Pour an extraordinary cocktail, set out some irresistible nibbles, and you’re ready for a celebration.

My search for the perfect New Year’s Eve libation this year led me to the “PDT Cocktail Book,”: by Jim Meehan (Sterling Epicure, 2011).  Illustrated with Chris Gall’s colorful woodcut engravings, the book is an engaging and often esoteric guide to the artisan cocktails created for the speakeasy-style Manhattan bar, Please Don’t Tell.  It’s such a hit that I couldn’t find a hardback version anywhere so I downloaded the e-book version. (more…)

As much as I’d love to, I’ve never been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras.  The memory of  the great food I ate on my one trip to the Big Easy still lingers, though.

About this time of year, I always start thinking about celebrating Mardi Gras at home with some of those unforgettable flavors. There’s no way I can hope to recreate the fabulous Gulf Coast seafood where I live, of course.  But it’s not that difficult to approximate  the savory satisfaction of the muffuletta sandwiches made legendary by Central Grocery in the French quarter near the turn of the last century. (more…)

2010 has been a pretty tough year given all the nasty political battles and continuing economic uncertainty.  I, for one, will be happy to bid it adieu Friday night.

To toast the arrival of 2011, I’ve come up with a new cocktail — one that brings together the old and the new with a dash of gin, a multitude of tiny bubbles and the lively spark of pomegranate.  It began as a French 75, the World War I favorite of the Lost Generation of Hemingway and Fitzgerald.

My family is calling this variation the Ruby Bullet.  Paired with hot, puffy gougeres, it’s bound to enliven any New Year’s Eve celebration. (more…)

My assignment from the hostess:  Create a spooky appetizer for the neighborhood Halloween party.

It should have been easy.  But as much as I like the fantasy of the scary holiday, I still want my food to be real.  Yet wherever I looked for inspiration, all I found was processed food and outrageous colors.  The dishes were amusing  but I wouldn’t eat them.

What I needed was terrific food in Halloween disguise.   Enter homemade sesame seed crackers in bat shapes and zesty pimento cheese spread, which just happens to come in the perfect shade of orange. (more…)

Sometimes, inspiration comes just when you need it.   I had returned from a wonderful Bakers Dozen tour of Harley Farms in Pescadero last month and was pondering what I could bake with the fabulous goat cheese I had scored when I spotted an article in the New York Times about the French enthusiasm for savory quick breads.

Cakes salés—savory cakes—is the French term for these popular breads laced with cheese, meat and even vegetables.  They’re homey loaves, as easy to stir together as muffins, and they’re served at picnics, parties and potlucks in Paris and beyond.  Sliced or cut into cubes, they make terrific nibbles with a glass of cool wine on a summer afternoon. (more…)