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By Request, My Family Egg Nog Recipe

This is a recipe my father used back in the 40′s. Many years ago, I found it among his things, but never made it until tonight. Now I will never make any other version. It’s really airy yet creamy, with just the right balance of booze. I Twitter/Facebooked about it tonight, and am posting it here after several requests, after
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Memories – Making Mayonnaise From Scratch

I’ve written many times about my early summers on a cattle ranch in Texas, here’s one more story. I’m taking you back once more for a recipe I use all the time, my grandmother’s mayonnaise.

My first summer in Waxahachie was in 1962. I took the plane trip alone, and that by itself was enough to make the whole summer worthwhile. In those days, the “stewardess” would give a young traveler

Sangria

Long before I moved to Portland, I was known for my sangria recipe. I always suspected I was invited to many parties just because they knew I would bring a batch of my easy-drinking wine punch.

One year my friend Patrick invited me to his birthday party in Healdsburg, California. It was going to be outdoors, looked to be hot, and

Making Butter and Memories

My flashback started with a little piece about homemade butter on The Splendid Table. mentioned how important the quality of the cream was, and I was reminded of my childhood – stepping out onto the front porch every morning to find the latest delivery from the milkman sitting in a little wire basket. If I got up really early, I’d hear him coming up the driveway, the bottles clinking together

Local Figs: A Love Letter to a Short Sweet Season

Portland has been raining figs. There are big brown, black and green blobs on the sidewalks, on top of cars, and backyards have been turned into slippery landmine fields. It won’t last long though, because we are reaching the end of the local fig season.

Fresh figs remind me, somewhat sadly, that summer has now peaked and I need to savor every last bite of it, for there are only a couple of the good weather months

Quoth the Food Dude, “Nevermore!”

Making Tonic Water from Scratch, Part II [Note: Part I is here] The next day I woke up with new energy and determination. Fairly bounded into the kitchen, wondering if I had enough ingredients for a second batch of tonic. My socks stuck firmly to the floor every time I took a step, a footprint of fuzz left behind. Undaunted,
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Making Tonic Water – My Descent into Madness

Not long ago, on a cool spring evening, I spotted an article in Imbibe magazine extolling the virtues of making tonic water from scratch. As gin and tonic is my drink of choice, it caught my eye. Six or seven ingredients. The entire process boiled down to a few pictures. How simple! What could go wrong? You’d think after years
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