The story behind Olia Hercules’ A Case for Eating Herbs as if They Were Vegetables in the New Yorker is well worth reading. But the title conveys the vital message. A platter of herbs offered alongside other dishes in a meal is an invitation for guests to enjoy herbs primal and fragrant with abandon.
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Entertaining these days often means being challenged with feeding a mix of carnivores, vegetarians, vegans, and people with specific prohibitions who can not eat something or other. Then I fall back on a strategy I devised years ago to feed a crowd.
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Improvised Life has published A LOT of recipes in its long life, many geared to the holidays. We’re figuring that for many people, this year’s holidays are still going to be improvised and untraditional. Here are a few ideas for whatever form your fete takes. There are lots of ways to celebrate.
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At a dinner party New Yorker food critic Hannah Goldfield attended last summer, one of the hosts served ice cream that had the mind-blowing effect of a magic trick. Here’s how, with a recipe.
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Wondering how could I quickly create the effect of great key lime (or lemon) pie without actually making a whole pie, I devised this delectable stripped-down hand pie, made of a few readily-available ingredients. Fast comfort for desperate times.
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As my cooking gets simpler and simpler, I rely on easily-created hits of flavor to dazzle. A favorite of late is roasted lemons, which I often throw into the oven as I’m making the rest of the meal. They liven up ANYTHING. They are totally addictive.
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Wine writer Anthony Giglio was the first to really consider what wines to drink with the junk food so many secretly love. So we compiled a list of “the best of” his solid pairings, and the illuminating thinking behind them.
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It’s exciting to open mystery wines that promised to be great once but have languished so long, it’s impossible to know if there’s something delicious inside. When one proves to be lovely, it’s like a little miracles has arrived.
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My go-to strategy for salmon, to make or to teach, is to slow-roast it accompanied by a simple sauce that I can make ahead. I’m thriled that Food52 considers it Genius…
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The most perfect tomato salad I’ve ever had was made by wine writer Anthony Giglio following the formula of Lucia Lo Presti, his Sicilian mama-on-law. Here’s her formula.
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Our clever friend Fran Black’s brilliant innovation of the traditional pot-luck dinner party model where guests are asked to bring a dish to forge an entire meal, yielded a to-die-for party that felt like Sicily.
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About the simplest and best cake recipe I learned in my long cooking career is “lightning cake”: eggy, tender and fragrant with a fine texture that belies its ease. Recently a reader shouted out: “Hey Sally, why don’t you post the Brown Sugar Lightening Cake on Improvised Life?”, so here it is.
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One of the simplest, hottest tips for holiday entertaining can be done with what you’ve got on hand and will cut down on busy work and stress.
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Fran Black, known in Australia as Dr. Fran, for her wise counsel on health matters, is an unusually outside-the-box thinker on everyday matters. Recently, she shared her revelation about the dessert she’d made for guests who were coming to dinner, and her breaking of a social taboo.
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If you’re still wrapping your head around pulling Thanksgiving dinner together, here is our toolkit of Improvised Life’s best ideas from Thanksgivings past.
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As is, roasted pears are wonderful with whipped cream, creme fraiche, or a custard sauce/creme anglaise*. But they can be the inspiration for all manner of desserts.
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While traveling in Mexico, I learned a handful of sauces whose flavors I yearn for but seem unable to find in restaurants here. Pumpkin Seed Sauce is one. It has a delicate yet earthy flavor that is delicious on just about anything.
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Recently, I was challenged with cooking for a mix of Paleos, vegetarians, and a person who could not eat beans or wheat. Sigh. I fell back on a wildly successful strategy I devised years ago to feed a crowd…
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The Blueberries, Feta and Mint recipe I love from Mindy Fox’s Salads: Beyond the Bowl is a play on a classic pairing of watermelon with feta. The possibilities for improvising on it are endless when you’re shopping summer markets. Here are some ideas.
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Asparagus season, usually a fleeting few weeks in Spring, is peaking now. I recommend REVELING in them while you can. New asparagus has an extraordinary pea-like flavor that you can unlock by simply steaming them until crisp-tender. Add butter, or a fried egg and Parmigiano.
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