Monthly Archives: December 2014

Just Add Crab and Crackers to this Dip

One of my favorite sources for quick party appetizers comes from a private school in Richmond, Virginia. With its yellow and green plaid accents, the cover of the cookbook, The Stuffed Cougar (1973) from the Collegiate Schools looks the part … Continue reading

Posted in cookbooks, Food, memoir | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Chocolate Mint Tea Room Treasure

Before malls swallowed up main streets, department stores reigned during the Christmas season. People lined up at display windows around the country to gawk at elaborate renditions of Santa’s village as well as mannequins in sequined party wear. The tea rooms … Continue reading

Posted in cookbooks, Food, history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Lemony Holiday Cocktail

My search for an historic holiday cocktail turned up endless variations of egg nog, mulled wine, and spiced/spiked coffee. The Boston-based cocktail virgin slut blog posted many tempting ideas. Yet the folder of family recipes yielded the best

Posted in Food, history, memoir | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Caffeinated Cake with a Nod to the Boston Tea Party

Coffee became a patriotic drink after Bostonians dumped tea into the Boston Harbor to protest high import taxes that Britain imposed on its colonies. With the anniversary of the original 1773 Boston Tea Party coming up on Dec. 16 – … Continue reading

Posted in cookbooks, Food, history | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

In My December Kitchen

Winter has (unofficially) arrived in Boston with its muted palette of browns and grays but I maintain bright colors in my kitchen, even though my basil plant did not survive its trip from the garden to the windowsill. For a look … Continue reading

Posted in Food | 16 Comments

Road Trip for ‘Green Rice’

Even before President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Highway Act that created the interstate system in 1956, Americans ventured out on road trips. In the early 1950s, they piled into the Mercury Monterey (nicknamed “the bathtub”), the Lincoln Cosmopolitan, and the … Continue reading

Posted in cookbooks, Food, History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment