Category Archives: Travel and Inspiration

Swedish Gjetost Fondue

Posted on by October 27, 2015

This Gjetost Fondue is another great easy to make ahead hors d’oeuvres that’s perfect for any Thanksgiving, but I served it as a started for my Scandinavian Thanksgiving Menu for good reason. It’s chock full of lovely Swedish cheeses, which are actually rather easy to find, particularly if you live near an IKEA, where they stock all of the cheeses required for this Swedish Gjetost Fondue. But even if you can’t find many of them, the only two that are absolutely essential are the French Gruyère and the Scandinavian Gjetost. The Gjetost in particular cannot be substituted because it is a very unique caramelized goat’s milk cheese. Yes, you heard me, caramelized goat’s milk cheese. But, caramelized milk sounds crazy to describe cheese. It is, you’re right. And while Gjetost on it’s own tends to be a love or hate it food because it’s a little sweet and extremely dense and creamy. It is also absolutely the element that makes this Swedish Gjetost Fondue so special and one of the crowd favorites at Thanksgiving last year, even amongst people who said they didn’t normally like Gjetost. It’s also a cheese that I grew up with at breakfast, served on toast, … Continue reading →

Baltimore Orange Crush

Posted on by July 10, 2015

This weekend I’m headed to Baltimore for an Oriole’s game and I’m quite sure I’ll have a Baltimore Orange Crush or two. My dear friend Kate lives in Baltimore, so I get down there time to time to enjoy the city and visit her. Last summer, she introduced me to the delicious Baltimore Orange Crush (or grapefruit crush if you like) and I’m headed back for more. The Baltimore Orange Crush is straightforward, easy to make, delicious and so refreshing on a hot summer night. Of course, because the concept is so simple, there are lots of variations on the Baltimore Orange Crush. It’s no secret that different bars make it different ways, but here’s a great place to start, courtesy of the Baltimore Sun and a famous Baltimore bar. But you should feel free to change it up and make it just how you like it. Sub regular vodka for the orange, use sprite and no triple sec, use triple sec and no sprite. Just don’t forget the fresh squeezed OJ and you’ll make the Baltimore Orange Crush your own. … Continue reading →

Cedar Plank Salmon with Cherry Glaze

Posted on by July 3, 2015

Cedar Plank Salmon with Cherry Glaze is quite straight forward, in terms of recipe; there’s just not much to it. Most of the drama and the flavor comes from the cedar planks themselves. That said, there is lots of drama and flavor, both of which make Cedar Plank Salmon with Cherry Glaze a perfect dish for parties all summer long. Be it the 4th of July, Midsommar’s or just a Saturday night with a few friends over you’re going to have fun preparing it to your guests amazement and only you will know how simple it is. You will have to plan ahead a bit to make sure you have appropriate cedar planks around as you probably can’t just grab them at your local grocery store, but other than that, my Cedar Plank Salmon with Cherry Glaze preparation is straight forward and really delicious. I first made Cedar Plank Salmon with Cherry Glaze for a Midsommar’s party as both salmon and cedar are very Scandinavian. The cherry glaze came about because I was in Door County for the solstice and since we were sipping on Door County Cherry Spritzers anyway… well, you see where I’m headed. But the flavor was so great … Continue reading →

Daisy Crowns for Midsommars

Posted on by June 25, 2015

Growing up in a Scandinavian community, especially a Northern one that can relate to the Scandinavian obsession with light and sun, you learn about the importance of Midsommar’s Eve. With the special night comes essential Daisy Crowns for Midsommar’s. While of course you can make your crowns with any flowers, my dad cut us a giant bucket full of daisies, which I thought were perfect for the occasion. Their sunny centers decorated our drizzly night and the sturdy but pliable stalks made for easy braiding for first time wreathe makers. I have always carried with me that the wreathes are important to wear throughout the party, late into the night, until it’s time to dance and sing around the fire. We always burned the wreathes just before we put the fire out and headed to bed to keep the witches away. As I researched this tradition before I wrote this post, I discovered that perhaps this particular purpose (fear of witches) was specific to my family and friends. I definitely found lots of evidence that they are traditionally burned late at night, but nothing about the witches. Perhaps a reader will have further insight into the origin of burning the wreathes? Whatever the purpose, the … Continue reading →

Veuve Clicquot Polo Pictures

Posted on by June 12, 2015

I’ve been wanting to go to the Veuve Clicquot Polo Match for an entire year. Some good friends live in Jersey City, right on the Hudson near Liberty Park and last year they went running the day of the polo match and had to turn back since the entire park was closed off for the day. When Adam told me about it, of course, I knew I had to go. A polo match, with lots and lots of champagne? That’s my kind of event to be sure. So we went and we conquered. The day was absolutely gorgeous and it was a good thing we had hats because the sun was blazing. We picnicked and sipped sparkling rosé and then we finagled an awesome place to stand at one of the goals. It was very exciting to be so close to the ponies as the riders came crashing in towards us to score. Black Watch beat Veuve Clicquot soundly, be we were the real victors since we enjoyed a gorgeous day outdoors drinking lovely champagne. Here’s our motley crew. See Marc stomping the divots? He did a great job representing our group in this important polo tradition. Adam was in … Continue reading →

Crawfish Boil and Cajun Dinner

Posted on by July 2, 2015

My wonderful friend Kevin, and his partner Juliet host an amazing Crawfish Boil every year. It’s one of the best parties of the year and such a special treat to get to all-you-can-eat Crawfish made by a real Cajun. Kevin shares his culture with us by cooking an amazing meal of crawfish, corn, potatoes, and andouille sausage in a giant pot. It’s usually hosted in South Philly in a beautiful garden and goes all night long with lots and lots of beer to cool us off as the night goes on. Each round of the boil gets hotter and hotter as more seasoning is added to the water. By the end, you eat a crawfish, sip your beer, and repeat until all the crawfish are gone. Here’s Kevin piling crawfish, corn, potatoes and sausage into the pot, boiling it, and dumping it out onto a giant table. It’s quite the process. Then we all dig in and eat to our hearts content. Kevin shows the newbies how to each crawfish. 1. Grab the crawfish and twist to separate the tail from the head. 2. Suck the head. This is spicy! Discard. 3. Pinch the tail to break the shell. Pull … Continue reading →

Dulce de Leche Tiramisù

Posted on by February 12, 2015

All over both Brazil and Argentina, dulce de leche was all the rage. Pastry chefs filled croissants, cream puffs, and crepes with the delicious caramel. Creameries flavored gelato with it. Hotels served it with bread at breakfast time. And it was everywhere; they sold it in grocery stores, wine stores and cheese shops. Of course I hauled some back to Philly, along with plenty of Argentinian wine, and lucky for you, this Dulce de Leche Tiramisù is the result. Why Tiramisù you might ask? Because of all the different ways we had it in Brazil and Argentina, in Tiramisù was not one of them. Well, believe it or not, Argentina has a strong Italian presence and the cuisine is very influenced by the Italian immigrants. So believe it or not, it makes a lot of sense, despite the fact that we didn’t see it anywhere. And the combination of a South American ingredient like dulce de leche utilized to enhance a traditional Italian dessert fits a lot of what we saw while dining in South America. But mostly, I love a good Tiramisù and it was the first thing that came to mind as something I thought would be fun … Continue reading →

Olive Oil Sculpture

Posted on by January 22, 2015

When there are really talented artists in your family, and you’re really lucky, you get amazing homemade gifts. This year, for my birthday, my dad made what I’m calling an olive oil sculpture. It’s a beautiful piece of wood that he found, and then hollowed out a reservoir and sealed it with some food-safe material that keeps the oil from seeping too deeply into the wood. I’ve been filling this reservoir with special olive oils for specialty cheese boards. I serve fancy cheese and bread (like this sesame bread from High Street, in Philadelphia) on a platter underneath and then add french butter topped with a drizzle of honey, or pine cone syrup, and a sprinkle of maldon salt. It’s a great conversation piece for cocktail hour, as well as a beautiful piece of art and I had to share it with you because it’s so beautiful. I can’t wait for tomatoes on a fence season now, since I can put the lemon vinaigrette in the olive oil sculpture and have guests drizzle it on the tomatoes.   … Continue reading →

Canlis Parsnip Soup Hazelnut Gremolata

Posted on by October 29, 2014

This lovely Canlis Parsnip Soup Hazelnut Gremolata came from, you guessed it, Canlis Restaurant in Seattle. It also came with a lovely story. I was first exposed to Canlis a few years ago now, when my dear friend Andrea was married in Seattle. It was a gorgeous October weekend with fall leaves, sunshine, and lots of amazing food. Since everyone came from out of town, they planned the entire weekend for us and we had a lovely tour of the city on a double decker bus. We had dinner at Matt’s in the Market after the rehearsal and it was excellent. We caught up with friends, enjoyed several cocktail hot spot, and then, after a beautiful ceremony, we were treated to dinner at Canlis for the reception. It was absolutely lovely. We had the entire upstairs to ourselves complete with a gorgeous view of the Sound and of course an amazing meal. The evening started off with pink bubbly, toasts, and a jazz band. A paired wine dinner followed and while each course was absolutely excellent, for me, it was the Canlis Parsnip Soup Hazelnut Gremolata, which was paired with an amazing Sancerre that stole the show. Part of it … Continue reading →

Mail Order Herbs

Posted on by November 19, 2014

While I was home in June, I saw the very beginning of my dad’s herb garden. Things were just taking off and I cut the first of the lavender just in time for my Lavender Lemonade from my French Croquet Party. Things took off, and of course, Dad has more than he can use. So imagine my delight when I receive huge a huge box of sage. And thyme. And most of all, lemon verbena. Since it’s hard for me to grow here, and expensive for me to buy, my dad sweetly grows it for me and mails it. Here it is dried and ready for tea, and ice cream, panna cotta and of course my Lemon Verbena Smash.Imagine the simple syrups for cocktails, such as the September Wedding: Pineapple Sage. I can already taste the beginnings of a thyme bases cocktail for October. Apples or pears, people? Best of all, throughout the year, as I cook and use up the wonderful herbs dad sent (and I’m told there’re lemongrass stalks on the way) I get to think about him and all the work that went into his garden this year. And though we’re miles apart, we’re sharing recipes and … Continue reading →

Sour Cherry Picking in Philly

Posted on by October 25, 2014

My dear friend Tracey belongs to one of Philly’s lovely community gardens. I count on her for mint and other lovely things from her plot, but best of all are the sour cherries from the community tree. Not only is Tracey delightful company with access to sour cherries, but it turns out she’s a ringer when it comes to cherry picking, you see, Tracey is a gifted tree climber. I spent a few hot mornings in July picking cherries, telling stories and getting to know her recently-located-to-Philly mother, and brand new daughter. I picked, pitted and froze about 15 quarts of cherries, so I assure you there will be lots of sour cherry recipes headed your way in the next few months, so fill your freezer now! And sign up for a community garden plot for 2015. I used the ladder. Here’s Tracey in the tree. I can tell she’s thinking about sour cherry pie. … Continue reading →

Urban(ish) Foraging: Sumac Lemonade

Posted on by January 13, 2015

One of life’s supreme joys is pretending you’re capable of living off the land. As a city dweller, we have to take our opportunities to experience that joy (delusional though it may be) as it comes. I’d been meaning to make Sumac Lemonade, or Sumac tea for years, but I’ve done a terribly poor job of scheduling visits to my parents when the sumac drupes were ready for harvesting. Imagine my surprise when I was hanging out with friends in Jersey City last weekend and we happened upon a huge sumac grove while we were walking the dogs. Of course I started snapping the huge red flowery cones right off the trees and stuffing them in leftover plastic sacks. Plans for Sumac Lemonade, I had. You see, I read an article a few years ago that dubbed the Sumac the Lemonade Tree because the tea is a tart, fruity, citrusy tasting drink that goes down like lemonade, but without all the sugar. And that was enough to make me obsessed with checking it out. I mean, a lemonade tree that doesn’t require living in California anymore? Sign me up. And the Sumac Lemonade delivered on the promises. It was really … Continue reading →