There is little I enjoy more during the oppressive summer heat than a refreshing watermelon salad that cools the palette and reinvigorates a hot, sluggish body.
With an infinite variety of watermelon salad recipes to choose from, however, I have found two of the most delectable to be from two different restaurants in New York City’s Upper East Side neighborhood: Peri Ela, a Turkish restaurant, and Paola’s, an Italian restaurant. Read more
Happy National Cheesecake Day! While not many people we know care for cheesecake, a good cheesecake, such as the Cheesecake Factory’s Banana Cream Cheesecake and the Devil’s Food Cheesecake at Junior’s in New York City, is hard to resist.
Thought to have originated in ancient Greece on the Island of Samos over 4,000 years ago, cheesecake was considered a good source of energy – consisting of flour, wheat, honey and cheese – that was supposedly served to athletes during the first Olympic games in 776 BC (it was also the wedding cake of choice for Greek brides and grooms). Read more
Recipes below include Blueberry Basil Mojito, Simple Eggnog, Almond Crusted Turkey Schnitzel With Vermont Cheddar and Bourbon Applesauce, Christmas Baked Brie, and Winter Greens Salad with Spicy Walnuts and Cranberry Vinaigrette.
Christmas time and cocktail time are nearly synonymous, both offering a warm, fuzzy feeling that more often than not leave you wishing for and wanting more.
How fitting, then, that we are in the midst of a cocktail renaissance, which has emerged over the past decade, at least according to several recent news articles:
The Wall Street Journal declares: “That we’re amid a craft cocktail renaissance is without dispute – intriguing new bars and amazing new ingredients surface weekly.”
Andthe New York Times observes: “We’re living in a Golden Age of creativity for bartenders, many of whom are energetically pushing boundaries in both culinary and scientific ways…”
Indeed, if there has been one thing I have discovered in my reading of the cocktail renaissance, it is just how seriously some people take their cocktail creations. Read more