In honor of Saint Valentine,
We thought you’d like us to define
What people do when they pitch woo
And spoon and neck and bill and coo.
They pucker up their lips and press
Another’s lips in a caress.
What we’re describing is a KISS.
In other words, it’s also this:
A PECK, a BUSS, a KISSAROO,
A SMACK, a SMOOCH—to name a few.
The XXX that one bestows
On a letter with some Os.

(Don’t be confused, just check Roget
XXX means SWAK.)
A dictionary will confirm
That OSCULATE’s a kissing term.
And so is HONEY COOLER, though
It’s not in use much that we know.
To make our kiss-word list complete
We should include those people eat:
The little foil-wrapped chocolate drops
(Available in many shops),

And sweet, delicious cookie bites
Of sugar beaten with egg whites.
Before we go we’d like to say
We hope that kisses come your way,
And those that you consent to share
Are given with a bit of flair.
And just in case you don’t know how
To give your kisses extra WOW,
We’ll tell you all the steps to take
To make your kisses double great!
Copyright S M. Katzman, 2010
DOUBLE GREAT KISSES
3 egg whites, at room temperature (Be sure whites are free of all yolks;
whites with even a touch of yolk will not beat well.)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
About 24 chocolate kisses (foil wrap removed)
Preheat oven to 225°F. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set baking sheets aside.
Put egg whites in a large bowl. Beat whites on low speed with an electric mixture until foamy. Add cream of tartar and salt. Beat on high speed until whites stand in soft peaks. Constantly beating at high speed, very slowly add sugar to whites. Continue beating until whites stand in straight peaks. Beat in vanilla.
Using 1 level tablespoon for each mound and leaving space between mounds, drop mounds of whites on paper covered baking sheet. Put a chocolate kiss in the center of each mound. With a kitchen knife, carefully bring whites up and around each chocolate kiss, completely covering chocolate with whites.
Bake in a preheated 225°F oven for 60 minutes. Then turn off heat and leave cookies in the warm oven for another 20 minutes.
Remove baking sheets from oven and set on racks to cook. When completely cool, remove kisses from paper.
Yield: about 24.


between planes—at least long enough to pop into La Carreta Restaurant for an overload of rich and flavorful Cuban food. Recent renovations brought this Cuban chain from the terminal outside of security to the inside. Now located across from gate 37 in terminal D, the restaurant is super accessible to transit passengers, especially those flying American.
If time allows, and the cafeteria is serving Cuban specialties (not in the morning when ordinary American breakfast is served), I join the line and load a tray with thick chunks of roasted pork or fork tender lamb shanks or maybe the arroz con pollo (chicken with yellow rice).


So long, farewell, auf weidersehen, goodbye; I’m dumping all my bad eating habits and hooking into good health with the help of Canyon Ranch’s new cookbook, NOURISH. Aptly subtitled, ‘indulgently healthy cuisine,” this 372-page tome diffuses lasagna, moussaka, enchiladas, chicken pot pies, double chocolate brownies, key lime pie and other diet weapons of mass destruction, with recipes (over 200 of them) that favor flavor over fat, the natural over the artificial and satisfaction over sacrifice.





How do you improve perfection? Butter does it. This is not an ad (unfortunately no dairy pays me), but rather a cook’s mantra: butter makes everything better. For example, take two of the world’s best cheeses—a soft, sweet-silky Brie and an aristocratic, richly robust Gorgonzola, add as much butter as each cheese will hold (and it will hold more if you also add cream cheese), sandwich the butter-bulging cheeses together with some fresh herbs and you have a party spread better than the sum of its parts. It’s true. See for yourself:
Take an assortment of fine cheeses, arrange them on a cheese board or tray and you have a great dish for a party. Dress up the tray with cheese bling-bling and it’s even better.


England to meet Prince William at The Chakravarty Club Polo Match to benefit The Chakravarty Cup; a five day stay at Parrot Cay Resort to benefit Tibet House US; and a customized tour of India to benefit the Orthopaedic Foundation for Active Lifestyles. Bid, buy something incredible at a relative bargain price, help others and get a tax break. It’s win win.