Boxing Day. What is that? It certainly is the precursor to the “Christmas gift” memories of African slaves on Southern plantations, where planters – many with roots in the British Isles – followed these old practices, with a few changes, given the circumstances. The day after Christmas now passes for a normal day here in…
Category: Christmas
Happy Christmas 2015!
I wish all of you the very best Christmas, no matter where you cook! Thank you all for everything and inspiring me to keep on writing about my favorite subject: food.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Gherkins & Tomatoes will be back after New Year’s. I wish all of you a happy holiday season, no matter what or how you celebrate!
Remembering the Magic and Wishing for Peace on Earth
I dedicate this post to the children and the parents, everywhere, especially Newtown, Connecticut. Every year, in December, a marvelous thing happens. At least I think it’s wonderful. And not for the reasons you might think. Christmas comes around, bringing with it a sense of magic in the air, some thing that I felt as…
How to Tempt the Scrooges, or, Christmas, the Cooking Season
I love Christmas. Yes, I really do. For I see Christmas as a time that allows us – in these rather sterile, rigid United States, anyway – to cut loose and string up gaudy gee-gaws all over the house. To transcend the daily. To feel the seasonal and mythic cycles of past times. To celebrate…
SUGARPLUM VISIONS: Christmas Cookies
…visions of sugarplums danced in their heads. ~~Clement C. Moore~~ ” ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” Happy Holidays to all readers and visitors to Gherkins & Tomatoes / Cornichons et Tomates! I will “see” you again on January 2. ‘Tis soon the season to be jolly. And to bake cookies, the sugarplums of today. I’m…
A Few Marrons Glacés for the Season … A Gift for You
Photo credit: Robyn Lee A while ago, I promised you a short list of facsimile/translated French cookbooks. The following list represents a number of old French-language cookbooks translated into English that you’ll find freely available on the Internet, something quite helpful when you’ve dropped your last holiday dollar on the fixings for Beef Wellington and…
Give the Gift of Cooking French Food at Home: Some Cookbooks That Make a Seemingly Impossible Task Possible
I have to tell you that the cookbook lists that come out every year around Christmas time drive me crazy. Like you’re really going to savor, say, 101 Recipes Using ___________? (Fill in the blank.) Or you’re going to run out and buy another Italian cookbook when you already own somewhere in the neighborhood of…
‘Tis the Season …
MAY YOU FEAST WELL AND HAPPILY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON…
