Tag: Christmas

The Christmas Chronicles: Nigel Slater’s Paean to Midwinter, a Blissful Reading Experience

November 27, 2022

Best known for his memoir, Toast – both book and film – English author Nigel Slater is one of those food writers who really writes about a heck of a lot more than what’s on the table and in the mouth. Take his stunning work in The Christmas Chronicles: Notes, Stories & 100 Essential Recipes … More The Christmas Chronicles: Nigel Slater’s Paean to Midwinter, a Blissful Reading Experience

The Longest Night: Ramblings on the Darker Side of the Christmas Season

December 21, 2019

December 21, the longest night of the year, sacred to Druids and others. A time to take stock of the eerie darkness, the state of the world, the perfidy of many human souls. And a time to contemplate my smallness, seated as I am on this whirling blue dot orbiting a flaming ball of fire. … More The Longest Night: Ramblings on the Darker Side of the Christmas Season

Christmas in the White House: President Benjamin Harrison’s Carlsbad Wafers and His 1890 Christmas Dinner

December 22, 2014

President Benjamin Harrison, being a card-carrying participant of the Gilded Age, and his wife Caroline Scott Harrison served an unusual dinner on Christmas day, 1890. (The menu follows below.) Unusual in one way. Carlsbad Wafers. Huh? The mention of Carlsbad Wafers stopped me in my tracks for a minute. Like a curious cat, whiskers trembling, … More Christmas in the White House: President Benjamin Harrison’s Carlsbad Wafers and His 1890 Christmas Dinner

The Gift of French Cuisine

December 15, 2013

The French peasant cuisine is at the basis of the culinary art. By this I mean it is composed of honest elements that la grande cuisine only embellishes. -Alexandre Dumaine I don’t remember exactly when it happened. One day I resisted even opening my then-pristine copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking … More The Gift of French Cuisine