For some, they’re the bonus holiday gifts, for others, as troublesome as mounds of discarded wrapping paper and ribbon: leftovers. I’ve spent time in both camps, but when a holiday feast precedes a week of plodding through pre-prepared meals, I’m less likely to view leftovers fondly. The Christmas ham alone can comprise dozens of sandwiches, [...]
It’s hard not to feel less of a cook when your family does all the heavy lifting. But even if the rich roast rabbit or succulent leg of lamb has to wait for another occasion, there’s a certain satisfaction in conceiving one really good dish, even a condiment, instead of cranking out an entire frenzied [...]
The author of “Dinner for Dickens” isn’t the only one baffled by pontification on puddings in the beloved tale “A Christmas Carol.” It’s all too obvious that Charles Dickens loved food (and loved writing about it), but where do the steamed puddings fit in? wondered Susan M. Rossi-Wilcox. Her research of the author’s wife’s dinner-party [...]
Sledding, snowball fights and long walks in a winter wonderland did much to salve my disappointment that weather in the Bend area this past weekend was too miserable for skiing at Mount Bachelor. And since I still had Christmas shopping to do, I headed straight for Bend’s Old Mill shopping district where Allyson Holt opened a [...]
No disrespect toward holiday cookie parties was intended, despite a tone to this week’s A la Carte story that may have suggested otherwise. Associated Press Food Editor J.M. Hirsch sounds like he’s hoping for a pass on the Christmas cooks’ swap that has become so popular over the years. But cutting the time it takes to bake an [...]
Although cash prizes for GingerBread Jubilee entries were handed out a few weeks ago, the “People’s Choice” award is the royal icing on this year’s event. True to form, Central Point resident Melisa Corcoran charmed crowds with her “Noah’s Ark,” event organizers announced today. The massive gingerbread vessel with its happy pairs of fondant animals [...]
I shudder to think there was a time many years ago when I preferred the taste of margarine over butter. This travesty was committed unknowingly on my part, perpetuated by my parents’ limited food budget. The notion that butter was a prized commodity likely shaped my current fanatical approach toward it. I stock up on [...]
Although holiday feasts may boast a vast array of food, many festive dishes contain varying forms and quantities of just a few ingredients, namely dairy products, sugar and wheat flour. We’ve all heard by now that this combination composes far too much of the American diet and has conspired to make us overweight, diabetic and [...]
There was a time not too many years ago when altering my family’s Thanksgiving menu was unthinkable. Leading up to Thanksgiving last year, in an effort to determine if the food was still meeting everyone’s expectations, my mom took an informal poll of the single dish each person simply couldn’t live without. Because everyone named [...]
