Based on the feedback and comments that I have received, I decided to compile the recipes that you loved the most. If you didn’t make them when they were first published, you should try them now!
Happy New Year, friends! Best to all of you in your kitchens and everywhere else you find yourself in 2024!
Lots of love,
Francine
Smoked Salmon Crostini
Smoked Salmon Crostini is a lovely appetizer that is simple, delicious, quick to make and gorgeous to look at! I’m always on the hunt for easy appetizers and this is it! I regularly make Beet-Cured Smoked Salmon and this is a perfect use for it. You don’t need to make you own (but why wouldn’t you? It’s so easy!) as any smoked salmon will work. Continue Reading…
Chili Crisp Chicken Ramen
As the weather starts to cool, Chili Crisp Chicken Ramen is the perfect way to warm the bones! The butternut squash broth is flavored with ginger, garlic and shallots. The chicken is crisped up in a Thai red curry and fish sauce coating. The soup is topped with a crispy garlic butter. All together it is a mouthwatering soup that you’ll make all winter long! Continue Reading…
Cherry Tomato Tartes Tatin
One of my new favorite appetizers is Cherry Tomato Tartes Tatin. It’s easy to make and is so very tasty, especially with ripe cherry tomatoes!
This impressive appetizer is one you will make over and over again!
Continue Reading…
Easy Peach Crumble Muffins
These muffins are easy, peachy, crumbly and delicious!! Encase them in a pretty muffin liner and they are also summery and show-stopping!
You can substitute frozen peaches for fresh, so let’s make these amazing muffins!
Continue Reading…
Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake
This loaf cake is an easy way to answer that chocolate craving! A moist, tender cake filled with bursts of chocolate and topped with a luscious chocolate ganache. What could be better? A tall glass of milk to go with?
Continue Reading…
Grilled Chicken Caprese Salad
This delicious salad is a perfect recipe for year-round feasting. The presentation is spectacular (don’t you agree) and the taste is soooo good! Besides, it’s quick and easy to make and that’s a huge bonus!!!
Continue Reading…
Shrimp Fried Rice
Shrimp Fried Rice is one of the easiest, tastiest rice recipes that I’ve found! Combining cooked rice with seared shrimp and ham, peas, carrots and scrambled eggs, and finishing it off with a splash of soy sauce makes this the perfect light dinner or side dish.
Continue Reading…
Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
If you only make one cookie this year (but who really does that?), you must make these Strawberry Shortcake Cookies! Filled with both freeze-dried strawberries and strawberry jam, drizzled with strawberry icing and sprinkled with crushed strawberries, the delicious flavor of fresh strawberries is loud and proud! They also look so pretty, don’t you think? Continue Reading…
Glazed Carrots with Goat Cheese & Honey
These carrots are a beautifully flavored side dish that is so colorful and delicious! Sautéing carrots with herbs and spices and then caramelizing in honey creates a mouthwatering accompaniment to any main course. Top it with a lemony gremolata and it’s hard to beat for flavor and beauty! Continue Reading…
Scandalous Brownies
These Scandalous Brownies caught my attention from their original name. Don’t shoot the messenger, but they were originally called Slutty brownies. There are lots of recipes on line for them and there are lots of reasons for the name (such as there are so many different things that go into them 
) but my favorite is because they are scandalously delicious! Continue Reading…
Salmon with Basil Sauce & Tomato Salad
This salmon recipe is a lovely, all-in-one dinner that will satisfy everyone! A spice-rubbed salmon is baked and then plated with a fresh summer tomato and corn salad and topped with an herby basil sauce. Add a rice pilaf or grain of any kind and you have everything you could want on the plate! Continue Reading…
Chocolate-Dipped Croissant Biscotti
These Chocolate-Dipped Croissant Biscotti are the most delicious treat I’ve had in a long time. They are beyond easy to make and create quite a hubbub when folks try to figure out exactly what they are!
Continue Reading…
Eggs Benedict
One of the most traditional breakfast items to order in a restaurant is Eggs Benedict. But, why not make it at home? Because you think it’s difficult? Because who could poach an egg as well as a restaurant can? Because a Hollandaise sauce is tricky? Let me set the record straight that this is easy, very easy, to make! Continue Reading…
Strawberry-Glazed Pink Velvet Cake
How pretty is this cake? It’s delicious and gorgeous and easy!! It’s a surprise cake…when you cut into it and see that lovely pink color, you know you’ve arrived at dessert heaven! This is a simple vanilla buttermilk cake that’s been brushed with a yummy strawberry glaze. Top it with an almond buttercream. It’s delicious, gorgeous and should be on your list for next dessert to make! Continue Reading…
Sheet Pan Eggplant Parmesan
This eggplant parm is a delicious, healthy and simple way to make this traditional Italian favorite. By broiling or grilling the eggplant slices to achieve a nice char and then layering the eggplant, mozzarella, tomatoes, marinara sauce and garlicky breadcrumbs, you have a sensational dish that is easy enough for a weeknight dinner but delicious enough for a weekend party. Continue Reading…
]]>Are you ready for the holidays? Have you forgotten a few gifts to give and dread the idea of going back to the mall? Fear not…bake up some amazing cookies and package them in a pretty little box! The best gifts are homemade, in my humble opinion!
So what are some key tips to making a beautiful cookie box?
- choose the right size box
- decide on your “menu” of goodies to go into the box
- consider the packing materials you’ll need
Choosing the box:
I have bought boxes in the past that are too large. It doesn’t seem like that would be a problem, but everyone is on a financial and time budget, especially around the holidays. The more room you have to fill, the costlier it becomes not only in dollars spent but in time as well!
If the box is too small, you don’t get the “wow” factor when someone opens it. For me, that’s important. Is this sounding a bit like the Three Bears?
The box size that I like to use is 12″ x 8″ x 2″. About the size of a shirt box. It feels “just right” to me!
I also like to use a sturdy box so that it will hold up to the weight of all the goodies.
I make dividers out of heavy cardboard and cover them in wrapping paper or parchment. In the case of this particular cookie box, I found some dark grey cardboard and used that to make my dividers. Once you decide how many different items to put in the box, you will know how many dividers you will want and how to arrange them. Be creative…it’s entirely up to you.
I don’t like to tape the dividers in until I have the final sizing done. I might, for example, leave a space for cookies, but find that they are slightly smaller or bigger than I anticipated. If the dividers aren’t taped or glued down, I can easily move the dividers into position. Then I make them permanent by gluing or taping them into place.
There are so many possibilities for what can go into the box. I decided on fudgy Peppermint Brownie Cookies, beautiful Christmas Tree Shortbread Cookies, Salted Caramel Nuts, Tammy’s Biscotti, Marshmallow Molasses Cookies and apple cider caramels.
If I was going to ship this box, I might substitute a different treat for the Christmas Tree Shortbread Cookies, as they are somewhat fragile.
Some other great options are:
Easy Easter Popcorn (just change the sprinkles to be red and green)
Zebra-striped Shortbread Cookies
The key to a successful box is to have it look balanced and colorful!
Finally, be sure to wrap the individual items. I’m showing the box without any wrapping, but you definitely want to put the nuts, caramels, cookies and biscotti in their own bags. That will prolong the freshness of the goodies.
Happy Holidays!
Thanksgiving is right around the corner, so let’s get to the important question…what’s going to be on your table this year? Certainly turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce, but what else? There are so many possibilities so let me help you narrow things down.
Over the next week and a half, I will be presenting new recipes that will make your holiday extra special. For now, let’s look at menu ideas and choices. Just click on purple links and you’ll go right to the recipes! The recipes without links will be on the site in the next few days…I promise!
Thanksgiving Menu
Let’s Begin…
Extraordinary Marinated Olives
The Bread Basket:
Fig & Goat Cheese Scones with Thyme Drizzle
Gorgonzola & Bacon Drop Biscuits
The Main Attraction…
Deconstructed Turkey with Sage Gravy
Spiced Cranberry Sauce with Pears
On the Side…
Bourbon Sweet Potato Casserole with Bacon-Pecan Crumble
Creamy Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes
Maple Roasted Butternut Squash & Sweet Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Onions
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pears & Pistachios
Carrots with Brown Butter & Hazelnuts
Butternut Squash & Brussels Sprout Stuffing
Sheet Pan Pumpkin Mac & Cheese
The Finale…
Pumpkin Pie with Chocolate Crust
Brown Butter Chocolate Pecan Tart
This summer, I was invited by the editor of The Pinewood News to co-write a food column in the biweekly community newsletter. I was honored and very excited as this would fall right in line with my new website. Not only that, I have been a part-time resident of Munds Park, AZ since 1996 and have been reading this great paper for a while. It is a wonderful opportunity for me to give back to this welcoming community!
My first article was published Sept 23, 2019. I have decided to include those articles in my blog in case you have an interest in checking them out.
What happens when a bestie invites you to Sonoma, CA for a girls trip to include your two sisters, Robyn and Janet? That’s easy…you say YES and hop on the plane! That’s the little excursion that my sistahs and I took last month and I must say that not only did we enjoy incredible food and experience stellar wineries, we kinda tore the town up! They very gently took away our key to the city and kindly suggested we not return. I’m confused as to why exactly that happened but things can get a little whacky when we are all together.
But, I digress…
Our friend, Fran (not to be confused with me, Francine) summers in Sonoma. She and her daughter, Tiffani, created an amazing itinerary for us to enjoy for three glorious days and nights. For me, the best part was that I didn’t have to think or be in charge…Franny so sweetly took care of all the details. And, I must say, she did an extraordinary job! In this blog, I want to focus on the wineries, as they were so spectacular!
The first winery we visited was Scribe. https://scribewinery.com/
The setting of this winery was stunning, and the wine tasting was situated in the Hacienda. This winery, which was founded in 2007 on a property that pioneered pre-prohibition Sonoma Valley winemaking, is managed by 4th-generation California farmers and brothers, Andrew and Adam Mariani. We were greeted by the hostess with a lovely glass of 2018 Rose of Pinot Noir. It was so refreshing and crisp! We were seated at a perfect table on the patio and our tasting, which was paired with food, began. By the way, we were going to dinner in 3 hours, so while we tried to temper the amount of food we consumed to save room for dinner, it was just too darn good to leave anything behind. Our wine pairings matched the food pairings so perfectly. This was a very impressive way to begin our long weekend!
The next morning, we got to experience Ram’s Gate. https://ramsgatewinery.com/ What an exquisite winery! While appearing to have a rustic design sense to it, the interior, which was created by award-winning interior designer Orlando Diaz-Azcuy, incorporates eclectic furnishing and fixtures to make it inviting and sophisticated at the same time.
This winery focuses on small-lot Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. The grapes are sourced from esteemed vineyards in Sonoma County and Carneros. And the resulting wines are spectacular. As with Scribe, the location of Ram’s Gate Winery offered up a gorgeous view of the Sonoma Valley. It was pure bliss!
We finished up our wine-tasting journey at Hamel Family Wines. https://hamelfamilywines.com/
To say that this winery is unique is an understatement. First off, it’s very contemporary in it’s styling, which is unusual for this area. It has a chic dynamic to it, from the entry bar to the patio with the negative-edge fountain. The wines are organic and biodynamic, and when we toured the wine cave, we were given the low-down on how they create these lovely wines without introducing anything that would offend the environment. Speaking of the wine cave, it was as architecturally interesting as the rest of the winery. Row upon row of oak casks created an elegant visual.
Our wine tasting included Rose, Sauvingon Blanc, Zinfandel and their red blend, Isthmus and was paired with a snack of house-made Ricotta cheese sprinkled with Sonoma Coast Sea Salt. I dream of that Ricotta!!
If you have the opportunity to visit this winery, be sure to ask your Estate Ambassador about the love-affair with badgers…yes, I said badgers! It’s an interesting story!!
Although this wasn’t a wine tasting, I highly recommend spirit-tasting at Prohibition Spirits Distillery. Not only was it fun and unique, they have some amazing spirits! They offer a number of different takes on limoncello, a unique lemon flavored digestif, as well as whiskies, rum, brandy liqueurs, gin and more. Definitely do not pass on this activity! http://www.prohibition-spirits.com/
Sonoma is a little slice of heaven…the restaurants and shopping, the spectacular landscapes, the wineries and the people who inhabit this beautiful locale. Sonoma should be on everyone’s bucket list. I know I’ll be back…soon!
The final dinner party of the summer season came around way too quickly. I was sad to see the summer end, with all of its lazy days, friends coming to hang out, golf, cooking and entertaining. We are fortunate that we have a second home high in the mountains near Flagstaff, Arizona. Our summers in Phoenix can be interminable without this high-elevation get-away home. So, on Labor Day Weekend, I gathered some friends to say goodbye to our summer up north.
Let’s talk about what goes into a dinner party. I know that many of you might be intimidated about throwing a party, but I’m going to give you some tips to help make it a bit easier to have great food and a great time, as well!
First things first: choose an easy menu. Don’t go crazy with brand new recipes, unless you’re me. For me, I love the challenge, but as you by now are figuring out, I’m very competitive with myself and want to push myself beyond normal limits! Most people should pick recipes that they are familiar and comfortable with!
Second: be sure that a majority of the menu can be prepped and even made ahead of time. The last thing that you want is to be stuck in the kitchen while everyone else is enjoying cocktails and nibbles or hanging out on the terrace. The more time that you can spend with your guests, the more YOU will enjoy it, and the less they will feel like they’re imposing (it’s funny how after a cocktail or two, no one feels bad about who’s in the kitchen!)
Third: write a timeline. It can be simple, like on a post-it note (see the picture below) or in a note on your iPhone. But, this is a critical piece for me…I want everything completely timed out so that I don’t miss a beat. I want to know what time to preheat the oven, when the roast needs to come out of the fridge to sit at room temperature before cooking, I want the time that I intend to roast the veggies and for how long and so on. I think you get the picture. Also, I work backwards. I start with what time I want to serve. That is the critical decision and then everything else gets times backwards accordingly.
So let’s begin with the menu…I always start with the main course and decide on the accompaniments after. I decided that I was going to serve a beef tenderloin. Two of my guests don’t eat anything that swims, so that gave me a good idea of where I was headed. I wanted a salad, so I chose my Arugula & Date salad that I posted in this blog recently. My sides were going to be something starchy and something green. I went with a roasted root vegetable dish that is the best I’ve ever had (appropriately entitled Best Ever Roasted Root Vegetables and soon to be posted) and asparagus, if they looked nice at the market, which they did.
The only technicality that threw me a bit was that my favorite way of making tenderloin is Ina Garten’s approach of slow-roasting in the oven. It always comes our PERFECT! But, I needed the oven for my root vegetables. Oh, what to do, what to do? I decided to grill the tenderloin, which took a little more TLC than I had hoped for, but once I was committed to the roasted root vegetables, I didn’t feel like changing it for something simpler like grilled corn or a pasta dish. Both would have been delicious with the tenderloin.
As an hors d’ouevre, I chose Half Baked Harvest’s Pastry Wrapped Baked Brie. This is one of those easy but impressively delicious starters. It begins with roasting plum slices with maple syrup and butter (wow, that sounds awful) and then wrapping a round of brie that’s been covered in fig jam with puff pastry dough. You bake it and serve it with the plums spooned over the top. So easy and so good!
Finally, for dessert, my sweet friend Sonja brought an avocado pie. I never had one of those before and I am here to tell you it was delish!!! I’ll have to start incorporating avocados into baking…I was really impressed!
When I thought about how I wanted my table to look, I knew that we’d be sitting on the terrace and that by the time we ate, it would be dark. I don’t have a ton of light on the terrace so I decided to candlelight the table. The night prior, I lit all the candles to see if they would provide en0ugh light. It was a toss-up. That’s something I need to work on for next summer (note to self).
In the morning, I did most of the prep (cubing the veggies, making the topping for them, mixing the salad dressing, etc). The afternoon of the party, I set the table. I set out serving dishes and utensils. I pulled out some wine, Vodka and tequila (maybe had a sip, maybe not), some sparkling water, lemons & limes and set up a little bar. Meanwhile, I’m doing the final prep for the dinner, while making sure I was sticking to the timeline. Somewhere in there, I figured out the playlist for the evening, which was actually a station on Pandora called, no laughing please, Hipster’s Cocktail Party. Awful name, but great music. You gotta have great music for a dinner party…not too loud, but definitely there to set the vibe.
We had an awesome time, of course, and even though it was the end of the summer season, it is truly the beginning of the party season. It starts for me with the Jewish Holidays, then family birthday celebrations, then Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Chanukah, New Year’s and all the little gatherings in between. This little dinner party reminded me of what it takes to be successful for all of these upcoming gatherings: an easy menu, lots of prepping ahead and writing down a timeline. Everything else just falls into place.
Happy Feasting!!
I realize that if I invest a bit of time in the planning a week or so ahead, I can pull off a stress-free elegant dinner that is entirely of my choosing! Candlelit, casual, sexy music or rock & roll…makes no difference because it’s all yours. You get to decide what feel you want and exactly what you want to eat. My kinda party! So let’s get started…
I like to start about a week in advance with the planning. That means figuring out the menu, writing out a time-line and getting all my equipment and products ahead of time.
My golf buddy, Katie, commented wistfully how amazing it would be if someone would just give her a menu, tell her what to buy so she could order all of her groceries ahead of time, and just come home and knock it out. Well, Katie, this one’s for you!
The menu that I chose is as follows (click on the underlined items to take you to the recipe):
Cheddar Cheese Crackers/Mixed Olives/Champagne
Dinner: Baby Vegetable Composed Salad
Roasted Asparagus
Heart-Shaped Chocolate-Glazed Chocolate Tarts
or
It’s important to write down the timeline: When do you need to start prepping, what can you do in advance, when should your groceries be purchased? I even get as granular as when the oven or grill should be preheated! Answering all of these questions can help avoid timely mistakes.
The most important point to remember when you decide to make a special meal like this is that you get to have fun, too! So, pick up that glass of Champagne, toast that you made it through another year (I’m kidding…toast love, happiness and world peace!), put on some great music and dance while you’re cooking. Bring your honey into the process…they can be your sous chef: chopping, cleaning, refilling your Champagne flute. Whatever you do, don’t stress this…even if it doesn’t turn out perfect, your honey still loves you!
Happy Valentine’s Day!!!
I am a big fan of Chef Lior Lev Sercarz, also know as the Spice Master. I had a wonderful opportunity to meet him at an event at my friend, and fellow food blogger, Polly Levine’s beautiful Santa Monica home. She held an event for the Jewish National Fund that featured Lior and the work he and the JNF are doing to open the Galilee Culinary Institute in Northern Israel. This is to be the first culinary institute in all of the Middle East.
This institute will be a 4-year accredited diploma program college, and considering Israel’s emergence as one of the leading countries for food and agricultural technologies, this program will provide a vehicle in the north for this area to become a center for culinary arts. With Lior Lev Sercarz directing this new endeavor, it will be a beacon of success in this region and around the world!
“Israel has become a destination for food, adventure and culture,” affirms Sercarz. “The Institute of Culinary Arts will not only showcase the vibrant and fresh cuisine of Israel, but will also bring master chefs from across the globe to the school as visiting professors.”
With master spice-blender and chef Lior Lev Sercarz serving as director, the GCI will bring aspiring chefs, restauranteurs, and local leaders of the agriculture and husbandry industries to learn and live in the Upper Eastern Galilee. The Institute will focus on the direct connection between agriculture and cooking, with a “farm-to-table” restaurant featuring ingredients sourced by the students through internships on local farms.
with Chickpea Flatbread
As one of the hosts of the fundraising effort for the Galilee Culinary Institute, Polly Levine is a wonderful food blogger (www.pollyruth.co), chef and amazing person. She’s also a talented and brilliant hostess. For this event, she paired up with fellow food blogger and neighbor, Eydie Desser (www.gardenofeydie.com) to host Chef Lior at their homes for snacks and garden tours of both of their homes.
A number of delicious nibbles were made by Lior, Polly and Edie including some that I’ve already posted: Sugar & Salt-Cured Salmon, Salmon & Scallion Spread, and Chickpea Flatbread. They are all from his most recent book, Mastering Spice, which I highly recommend. The way that he uses spices to bring out the most wonderful flavors in various dishes is extraordinary! And, you don’t have to worry about finding the unusual spices…Lior has a wonderful spice shop in NYC called La Boite that has an online store as well.
For more information on the Culinary Institute, go to JNF.org.
For more information on Chef Lior Lev Sercarz, go to laboiteny.com
