A while after we posted about Laura Handler’s lovely Montana cabin, and after many emails back and forth in which we discovered we lived in the same neighborhood in New York, and many other affinities, we received a package in the mail. With it came a note: “Just another worlds-colliding-thing from here that I hope…
Read MoreMy credential as a coffee fanatic came unglued last September. It was all Sally Schneider’s fault. Yes, herself, the creator of this charming blog. I had been complaining about the skyrocketing price of coffee, and whining about the difficulty of finding a decent bean, much less a decent cup, even in New York City. “What…
Read MoreEarly this morning we received an email from a friend who was about to make chocolate truffles for her Valentine, and wasn’t sure how to transport them. The email was sent in the wee hours of the morning, and we realized that for many, today means a last-minute scramble to get ready for Valentine’s day…
Read MoreRecently, during a birthday celebration for a friend at Eleven Madison Park, we were invited to see the kitchen of what is, arguably, one of New York’s best restaurants; the number of staff on any given day roughly equals the number of diners – THAT’S how attentive the service and complex the menu. While cooks…
Read MoreValentine’s Day is one week away so we thought we’d start thinking about it now, rather than our usual last minute scramble. Chocolate is, of course, the classic valentine, so we’ve rounded up our very best chocolate desserts and gifts, all homemade, all easy to make. Here are our recommendations, with annotations: Essential Chocolate Cake…
Read MoreAll through the summer, I make a weekly trip on my bike to the Union Square Green Market. I always stop at Keith Stewart’s stand to buy his amazing garlic, tomatoes, lettuces and herbs. Just about every week, there are new offerings, so that I can gauge the progression of the season well into fall,…
Read MoreYears ago, I learned a wonderfully simple method for making a rustic freeform fruit tarts modeled after French galettes, whose charm lies in their rustic imperfection. The recipe involves little more than rolling flaky pie dough into a rough free-form round, piling cut-and-sugared fruits into the middle, and folding the dough up around it. It…
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