Links

• Caroline Wright Food
• Food2.com
• Dorie Greenspan
• Edible Living
• Matt Bites
• Gastronomer’s Guide
• Serious Eats
• Bitten
• Smitten Kitchen
• 101 Cookbooks
• Karina’s Kitchen
• The Portland Pickle
• Orangette
• Chocolate and Zucchini
• The Wednesday Chef
• Becks & Posh
• Sarah Williams Music
• Sassy Radish

Favorite Cookbooks

Rosewater Madeleines

There is something deeply pensive about madeleines, isn’t there? A correlation, of course, famously made to Proust, but there is something more to it than that for me. Perhaps it’s because I’m thinking of France these days, or because I’m hoping for a pace that might lull over tea time and a fragrant, delicate cake. These little gems are at once inherently festive and understated, and are the perfect recipe to send along to you on this ethereal spring morning, bursting with thought, hope and change.

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Brown Sugar Oatmeal Pudding

I’ve sung the praises of a warm, homemade pudding before. Warm pudding that tastes of comforting breakfasts emerged from a cozy bed, or fresh, chewy cookies from the oven? Not until now. I made this pudding by steeping oats in warm milk and turning it into a sugary, velvety pudding (and transformed the otherwise discarded oats into a crunchy topping). It was just the comfort I was craving and didn’t even know it.

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Chocolate Blackout Cookies

There’s something satisfying about making a quick drop cookie, isn’t there? The satisfaction comes not only from making (and tasting) the dough, but also from doling the cookies out in little spoonfuls, spreading them out uniformly, giving them their space to bake up and fill your house with the smell of chocolate and sugar. These cookies are crackled, chewy, and just that perfect hit of chocolate– satisfying, indeed.

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Mom’s Favorite Granola

My mom isn’t an easy gal to buy gifts for, so every year I try to make something special with her in mind. This year, my dad suggested that I make a copycat recipe for her, to feed her addiction of a particularly delicious and luxurious granola from Blackberry Farm. You can hardly blame her: it’s a delicious, not-too-sweet snack that’s full of nuts, oats and just a tiny touch of brown sugar and butter. The gift was a huge hit– if you make it, you’ll see why.

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12 Days of Christmas: Walnut-Citrus Fruitcake

Today is Christmas Eve, which holds my favorite tradition of all. Every year, after whatever spectacular new “traditional” menu my father and I have cooked up, we gather around the Christmas tree to listen to a story. The story is a heart-warming Christmas tale about finding family through unlikely friends, gumption and, on a very basic level, fruitcake. A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote is one of the only steadfast rituals my family has throughout the holidays and one I fully intend to pass onto my children someday.

Part of the storytelling ritual, of course, is the beauty of sitting around the tree as a family, weeping and cuddling with our very own brood of Jack Russell terriers. This year, I wanted to make a fruitcake recipe of my own, if only to have the opportunity to declare “It’s fruitcake weather!” before diving elbow-deep into dried fruit and flour.

So, I hope this Christmas Eve finds each of you looking forward to your family traditions, or to new ones of your own making. Most importantly, I hope tonight and tomorrow finds you sharing in a memorable, home-cooked meal with people you love. Merry Christmas, dear friends. It’s fruitcake weather, indeed.

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12 Days of Christmas: The Best Hot Chocolate

Without question, it is hot chocolate weather here in Brooklyn these days, and my friends across the country are telling me they could use a mug. So, whether you just need a cup of cheer or just a really serious chocolate fix, this hot chocolate answers your call.

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12 Days of Christmas: Browned Butter Cookies

Today I’m getting in the Christmas spirit and bringing y’all with me. Last year, you might remember I did a series just like this one– and what would the holidays be without a bit of nostalgia? So, to kick it off, I made some simple sugar cookies with browned butter and a slight hum of cinnamon. Rolled out and dressed up any way you like, these will be your new favorite Christmas cookie.

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Buttered Scotch Pudding with Salted Caramel

As I was making this and chatting with my best friend, Jeff, I attempted to explain that homemade pudding may just be my favorite dessert. It’s comforting and warm, tasting of not much more than sweetened, thickened milk. This pudding was perhaps my favorite dessert I’ve made in a while– that salty kick chased by a nip of Scotch gets me every time.

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Pumpkin Cheesecake

There was a legend of “the pumpkin cheesecake” while I worked at Everyday Food magazine. It had been one of those recipes that took test after test, tweak after tweak, to get just right, but it got there. The gals on staff there at the time couldn’t even talk about it without cringing.

Since Thanksgiving is coming up (and, if you’re like me, you think of dessert first), I thought I would revive the old recipe and make a version of my own-similar enough to maintain the charm, but with a few of my preferences tossed in. The creamy, delicate cake that emerged from this recipe was truly the ideal Thanksgiving dessert. If you don’t have a dessert picked out yet, I thought I’d send some inspiration your way. If not this one (probably my favorite), then I have a few others that might tempt you. I hope you’ll get in touch on Twitter or leave me a message here to let me know what’s on your dessert menu!

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Indian Pudding

Indian Pudding is a dish I didn’t grow up with, though upon my first bite in a mid-coast Maine diner, I wish I had. Indian Pudding reminds me of the warm, satisfying comfort of rice pudding crossed with the flavors of gingerbread and sweet corn pudding. Basically, it’s what I want to be eating right now, and I figure you might be, too. It’s as simple as making polenta, will keep your belly warmed for hours, and will fill your kitchen with a fragrance that will make you wonder why you haven’t been eating this all your life.

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About Me

At culinary school in France, two years at Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine as a food editor, and all my foodie jobs in between, I've learned how to get my ideas from kitchen to page from a lot of great cooks and editors. When I'm not pitching or developing stories for magazines, I cater, cook and style food around New York City to support my growing food editorial habit. I live in Brooklyn.

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Twitter Updates

• Looking forward to a full weekend of cooking. Have some stew beef thawing in my fridge for the occasion already. 2011/02/07
• Happy Friday. Going to John's pizzeria in the Village, looking forward to devouring some amazing pies. Yumm 2011/02/04
• Looking forward to a full weekend of cooking. Have some stew beef thawing in my fridge for the occasion already. 2011/02/03
• Roasting marrow bones as I type, house smells like a Parisian bistro. 2011/01/29
• @squirrelbread Woah you're giving me major pizza envy. Wish I had an awesome pizza oven in which to make yummy, porky pizzas! 2011/01/28