchase a crust and add our favorite ingredients. Then we received a pizza dough recipe from from Bruno diFabio, whose pizza was just awarded the grand prize, Best Pizza, in the Worldwide Pizza Championship.* DiFabio is now a six-time winner…
Continue reading “TIP OF THE DAY: Homemade Pizza Dough”

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…
Continue reading “TIP OF THE DAY: Uses For Cardamom”