Monthly Archives August 2009

CRUISE CONTROL

DIETING ON THE CRYSTAL SERENITY If there is anytime to dish the diet it is on a cruise where you can have food 24/7. And if any cruise overloads with quality as well as quantity, it is a Crystal Cruise, where the food is always a feast. So it is odd that Michael Falla, the […]

COZUMEL COFFEE SOUVENIR

If you are lucky enough to visit Cozumel, that sunshine island off the eastern coast of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, you’ll find, a cornucopia of souvenirs to tote home. But if you are a coffee devotee and/or want a remembrance more special than silver jewelry, onyx chess set and peacock colored hammocks don’t miss a stop […]

BERRY STAINS

RASPBERRY  BLUEBERRY  BLACKBERRY  Talking of berries—no need to worry about those red and blue bruise-colored stains juicy berries leave on your favorite shirt and best table linens. Barbara Gibbs Ostmann, co-author of The Recipe Writer’s Handbook (John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2001), told me her mother’s secret for dissolving berry stains. (Disclaimer: proceed at your own risk; […]

FABULOUS BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Right now. Immediately. Blueberries are at their most succulent, plentiful and affordable best. Quick before the season wanes, stock up. Gorge. My single favorite blueberry recipe comes from  my husband’s grandmother, Esther Milder. Esther would be about 120 years old if alive today, which of course she isn’t, but her recipe is, and it keeps […]

EASY LAST-MINUTE DINNER PARTY

SHRIMP/SAUSAGE BOIL So let’s say in a fit of madness you invited the _________(fill in the blank: family, neighbors, office friends, beer-drinking pals) for an impromptu mid-summer dinner. You have less than two hours to shop, cook and otherwise get ready. Watta ya do? First head to a grocer that has it all: shrimp, plump […]