Posts in HOLIDAY
CRINKLY GINGER MOLASSES COOKIES

If you had to choose only one cookie for the rest of your life and only that cookie, forever, which would it be?

I know, that’s just plain mean. But if I absolutely had to choose, my desert island cookie would be ginger molasses. Even over my favorite chocolate chip. (Yes, shocking). I admit that our proximity to Christmas might make me slightly biased in this choice, but truly—-a chewy, slightly tangy ginger-forward cookie doesn’t get old for me. It very rarely risks being too sweet, or too dry or too meh—which frankly a lot of cookies of the world can be.

A good molasses cookie is a memory. It’s a feeling—a whole mood.

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ICED SNICKERDOODLES + (A SNICKERDOODLE CAPPUCCINO)

Iced cookies. Every child’s dream—according to the rate at which my kids put back every frosted cookie they’ve ever seen. I don’t make iced cookies very often. Usually, we like our cookies just shy of indulgent; you can justify eating more of them that way (yes?). Come the holidays, though, all bets are off. What’s a cookie box without a little frosting?

I didn’t grow up with snickerdoodles. My mom was a chocolate chip purist, with crispy iced sugar cookies in perfect shapes thrown in for holidays—-but a good snickerdoodle reminds me so much of the chew of my grandmother’s soft sugar cookies, which she kept in a red-ear-tipped kitty cookie jar on her kitchen counter (which now sits on mine).

By definition, a snickerdoodle’s “flourish” is it’s cinnamon sugar coating, so there’s little need for more. Snickerdoodles tend to loose their luster on holiday spreads, though; they’re a bit, brown, ya know? Why not frost them? And then add more cinnamon sugar? After all, many of us have elves to feed.

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GLAZED APPLE CIDER DONUT CAKE

Last month, we took our kiddos up the mountain to fish and shoot bows. It was a sparkling fall day, crunchy leaves and just enough breeze to make it feel like legitimate sweater weather. Matyas caught a fish. Greta got a bullseye. I got my feet wet. As in, really wet. In all the excitement of trying to help Matyas reel in his first ever fish (read: BIG excitement!), I walked right into the pond.

We had planned to go out for cider donuts afterward, but wet feet foiled our after-party. We detoured straight for home, everyone’s sweet tooth still kicked into high gear. There were words. Some boys (and grown men) don’t deal well with disappointment.

You shouldn’t feel too bad for them—we’ve had our fair share of excellent apple cider donuts this season. But when I ran into a Bourbon Bundt Cake recipe that looked wildly tender, it struck me as an easy remake: cider donut vibes, but with tender chunks of apple baked in. Good news—it worked (!), maybe a little too well. We ate the whole cake in one sitting.

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BEST (TIMELESS) LINZER COOKIES

We had a snowy today, a no school (even remote school), excuse-myself-from-all-non-essential-work snow day, and let me tell you, we really, really needed it. Is anyone else tired of being all the things, all the time?

A snow day is a perfect time to bake, but we’ve been baking nonstop for three solid weeks, so instead, we pulled out all the bits and bobs of our recent baking extravaganza, including the tidy linzer layers I’d tucked away in the freezer—and filled them with jam to eat alongside double-thick hot cocoa, sausages, cheese and snappy radishes—a perfect winter snack moment.

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CRANBERRY SNACKING LOAF

We’re cranberry crazy over here. It’s partly because I signed up for a huge shipment of organic cranberries, direct from Maine, many months ago, and have been dolling them into muffins and cakes, bundt and loaves ever since. But mostly because cranberries remind me of my grandmother, who always stood, steadfast, quietly grinding cranberries with oranges and orange peel, apples and sugar through her own cast-iron meat grinder, making the sauce at every holiday meal.

I’m missing her, and my own mother, this year. Missing the smell of zest and tart cranberry filling the air, mingling alongside carols from my parent’s retro stereo, on morning till night, from Thanksgiving till New Year’s Day.

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OLIVE OIL AND MANDARIN CAKE

The holidays will look different this year, but I can’t help but want to keep it magical —inspiring me to put on the ritz a little more, even if it’s just for my own family, at home — like serving one or two beautiful home-baked cakes, with a pot of cinnamon tea or wine for the grown-ups, and a simple spread of cheese and nuts and winter fruits.

For the sweets, I want something that doesn’t feel every day--something that screams holiday, without a lot of fuss. There is an elegance to an olive oil cake, especially one layered in shingles of shiny rounds of citrus that makes it an instant holiday centerpiece. But good looks are only part of the story. I only want a pretty cake that has the texture and flavor to back it up.

This cake wins in all categories.

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CHOCOLATE BANOFFEE PIE

Years ago my friend Robert gave me a stack of two slim French baking books that are just divine—one called Caramel and the other, Chocolate. They are the kind of books with simple recipes and even simpler list of instructions, the kind where the photographs look mouthwateringly dreamy, but the recipes more of sketch, than a list of actual instructions for how to achieve such results.

It’s been nearly ten years since I had looked at them, but one day recently, I flipped through the book and landed on the same page I’d marked all those years ago—BANOFFEE PIE.

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SPRING ONION + FENNEL FLATBREAD

In many states, governors just announced that school will be closed for the rest of the year. Our district is stil saying mid-May, for now, but I think we all know what’s coming.

There are a few ways to get through this, but the best path forward I know is optimism, and lots of baking. Yes, more baking. It keeps little hands busy and hungry mouths fed. Baked goods are easy to make, bake and share (from front stoop to front stoop) or donate to those on the frontlines, who are risking their lives daily at at the very least, need fed something warm, soothing and a bit inspiring.

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LEMON POLENTA SHEET CAKE

If your pantry stash of flour is getting a good work out, as ours is, it might be time for a little detour. As exciting as warm buttered rolls, homemade sourdough and pillowy focaccia have been for the last four weeks, I woke up this morning craving something different.

Polenta, or cornmeal—is my favorite pantry staple—one that delivers on toothsome satisfaction. It’s a headliner in this lemony and bright cake, which is easy to make, store and serve up in that stretch between lunch and dinner when the kids are asking for snacks, again. Polenta cakes have an understated loveliness. They are tender, delicately hearty, and such a great canvas for flavor….

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SEMOLINA ALMOND LEMON CAKE

Just about everyone I know loves a bright, lemony sweet for spring. Though the deep, puckery lemon finish of, say, a lemon bar, can’t be ignored, they’re a bit fussy for me these days.

This cake, on the other hand, which I adapted from dessert queen Maida Heatter, delivers the same overtly lemony flavor but without the cloying sweetness, and with much less work. It’s also beautiful, but that kind of easy beautiful I love most.

Here I mix gluten-free or regular all-purpose flour with almond flour and fine cornmeal or semolina for a texture that’s irresistibly tender. Make sure to brush on the glaze while the cake is still warm, which helps it absorb. You can serve this cake unadorned—it’s delicious all on its own—but if you have the time, add on the shingled lemons for a spectacular finish.

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A MENU FOR EASTER

I’m more of a Christmas than an Easter person. Living in New York City since my early twenties—800 miles from my parents—meant rarely being able to be with family on this day. I’m always late on egg-painting with my kids, and big platters of succulent spiral-cut ham are wasted on my vegetarian husband. Furthermore, tales of a giant pink bunny who hides eggs was always a little too far-fetched for me.

But as a person of great faith, Easter (and Passover, if that’s what you celebrate) is one of the most pivotal days for the human heart. Both are stories of great redemption, of deep and lasting love, of hope. And hope is what we need in these times, is it not?

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A TIRAMISU FOR THE AGES

Tiramisu is my dad and my husband’s favorite dessert--two of the people I love feeding most. But  I didn’t make it for years, somehow recalling it from culinary school as a laborious task. How wrong I was. One night, I decided not to bring home the tempting piece hanging around in the Italian bakery window I passed on my way home from work, and instead make it myself. It was a slam dunk.

News  flash: tiramisu is not only easy (provided you’re not making ladyfingers yourself), it is a built-in make-ahead. You can make this a day ahead, or even two, and still come out looking like an absolute star the day you serve it. Try it for yourself. 

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CHOCOLATE ALMOND WHISKEY CAKE || A CHRISTMAS BUNDT

I’m a bundt girl. Like, if my twenties were three-layer sponge cakes with silky butter creams and fresh cascading flowers, the following decade has been more bundt—still beautiful, but wildly unfussy—the kind of cake that turns heads with its smarts, as well as its style.

There have been plenty of layer cake holidays in my years— and years for epic bouche de noels with lovingly crafted meringue mushrooms— but this year I’m craving something a bit fairy tale, like Christmas in Brugge or a small German village. A cake that’s more Hansel and Gretel than Marie Antoinette.

Enter this all-butter-bundt, flecked with chocolate and spiked with whiskey. It’s tender and moist, but with enough structure that it can be wrapped and gifted to neighbors and friends in the days ahead. A brown-paper-package tied up with string, with the heady aroma of chocolate—that, to me, is Christmas.

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HOLIDAY STYLE: THE PIANO

I have a thing for pianos. Ours isn’t a fancy one, but it’s meaningful—and I love nothing more than having it played. We had this little upright beauty even in our tiny 420 square foot city apartment, despite the precious space it took up, because making music—or having the ability to make music in the home—is joy.

A close second to having our piano played (ideally, but someone way more skilled than me—including Andras or Greta), is styling it for parties or the holidays. For years I didn’t have a bar cart, or a sideboard, so the piano had to do—it became a staging ground for cheese boards and delicious nibbles and tucked away treats.

It’s not hard to do this at home if you, too, have a piano. Here’s a little inspiration ( if you need more—I have a whole PINTEREST board dedicated to PIANO MOMENTS, here) plus a few tips and tricks for playing up this special part of your home this holiday.

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HOLIDAY MEAL: CRISPY, CHEESY POTATO PANCAKE

The first Christmas tree Andras and I bought together was an 8-foot blue spruce for our 8-square-foot studio apartment in New York City, just two months after we married. I remember how the way I looked at him, carrying that tree like it was no big deal, ignoring the prickers or the weight of it, crossing our busy streets to our quiet cul de sac on the East River. That night I lit candles. I made a perfect omelet, salad and a chocolate pie. He put on music. We both smiled, a lot.

That was 11 years ago this year. Honestly, it’s been a looooong, time since we put that kind of effort into a meal just for us.

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A FRIENDLIER FRIENDSGIVING: CHEESE BOARDS + OYSTERS (2)

It’s a week until the big day, and I’ve been touting ease around here all week. And I mean it—this menu (and this dessert) are epically easy in the grand scheme of all things holiday. But you didn’t think I would leave it at that, did you? Even simple menu planning requires some knowledge, and how to. I’m here for you.

To pull off the Friendliest, Cheese + Oysters Thanksgiving, Ever (as I’m calling it) you will need a small handful of foods that can be curated from a single grocer, or a few local markets. Keep your shop quick and easy, leaving you time to play stylist (if you like that kind of thing) arranging your meal across a single sideboard, atop your piano, on your kitchen island or even a dresser that’s been cleared for the cause.

For the food….

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A FRIENDLIER FRIENDSGIVING: CHEESE BOARDS + OYSTERS (1)

I remember everything about the first year I didn’t go home to be with my parents on Thanksgiving. It was the fall after I met my (now)  husband. I’d already lived in New York for a long time, but it was the first year I felt like there was something in the city worth sticking out a major holiday for. I cried a little at the thought of missing that special family time, the epic meal, the allocating of chores--I would brine the turkey (as I was the only one who knew how, or why it mattered), my sisters would tackle creamed corn, dad was on mashed potatoes, my brother flexed his cranberry relish card while my mom made pies--all the perfect pies. But I also wondered what new and perhaps (one day) meaningful new traditions might join them.

That morning, Andras made me the most horrible buckwheat pancakes known to man. I cried miserably. It was a disaster. But, in true Andras fashion (after all, I later married him), he made up for it--taking me on a slow, cozy bike ride to Chinatown for the most soul-warming steamed pork buns which we ate, street side, from crinkly brown paper bags. It wasn’t a perfect new tradition, but it was a stepping stone…

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EGGS FOR WINTER WEEKENDS || CHEESY BREAKFAST EGG + POLENTA CASSEROLE

I wasn’t raised to toot my own horn, so sometimes I’m shy about sharing my new work, especially when it’s in the New York Times, which still makes me giddy. It was always my dream to be published there and even after years of publishing my recipes in magazines like Saveur, Food & Wine, Martha Stewart Living and Real Simple, this still feels big to me because I love the way they approach food—it’s smart, fresh, super universal (no culture left behind) and perhaps most importantly, massively vetted, with tried and true recipes you can absolutely trust.

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* GIFT GUIDE || 8 AMAZING FOOD GIFTS (UNDER $60)

Every year for Christmas during my childhood, my dad would receive hundreds of holidays gifts from his patients—almost always food— tins of handmade peanut brittle, lush boxes with freshly baked pastry and pies, and cello-wrapped baskets brimming with crackers, cookies, sparkling wine and cheeses galore. It was one of the perks of being a family doctor. For my siblings and I, it was one of the perks of being his kid—those sweet December days when the atrium (where we ate breakfast and dinner every day) ran over with an endless parade of sweets.

I tend to still love food gifts for the holidays—handmade or carefully curated purchased ones—boxes of perfectly ripe pears and tins of caramel popcorn still harken Christmas to me. They speak of love and —even if not perfectly matched to individual taste, thoughtfulness. Maybe you don’t have time to bake this season—I hear you. That’s where this guide comes in. These Eight Practically Handmade goodies can make their way to the houses of your dear ones in just one click. They’re worth every penny.

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* GIFT GUIDE || 12 GORGEOUS CHEESEBOARDS (under $100)

I think we all know by now that a cheeseboard (or meat board, or fruit and veg board) is the easiest, fastest way to serve a crowd. It’s the best trick I learned from my own mom back in the 80s, and though the boards have gotten more beautiful (she used carved wooden boards shaped like leaves, with grooves and curves for dips), the concept is the same: fast, easy, filling, beautiful, abundant snacking for all. With the right board, even the simplest spread can ready fancy. Here are my favorite ten (+ accessories) under $100.

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