I like a good cocktail. You might have noticed this before. But I have to admit I’ve been holding out on you. I haven’t yet told you about the Brooklyn cocktail. This is one of my all-time favorites. It’s the kind of thing I am, more or less, always in the mood for. It’s a …
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It’s been one of those weeks where I haven’t felt like making dinner. I’m pretty sure it happens to all of us. It’s been hot, which makes standing over a hot stove unappealing. And I’ve been tired and distracted by other projects. When dinner time rolls around, I’ve been feeling limp and listless, like this celery …
It is officially spring. But official spring never feels like the spring that exists in my imagination. The mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful spring with green shoots and sun peaking through rain and warm breezes and new beginnings. Official spring in Chicago is something altogether different. It is one day in a series of false starts. It is …
If one wants evidence that cooking is an alchemical process, one need look no further than this rich, savory puddle of a gratin that once was a head of savoy cabbage. Savoy is the frilly, ruffled member of the cabbage family. Its leaves are more tender than green or red cabbage, and its flavor is milder and …
It’s happy hour, which means it is time to talk about cocktails. Today we have the Martinez. This particular cocktail is one of my standbys. The Martinez is an old drink, a predecessor to the familiar Martini, made with Old Tom gin, a style of gin popular in the 19th century that predates the London …
For much of my life, I was largely indifferent to cauliflower. It was something I might pick from a veggie tray if the carrots and cucumbers were gone. Raw, it was Bunnicula’s broccoli, sort of crunchy and faintly bitter. It was, I guess, okay. I felt similarly about steamed cauliflower. It was milder and softer. It was fine. …