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The REAL First Thanksgiving Celebration, Plus a Fine Squash Side Dish
Many Americans know and love the romanticized story of what we now refer to as the first Thanksgiving. I used to have such pleasant, if sappy, notions myself, at least partly due to having seen Norman...
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Easy Holiday Cookie Decorating, Plus All-Purpose Powdered Sugar Icing
It' s time to polish off the last of the pumpkin pie, strike the Thanksgiving set, and get focused on what's next. In my kitchen that means holiday sugar cookies, of course! (A good, basic, easy dough...
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Top Cookie Baking Tips, Plus Some Favorite Cookies & Bars to Try
It's the height of cookie baking season now, so here are some of my top baking tips. I've included some dos and don'ts and also a few troubleshooting suggestions in case things aren't going as smoothly...
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Specialty Food Products to Enjoy in the New Year
I wrapped up 2011 with a post waving goodby to some food trends and "hot" products that were not so hot and that I fervently hoped would disappear from the scene in 2012. This year I'm ending on a more...
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Delish Vegetable Soup from The 2 Day a Week Diet Cookbook
Available on Amazon here."I became a believer. This book represents the best couple dollars you will spend in 2014."Wow! That's what a reviewer said about my brand new Amazon Kindle cookbook, The 2 Day...
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Festive Bean & Cheese Tostadas--Tasty, Easy, Gluten-Free and Easy on the...
With the Super Bowl fast approaching, here's an offer I'm hoping you can't refuse. Along with the Buffalo wings, barbecued ribs, burgers and fatty dips and chips, how about a fuss-free, full-flavored...
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Wishing You a Valentine's Day Full of Sweet Hearts
With just a basic sugar cookie dough and some equally simple powdered sugar icings, you can create some pretty, romantic and delicious Valentine's sweet treats. Even for those with little or no...
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A Fine Homemade Tomato Soup for the Winter Weary
This morning it snowed--again! And it's cold and windy. Again! I am completely winter weary and, when stepping outside, I despair of being knee-deep in yet another icy layer that should be...
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Fine Lime-Green Tea Buttercream for St. Pat's Day
I just handed out some of these green-tea and lime buttercream-decorated cookies at a lively, information-packed DC Les Dames d'Escoffier symposium last Saturday.Yes, I chose these to give out partly...
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Happy April Fools' Day! Enjoy Our Extreme Diet Club Video
Extreme Dieters Cooking Club VideoIt's tempting to join in and try to be funny on April Fool's Day. Lots of people are in the mood for silliness and practical jokes. But being amusing is a risky...
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7 Ways to Tell if Your Food Photos Are Trendy
Nasturtium-Chive VinegarIn every age, artists and their work inevitably reflect what's deemed fashionable at the time. Savvy Byzantine painters elongated human faces, rendered their backgrounds flat,...
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Tips for Cookie Decorating with the Kids
Yesterday my grandkids and I cut out, baked, and decorated sugar cookies. We've been doing this at various holidays ever since my grandson, Charlie, was 18 months old--and he is now almost a teenager!...
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Cute Baby Carriage Shower Cookies
This week I was busily baking and decorating a big batch of cut-out sugar cookies. As you can no doubt guess, the baby carriage cookies were created for a baby shower. The party was for my niece,...
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Got Violets and Lemons? Make Beautiful Lemonade
It's wild violet season, and like many centuries of cooks and gardeners before me, I am out gathering and then putting violets to use in my kitchen. Some folks still prize violets for certain curative...
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Tomato Salad with Violet Confetti and Violet Vinegar Dressing
Did you know that woodland violets come in many colors besides purple--from white to pink to yellow to blue? That there are hundreds of varieties in what's called the Viola family, and that they are...
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Four Good Reasons Every Foodie Should Grow Chives, + a Tempting Chive-Cheddar...
Even if you have never grown a single edible plant; don't have a garden plot; and fervently believe you have a brown thumb, if you enjoy cooking and eating fresh, flavorful produce, you should...
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Fancy Schmancy Cool as a Cucumber Canapés + Tips on Turning Dishes into Party...
Today, just because I like food to look appetizing, I’m sharing a few super-simple (really!) presentation tricks and techniques we learned in pastry chef school. If you’re one of the many home cooks...
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Lavender Fields Forever, + a Lavender-Infused Limoncello
I've been creating fresh and dried lavender recipes lately, and I'm more smitten than ever with the beauty, fragrance, and haunting, spicy-floral taste of this wonderful herb. Yesterday, I decided to...
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Pom Pops--Cooling, Tasty, Lo-Cal, Too
In this post I'm sharing a refreshing snack or dessert recipe from my new co-authored Kindle book, The 2 Day a Week Diet Cookbook. Yes, as the title suggests, the regime only requires dieting on two...
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Exploring the United Kingdom's Orkney Islands, plus a Favorite Shortbread Recipe
I am on vacation in the UK now, traveling about the islands in the Orkney chain off the north coast of Scotland. These islands are remarkable both for their breathtaking natural beauty and wealth...
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