Handmade Holiday Table Scape

 

So you want something magical to spruce up your holiday table this year, but like most of us, you're feeling the economic crunch.  Now more than ever, make it yourself!

Back To Basics with the Barefoot Contessa

Get out your KitchenAid and sharpen your knives, the Barefoot Contessa's sixth book is on the shelves and it's a keeper!  As Ina says, "How bad can that be?".

Butternut Squash Soup for Thanksgiving

Served in plain white tea cups or dainty floral demitasse cups, butternut squash soup as an hors d'oeuvre is both effortless and elegant.

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Centerpiece 101

  

     Even though Halloween has come and gone, pumpkin season is far from over.  Why not utilize the fruits of the season by choosing an organically perfect orange, white, or even green pumpkin, as a vase for your holiday centerpiece!

     Several times  in the 1990's this simple idea appeared in Martha Stewart Living Magazine, and in my opinion still remains timeless and festive.

Caramel and Chocolate Halloween Apples by Erika Novick

Have you ever perused a Wiliams Sonoma "Holiday" catalog, salivating at the sight of the colossal caramel and chocolate apples (colossal in price as well at $22.50 a pop!) and wondered, couldn't I make these?  Well I sure have, so I did, and at a fraction of the cost! 

Men We Love: Michael J. Fox by Linda Grasso

 

     Michael J. Fox was a panelist at the California Governor and First Lady’s Conference in Long Beach this week.  The onetime actor is now head of a foundation that raises money for Parkinson’s disease, having been diagnosed at the peak of his career in 1991.  The panel was entitled “Men We Love”, and also included surfer Laird Hamilton and hip hop pioneer Russell Simmons. The panelists were all described as “men who are using their voices to change the world.” 

      Fox, unquestionably, had the most riveting comments. In the past, one could barely tell he was afflicted with Parkinson’s.  But the disease has clearly progressed in recent years.  The once subtle trembles are now pronounced – and have spread to his legs and feet, which visibly shook throughout the hour-long symposium.  

Savor the End of Tomato Season by Erika Novick

Run! Don't walk to your local farm stand.  Tomatos are still incredible right now and here's an  easy way you can take advantage of the bounty of  less expensive "seconds".  Buy them in bulk - you will happy you did when you open your freezer in February and are able to make the most delectable  fresh pasta sauce you've ever tasted.