Archive for January 2012

Check out my beloved Grilled Cheese Pinboard!

My apologies: it’s the second to last day of January, and I’ve yet to post about grilled cheese. It doesn’t mean that 2012 isn’t a year of eating and writing about my favorite sandwich, er, meal.

Fortunately, it’s a good one, a classic inspired by the rich French soup, and perfect for winter. It’s also incredibly simple. Just two ingredients make this sandwich, a red onion jam created by Merrill over at Food52 and first seen on BGSK in another simple dish, a fried egg sandwich.

When I re-made this …

There’s a reason why we dedicate an entire chapter to dips in our book: they’re fun, they’re filling, and they’re easy to make in Super Bowl-sized proportions. As the countdown begins to the big Sunday, we highly recommend factoring a few dips into your menu. While size does matter on game day, Mexican and Southwestern flavors also seem to score extra points. So we’ve selected our cheesiest, heartiest dips for the football lovers at your table. Make them in advance, and don’t be shy about your quantities-commercial breaks are no time for replenishing!

**Recipes**

1. Cheesy White Bean Dip with …

Smoky Barbecued Ribs • Fennel-Cabbage Slaw • Artichoke Dip with Chips • Cheesy White Bean Dip with Smoked Paprika Toasts • Guacamole with Tortilla Chips

BIRTHDAY-WORTHY BREAKFASTS: Apple Pancakes; Toasted Pecan Oatmeal Scones; Oversized Chocolate Chip Muffins; Grits with Old Bay Frizzled Shallots and a Fried Egg; Sweet Almond Pancakes with Fresh Raspberries

When your birthday falls on a weekday (as birthdays so often do), high expectations can fall a little flat. Answering emails and going to meetings do not constitute a celebration. The simplest way to avert birthday disappointment, and one I think I learned the hard way after years of birthdays that left me a little let down, is to lower expectations. When you’re over the age of 12, …

Even though we both grew-up eating it, especially in high school when Carolyn’s dad would bring this dish to field hockey potlucks, tofu has kind of gotten the cold shoulder on this site. Perhaps it’s because we both cook for our boyfriends (or fiancé, in Cara’s case), and there is just something about tofu that rubs some men the wrong way.

It wasn’t until Josh’s boss went vegan and he started grabbing lunch at Birdbath in the East Village, that I even considered tofu as a viable dinner option. But the times I’ve made it since, his plate has always …

It was nearly a week into our Peru trip when Alex and I looked around and observed something important.

Everyone, everywhere was eating soup.

Now in the mountains, this makes sense. Though December and January are technically summer, certain areas of Peru suffer from what’s known as la clima loca. A foggy early morning might turn into a clear, blue late morning (the kind of clear that will get a pale New Yorker very sunburnt) only to devolve into early afternoon clouds and a late afternoon downpour. After that roller coaster, soup for dinner sounds fantastic.

At the markets in …

Chinese New Year offers tons of opportunity for celebration: parades, dim sum brunches, and Chinatown feasts. It’s also a brilliant reason to throw a party! If you’re feeling ambitious, celebrate the year of the dragon by making your own dumplings or bun-or supplement any of the great main course treats that follow with takeout dumplings from one of NYC’s many $1-for-four-dumpling joints.

**The Best Chinese-Inspired New Year’s Treats**

1. Pork and String Bean Stir Fry. This was invented as an easy weeknight dinner for two, but it doubles as a buffet main for a crowd of Chinese New …

Antipasti Grilled Cheese • Tomato Basil Soup • Coffee Sables • Irish Hot Chocolate