From the monthly archives:

December 2008

Dutch Babies and New Years Day Brunch Ideas

December 31, 2008

December 31 is upon us! I’m expecting thousands of drunken belligerent psychos to descend on my neighborhood tonight, and if you think I’m excited, I’m actually going elsewhere. Nothing I hate more than Adams Morgan on New Years Eve. Tomorrow morning, however, is another story entirely. The streets will be dead, [...]

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“Too rich and dark” chocolate pudding

December 24, 2008

A while back, I made some chipotle chocolate pudding parfaits. Humbly speaking, they were pretty darn awesome. At least, I thought so. D? Not so much. She prefers snack packs, I guess. But I don’t give up so easily. There’s no way those gelatinous, tasteless pudding packs can beat [...]

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Polenta with Tomatoes, Shallots, and Goat Cheese

December 21, 2008

Forget Rachael Ray, with her hoarse voice and her annoying little mannerisms. I’ll show you a 30 minute meal — better yet, a 15-minute meal — that’ll have you at the table before you can say “EVOO“. It’s called polenta, and it’s really flippin’ easy. You can actually make it more quickly than [...]

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Apricot-Stuffed French Toast

December 19, 2008

The third installment of “what’s for [catered] brunch?” begins with a tip on cooking for a crowd. When cooking for a crowd — especially if it’s folks you don’t know personally — I always try to size up the guests during the menu-planning stage, so that I can be sure I’m cooking dishes that’ll [...]

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Serious Barbeque Sauce

December 16, 2008

Missing your grill right about now? I sure am, and I never even had a grill. But nothing says “miss your grill” like cold, wet, winter nights.
Enter Ina Garten, my favorite Food Network dame and partner in butterlove. Her bbq sauce is the real thing, lemme tell you. [...]

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Menu for Hope V

December 14, 2008

Among the many perks of being a food blogger is the opportunity to really make a difference. The formidable Pim of Chez Pim has developed a fantastic annual fundraising campaign that raises money for the UN World Food Programme. Here’s what Pim has to say about Menu for Hope:

Menu for Hope is an [...]

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Homemade Granola — I’ve warned you.

December 13, 2008

Remember that time I catered a breakfast?
For a starter, we served greek yogurt and granola parfaits with a drizzle of honey and some fresh berries. This course took some time to plate up — what with all the layers, and making sure no smudges of yogurt got on any of the beautiful parfait glasses [...]

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Baklava

December 10, 2008

We’re chock-full of special occasions here at NDP. Two weekends ago, we celebrated with D and E as they hosted their first Friday night dinner as a married couple. It so happens that D and I were the first people to host D and E as a [not-yet-married] couple about a year ago, so [...]

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