TIP OF THE DAY: DIY Food Bars, Part 1 ~ Breakfast & Brunch

Fashion your party bar along the lines of hotel breakfast buffets. Photo courtesy Seattleite.com.   While summer entertaining is easy—cocktails on the patio, burgers on the grill—the fall brings a challenge. How can you entertain with panache, without killing yourself? We’ve grown fond of the food bar, a buffet that invites guests to “create-your-own-dish” with…
Continue reading “TIP OF THE DAY: DIY Food Bars, Part 1 ~ Breakfast & Brunch”

TIP OF THE DAY: Layered Vegetable Salad

Layered vegetable salad: The veggies look even more appealing. Photo courtesy Hidden Valley.   If you have veggie-resistant eaters at your table, try turning the vegetables into an artistic presentation. Good packaging can make what’s inside much more exciting. Here’s a fun way to incorporate vegetables into a meal with panache. This recipe, from Hidden…
Continue reading “TIP OF THE DAY: Layered Vegetable Salad”

TIP OF THE DAY: Have An Oktoberfest Party

On Saturday, as we were enjoying a cup of coffee on a bench at an entrance to Central Park, a stream of people in dirndl skirts and lederhosen passed by us, en route to an Oktoberfest celebration. That, and the arrival of a sample bottle of Samuel Adams Oktoberfest beer, reminded us that it’s that…
Continue reading “TIP OF THE DAY: Have An Oktoberfest Party”

TIP OF THE DAY: Cooking Eggplant

Today’s tip comes from Cordon Bleu Cooking School. The famed school in Paris, attended by Americans from Julia Child to Giada De Laurentiis, Cordon Bleu now has Bleu Ribbon Kitchen cooking classes in 17 U.S. cities from coast to coast. Check out the company website to find classes near you. No matter how you prepare…
Continue reading “TIP OF THE DAY: Cooking Eggplant”

TIP OF THE DAY: Mold In Jelly & Jam

Invader alert: white mold growing in jelly. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.   A couple of months ago, we noticed two cottony puffs of white mold growing in a jar of Smucker’s Concord Grape Fruit Spread. We wrote to Smucker’s asking if it was safe to eat, and what caused the mold. We…
Continue reading “TIP OF THE DAY: Mold In Jelly & Jam”