Jingle Bell Brunch

By Chef Judi Gallagher. So many of us feel as though we turn the oven on in mid November and keep both the oven and ourselves running until the New Year. We maintain a feverish pace of setting, resetting, roasting, basting, stirring, frying and baking. We can stand the heat in the kitchen, but occasionally it’s wise to take a step back, cool down and consider a different kind of meal, one that honors multi-religious...

Raising The Buffet Table to New Heights

By Marsha Fottler. Ask any top caterer for a best tip for presenting your holiday buffet foods and that professional will tell you to vary the heights of food platters on the table. It not only adds visual interest to the display but maximizes space. Now is the time to gather up all your pedestal cake plates, tiered dishes, and other odds and ends from your house that can become elevated presentation pieces. One effective way...

Thanksgiving, My Favorite Holiday

By Judi Gallagher. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. Friends and family gathered together for a festive meal that celebrates all the flavors of autumn in family-secret-recipe side dishes enhancing a cider-brined roasted turkey is my idea of genuine bliss. Because I prepare Thanksgiving dinner for a large crowd, including a few vegetarian friends and those on restricted diets, I have learned to calibrate the...

Thanksgiving With Fine Wine

By Doc Lawrence. The year is winding down and we’ll help it go in high style. Gatherings and homecomings are highlighted by feasts. Laughter permeates and for a little more than a month we celebrate. Wynton Marsalis, the jazz maestro, told me about the magic of the blues, one of America’s original art forms. The blues, said Marsalis, “defies defeat and makes a statement that you never give in. You can make fun of hard...

Eat Your Gumbo

By Doc Lawrence. It’s a dish everyone seems to enjoy and like its distant cousin, barbecue, comes in many varieties, varying by region, arguably a work in progress. This is gumbo, the ubiquitous semi-liquid that passes for a stew, soup or something yet to be named. It begs for accompaniments like hot French bread and good rice, and it’s one recipe that takes to Tabasco like Jack Daniel’s to ice cubes. Growing up in...

Entertaining While On Vacation

By Judi Gallagher. Entertaining while on vacation sounds like an oxymoron. Come on, we are on vacation to relax – no dishes, no chopping, no grocery lists, right? But, a culinary experience that I enjoyed recently at the Hyatt Siesta Key Beach residence club changed my attitude. While I definitely enjoy getting out and discovering new restaurants when we vacation, my husband and I sometimes choose to be ‘home-bodies’...