According to Walter Woodward, PhD, Connecticut’s Historian, years ago there was a Connecticut Election Cake Recipe. The newer recipe I found, “A Modern Election Cake Recipe,” looks like a half birthday cake, half fruit cake. It calls for yeast, some butter and buttermilk (the latter of my favorite add-ins for all cakes) vanilla, eggs, and so on. Like a fruit cake, you add … [Read more...] about A la Carte: How to Bake an Election Cake!
A la Carte: Meatballs are Perfect for (Small) Pandemic Gatherings
Feeding small groups of people during the pandemic is a problem. For our fundraiser for Democratic candidates (you knew I was a Democrat, didn’t you?), I decided to make meatballs and red sauce. As I learned long ago, everyone’s favorite “ethnic” food is Italian and, even though I have not a whit of Italian blood, I make lots of foods from Italy. So, the question was: … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Meatballs are Perfect for (Small) Pandemic Gatherings
A la Carte: Love Linguine? Just Add Spinach, Lemon Cream, Parmesan to Make a Delicious Dish!
It was a nice week with more company at home in four days than I have had in the last four months. Tuesday evening, I had five friends for dinner. We are all good friends, all five from Lyme, and all but I had spent a bit of time together. I had visited one couple twice over one month. My dining room table is very large and, while we could converse, it was too big for us to … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Love Linguine? Just Add Spinach, Lemon Cream, Parmesan to Make a Delicious Dish!
A la Carte: Friday Means Fish: How About Healthy, but also Delicious ‘Poached Cod in Tomato Curry’?
I still have not had an ear of sweet corn, but the farm stands do seem to be in high cotton*. (*I have actually never used that phrase, but I have been reading novels that take place in Virginia lately, and one person used “high cotton,” so I looked up the phrase and, originally, it meant that the crops, usually cotton, were doing particularly well, so I thought I would use … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Friday Means Fish: How About Healthy, but also Delicious ‘Poached Cod in Tomato Curry’?
A la Carte: Pesto is Perfect for Pasta … and More
I am amazed how friends have managed to get tasks done during this pandemic isolation. The Fitzgerald's garden looks like something out of a French painting with pots of herbs on the fence, homemade cushions with seating for friends and two gorgeous cocker spaniels lazing on my legs, adding to the ambience. The Robertson's grass look like a golf course and their … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Pesto is Perfect for Pasta … and More
A la Carte: Not Your Normal Nachos … a Dipping Party with a Difference
Last week, on Facebook, a friend sent me a terrific party idea that had me dreaming how much fun it would be. In a dining room (my friend says it is not her dining room table), someone plastic-wrapped an entire top of a dining room table, then dumped many big packages of tortilla chips around all the edges of the table. In the center, there were big bowls of chopped … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Not Your Normal Nachos … a Dipping Party with a Difference
A la Carte: Forget the Calories and Savor Every Bite of a Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwich!
Well, summer is here, but it doesn’t seem as if the music is “Under the Boardwalk” or “Polka Dot Bimini.” At Eastern Point Beach, where I live in the City of Groton, weekends will only be open to City residents. There will be no day passes to the glorious beach and Town of Groton, Noank, half of Mystic and Groton Long Point will have to sun bathe and play with their … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Forget the Calories and Savor Every Bite of a Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwich!
A Bumper Edition of A la Carte: Pad Thai & Scampi (with ‘Metro Bis’ & ‘Trader Joe’s’ Connections Respectively)
Editor's Note: We apologize but somehow we missed the first of these contributions from Lee White. It should have been published a week ago (June 17), but -- in the simplest of terms -- it wasn't. However, we can't (nor do we want to) just skip it because Lee's recipes are too good to miss and also the story in her preamble is in two-parts, so you need to read last weeks before … [Read more...] about A Bumper Edition of A la Carte: Pad Thai & Scampi (with ‘Metro Bis’ & ‘Trader Joe’s’ Connections Respectively)
A la Carte: A Princess Calls it ‘Filthy, Sexy Mush’ … So Much More Exotic Than ‘Zucchini Pasta Sauce’!
Oh, my, it was a long-overdue restaurant week and perhaps it will never be a forever restaurant week. But those restaurants lucky enough to have an outdoor space may now see our faces, and we theirs. Yes, it is still distancing and wearing masks and will be so until there is a vaccine that works and is available for everyone. But last week was wonderful. Last Wednesday I met … [Read more...] about A la Carte: A Princess Calls it ‘Filthy, Sexy Mush’ … So Much More Exotic Than ‘Zucchini Pasta Sauce’!
A la Carte: Pineapple Upside-Down Cake is Perfect for Parties!
I remember the first time I went to the Fancy Food Show at the Javits Center in New York City. I had taken the train into the city, grabbed a cab and arrived at 10 in the morning. It is the biggest food convention in America and I thought I could see everything in one day. By early afternoon I was bushed and my feet hurt. It was lunch time and I picked up a sandwich On my … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Pineapple Upside-Down Cake is Perfect for Parties!
A la Carte: May Means Meatballs … and Sausages and Gravy!
It is May and May usually means lots of sunshine and warm evenings. It is my favorite season of all, because trees are budding out, tulips are bright and gorgeous, lilies and irises are two weeks away as are lilies of the valley, mu birth flower. I am grateful that the people who sold me my condo, whom I knew from the yacht club, were gardeners. The best I can do is add a few … [Read more...] about A la Carte: May Means Meatballs … and Sausages and Gravy!
A la Carte: Asparagus & Tomato Frittata Tempts the (Locked-Down) Tastebuds
Since this shelter-in-place began in March, I have been frantic about getting tested. I knew it might not do much good, but without being tested, there was no yardstick to find out how many people might be sick. Our illustrious president, at the beginning of his press briefings, said anyone who wanted to be tested would be. Of course, he was lying. But a couple of weeks ago, … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Asparagus & Tomato Frittata Tempts the (Locked-Down) Tastebuds
A la Carte: Something Special for Easter? How About Sweet Honey Chicken with a Hint of Curry?
Well, it has been an interesting two weeks. I spend quite a time on Facebook with friends and family. My family seems fine. My brother and I do not talk often. This has little to do with the fact that we are not close. I like him and he likes me, but eight years is a big number. He went to college when I was nine and, except for vacations, he never really came back to Troy. … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Something Special for Easter? How About Sweet Honey Chicken with a Hint of Curry?
A la Carte: The Irrestible Magic of Maple-Apple Blondies
Wow, three days of watching movies at The Garde:- The Farewell (wonderful) and Jojo Rabbit (which I was wary of seeing but, at the end, fell in love with it). Then I saw Bombshell, but I liked the television adaptation about Roger Ailes/Fox better (The Loudest Voice). The Showtime movie made Russell Crowe (as Ailes) even more of an animal. It was a busy week, but I found … [Read more...] about A la Carte: The Irrestible Magic of Maple-Apple Blondies
A la Carte: Pepperoni Pasta is Easy to Prep, Delicious to Eat
The other Sunday, I drove to the Mystic Marriott to judge the chocolate gala to benefit Fairview in Groton, I used to call rest homes like Fairview old persons’ homes. Now that I am actually an old person, there are other names that sound nicer, like independent or assisted living. Some years ago a friend told me that when she gets old, she wants to be at Fairview, with its … [Read more...] about A la Carte: Pepperoni Pasta is Easy to Prep, Delicious to Eat