Monthly Archives: December 2016

New Year Tradition: Tea, Cakes, Egg Nog

Most Americans associate champagne and caviar with the New Year, but other traditions pre-date that. The Puritans used to visit each other for tea and cookies on New Year’s Day. New Year’s receptions hosted by women became popular in the … Continue reading

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Cranberries for Chanukah

This year marks one of the rare times that the first night of Chanukah coincides with Christmas Eve. Interfaith families might be lighting candles while waiting for Santa. My favorite latke recipe never changes but this year I decided to … Continue reading

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Follow Me to Tennessee Cookies

I’ve been waiting to try recipes from The Pear Tree, a cookbook from the Junior League of Knoxville, Tennessee (1977), ever since my daughter and I sped out of Nashville just ahead of a major storm in 2015. The book’s … Continue reading

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German Gingerbread from the Family

It’s been more than 100 years since my German ancestors arrived in the United States but traces of the Old Country remain in our recipe boxes. This recipe for lebkuchen, a German gingerbread, appears on two different cards in two … Continue reading

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