My Top 10 Guilty Pleasures from December 2007

It’s that time of year again. We’ve got one more day to revel and eat obscenely rich foods before the dawn of 2008, when we will all be bound to our newly-purchased gym memberships and healthy cookbooks.
Before the hour of restraint nears, I thought I’d take a moment to recap all the sinful foods I [...]

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A Family Cookbook

Greetings from San Francisco! I’ve returned from the frosty weather of New England and am now acclimating myself back to life here on the West Coast.
Like many of you, I spent the past week visiting friends and relatives, listening to life updates and, you guessed it, eating exorbitant amounts of food.
Now that I live so [...]

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Christmas in the Kitchen

It seems all I want to do in my few spare moments these days is bake and make candies. I’ve stayed away from the malls and post office, but nothing can keep me from my oven.
Christmas baking this year has flooded me with nostalgia. Nostalgia for my past work in pastry kitchens. Nostalgia for [...]

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The Joy of a Brand-New Sheetpan

Holiday madness is everywhere. I believe it’s particularly worse in a city such as San Francisco, which lures shoppers to its busy center to honk, cut off other drivers, swarm the streets and stride the pavement with purposeful I’m-not-leaving-til-I-find-that-wii urgency. Downtown streets are crazily congested after business hours, when they are traditionally abandoned.
Christmas is here, [...]

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Chocolate Discount for My Readers

Looky here! Charles Chocolates is offering a 15% discount to all of my readers who make a purchase by December 17 December 21. Simply click the above banner, then enter the promo code LADLEWHISK when you place your order.
I know Chuck personally and really believe in his product. I’ve visited his chocolate kitchen many times [...]

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Shopping Locally for Holiday Gifts

Have you finished your holiday shopping yet? What—you haven’t even started?? Then now’s the time to figure out what you’re going to give your co-workers, friends and loved ones. After all, Christmas is right around the corner, and holiday parties are in full swing.
The latest buzzwords in the food world are “buy locally.” While this [...]

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A Chance to Help Children in Need

Most of you have probably noticed the long brown banner that’s been posted on my right sidebar for the past week. Some of you may be familiar with Menu for Hope while others, like me, may be hearing about this fundraising campaign for the first time.
Menu for Hope is an annual holiday charity event hosted [...]

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Gourmet Magazine’s Chocolate Hazelnut Crinkle Cookies

This week I am forwarding to you a recipe I discovered last year in Gourmet magazine and just got around to trying. Yes, even professional recipe developers cook from other people’s recipes on occasion!
I want to pass along this recipe because I know many of you will be baking batches of cookies for holiday gifts [...]

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Tasting Menu Extraordinaire

photo credit: David Wakely (from Coi’s website)
Last month I had the opportunity to dine at two of San Francisco’s luxury restaurants. While both meals were prepared by extraordinarily talented kitchens, my experience at each was quite different. One thing was made very clear to me during these visits: No matter how skillfully-prepared the food [...]

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Apple-Cranberry Crunch Pie

If you haven’t guessed already, I’m on a pie kick at the moment. I’m not one to cook desserts all that often in my free time, but the holidays have really got me hankering for some serious sweets!
This pie was my ticket out of cooking an entire Thanksgiving dinner this year. Instead of spending hours [...]

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