The Sensuous Kitchen - Exploring the Myra Breckinridge Cookbook

Gore Vidal's Myra Breckinridge was quite the phenomenon when it was released in 1968. The story of an irresistible transsexual bent on the destruction of the male sex was made into an infamous film in 1970. The same year the film came out, Vidal's partner, Howard Austen (along with writing partner, Beverly Pepper) released The Myra Breckinridge Cookbook.

In saucy, salacious passages, it presents recipes that relate to the golden era of Hollywood that so fascinate Myra - and so many of the rest of us. Accompanying the recipes are reproductions of film stills and promotional photographs of stars ranging from George Raft to Joan Collins. Here's one of Eddie Cantor looking every bit the glamor puss and "Glorifying the American Doughnut" in heels and a frock.

The photographs are such a delight because so many of them are obscure images from obscure films or otherwise unseen pictures of well known films and stars. Of course, what Myra is known for is her overtly sexual edge and that's on full display in this volume. The chapter devoted to her favorite recipes is a collection of double entendre puns that would make a sailor blush - Baked Hare Pie with Dill Dough Crust, Cod Pieces, Bearded Oysters...

The recipes are, for the most part, traditional fare with some novelty dishes thrown in for good measure. I'm especially taken with the Camembert Cheese Balls from the Cheesecake chapter (a counterpart to the previous Beefcake, chapter).

You'll need:

1/2 Camembert cheese
1 large block cream cheese
2 Tbs. creamed butter
2 1/4 Tbs. flour
1 Tbs. rice flour
1 cup milk
Salt
Cayenne pepper
1 egg, beaten
Bread crumbs

Rub cheese through a strainer. Add butter, flour, rice flour, milk, salt and cayenne pepper. Stir over low heat until thick. Pour onto a plate to cool. Form into small balls. Roll in flour. Brush with beaten egg. Roll in crumbs. Fry in deep fat until golden brown.

Doesn't that sound tasty?

The Myra Breckinridge cookbook can be found on Amazon.com and eBay. If you're lucky you'll run across a copy at a thrift shop or garage sale. It's a fun addition to your cookbook collection and a great gift for the film lover with a sense of camp. If you have it and have made any of the recipes, how did they turn out?

Puff Pastry and Poetry - The ABC of Canapes

Hi people! I love party food. So when I received a gift from a fan at my weekly film series I was delighted to find that it was a small vintage cookbook devoted to just that! It's the ABC of Canapes.

It's by Edna Beilenson and features the most delightful illustrations by Ruth McCrea. The artwork accompanies some delightfully silly poems:

Inflate it with air,
Or explode like a bomb;
Add a few fish-eggs
And serve with aplomb!

Exactly what she suggests you inflate with air is never specified.

Join us in the parlor,
To talk or sing or dance;
Lucky is the hostess
Who hustles in advance!

It's funny how meanings change over the years, isn't it?

Here's one of the illustrations with a more reasonable sentiment.

The recipes aren't exactly rocket science, but some of them look tasty. This one for Butterfly Shrimp looks simple and delicious:

You'll need:

1lb fresh shrimp
2 eggs
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 tsp salt

Clean shrimp and slice them halfway down the back, so when laid flat they resemble butterflies. Beat the eggs, salt and corn starch into a smooth batter and dip the shrimp into the batter. Deep fry in fat at 370 degrees until golden brown - about two minutes. Served piping hot on gaily colored toothpicks, they make a stunning hors d'oeuvre.

Simple and Oh So Tasty - Hal's Chicken Salad

My good friend Hal is a good cook. One of my favorite recipes of his is his chicken salad. It's a very simple recipe, what makes it so good is the ingredients he uses. He introduced me to this tinned chicken he buys from Cost Co. It comes in 12.5 oz cans and is sold in shrink wrapped sets of 6. It's just delicious!

Now Hal loves to travel and his wanderlust has afforded him the luxury of Micronesian pepper. This is his other secret ingredient for the chicken salad. I don't have that luxury, so I just use fresh ground pepper in mine. Here's his recipe:

You'll need:

Two cans of Kirkland chunk chicken breast
3 Tbs mayonnaise
Fresh ground pepper
Kosher salt
Salted cashews for garnish

Begin by draining two cans of chicken and putting the chunks in the bowl. Crush the chunks with a fork until they're shredded. Add the mayonnaise and mix thoroughly. Season with the fresh ground pepper and kosher salt. Serve on a plate garnished with a lettuce leaf and sprinkle the salad with salted cashew nuts.

This is a delightful light lunch dish. The cashews give the salad a sparkle and crunch that adds to the flavor nicely. Because the dish is so simple, it's important to make sure that your ingredients are top notch. You can substitute sea salt for kosher salt if you wish, and if you find a source for Micronesian pepper let me know!

Those are my linen tablecloth check napkins up there with that salad. They're great for summer entertaining.

Simple Summer Savory Satisfaction - Chive Butter

I spent last weekend in the Catskills with friends and made dinner for them on Saturday night. One of the things I made was this simple chive butter recipe.

It's such a delicious treat for a summer lunch or dinner and it's super easy to make.

You'll need:

1 stick of salted butter
Fresh chives
1 tsp lemon juice

Begin by setting the butter out in a medium sized mixing bowl to soften. Cut it up into smaller pieces to hasten the process. Once it's softened up nicely, cut the chives into the bowl.

I find it easier to use a pair of scissors for cutting chives. Then add the lemon juice (if you don't like things quite as tart you can use half a teaspoon) and mix everything together with a fork. Once it's all well combined, remove the butter to a sheet of wax paper.

Using the paper, work the lump of butter back into a stick form. It can be square or round. I chose to make a square stick. The process is a little obscene, but I'm sure some of you will enjoy that. If you're timid, you can put the butter in small ramekins. Put the butter back in the fridge to firm up. Serve with a hearty sour dough bread.

This can also be done with other herbs, and you can substitute cream cheese for butter. I love recipes like this. They add so much to a meal, but are so quick and easy to make. Enjoy!

Sophistication with a Helping of Humor - The Esquire Party Book

While packing up my cook books, I ran across a copy of the Esquire Party Book. Originally published in 1935, it's the lesser known companion to the popular Esquire's Handbook for Hosts.

My edition is from 1965 and is replete with illustrations by the legendary Seymour Chwast. The art direction - also by Chwast - is a humorous tour de force that draws you in with its charm and irreverence.

The content is equally as diverting. It's chock full of great information on entertaining from sun-up to sun-down, including drinks, recipes, party games, decor, even music and wardrobe suggestions!

The recipes tend toward the haute side, with entries like Crown Roast of Lamb, Artichoke Leaves with Roquefort Dip and Shrimp Viennoise En Casserole. Not everything is complicated, though. There are simple recipes for things like Cocoanut Chips and Olives in Bacon.

They're all organized into menus for parties that have whimsical themes like "On a Polynesian Beach" and "For Old School Ties".

Here's their recipe for stuffed pineapple:

2 medium sized pineapples
1 box strawberries
1/2 lb seedless grapes
1 cantaloupe - cut into cubes or balls
1 honeydew melon - cut likewise
1 lb pitted black cherries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup liquor - curacao, triple sec, brandy, fruit brandy, rum, white wine, port - what ever your liquor cabinet is willing to donate

Cut the pineapple in half lengthwise, being careful to leave each half of the green tuft of leaves attached. (A serrated knife does the job well.) With a grapefruit knife, remove the fruit from the skin, leaving a thin shell (1/2" thick). Remove the eyes and the core from the fruit and cube it. Mix the pineapple with the other fruits (which have been washed, sliced, and otherwise prepared), add the sugar and the liquor and stir gently. Pile back into the four pineapple halves and refrigerate until dessert time. Serve with pre-scooped balls of lime ice on top. You can use any other fruits you have on hand that marry well with pineapple, but be sure to add lemon juice or ACM to fruits that darken upon waiting: apricots, peaches, apples or bananas.

It sounds like a delightful dessert for summer entertaining, doesn't it? If you like entertaining with a sophisticated flavor to it, I suggest finding a copy of Esquire's Party Book. They're available on sites like Amazon and eBay.

Nibbles for Trying Times - Scramble

When you're life is in upheaval - as mine is with my pending move - it's hard to keep an eye on nutrition. Eating takes on a catch-as-catch-can quality to it. It's a good idea to prepare some things in advance that you can munch on. Here's one of my favorite munching recipes - Scramble.

It's a good thing to make up in large batches and have on hand. ...lots of good nutrition in it and it tastes good too!

2 lbs mixed, salted nuts
1 12 oz package small shredded wheat
1 10 oz package Cheerios
1 6 oz package of rice chex
1 7 oz package of pretzel twists
1 6 oz package of small pretzel sticks
1 4 oz can of pretzel bits
2 cups salad oil
2 Tbs worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs garlic salt
1 Tbs seasoned salt

Mix all ingredients together in a large pan(s) and bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours, stirring gently, so as not to break up the cereals, every 15 minutes. Yield - 9 quarts.

If you haven't already, come by and join my Facebook fan club. If you do, be sure and say hi!

Summer's Coming - Get Out the Rum!

I'm heading to Fire Island this weekend for a friends birthday party (happy birthday, Gil!), and for me it's really the kick off for the summer season. So I thought I'd share one of my favorite summer cocktails with you to celebrate the coming summer.

This cocktail is in my book. I call it the Summer Breeze and it's very simple to make:

You'll need:

1.5 oz citrus flavored rum
1 oz pink grapefruit juice
1 oz orange juice
Dash of grenadine
Maraschino cherry for garnish

Shake all ingredients together in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into cocktail glass (I used a rocks glass). Garnish with the cherry!

I'll have some big news for you on Monday, but for right now, mum's the word!

All About Helen - The Single Girl's Cookbook

I'm a big fan of Helen Gurley Brown. Her brand of advice - brash and brassy in its day - is such fun to read and so insightful. That's why years ago, when I found a copy of her Single Girl's Cookbook in a thrift shop, I knew I must have it.

Published in 1969, the book is an off shoot of her wildly successful best seller, Sex and the Single Girl. Instead of advice on how to meet men at the office or how to shed your inhibitions, this little missive has advice on how to throw a New Years Eve party and how to cook for the various stages of an affair. This section is particularly interesting. It takes you from the first blush of love (salami and cream cheese hors d'oeuvres), to the heat of passion (chicken Kiev), right through to the final breakup (refried beans and cheese).

When Helen came on my show on the Style network to talk about meeting men at work, she was kind enough to sign my now dog eared copy.

I'll treasure it always!

The book is overflowing with fun recipes - some easy, some more challenging - and pithy, clever commentary as only Helen can write it. There are even humorous and stylish line drawings that open each chapter.

Here's one of the cuter recipes from the book. It's from the "What a Friend We Have in Cheeses" chapter:

"Phony (But Good!) Cheese Souffle The cheese souffle recipe on page 81 is the classic one, but this one is delicious, too. It was born of desperation on a cold winter's night when a particular girl had little in the house to feed a darling burly guest (laid up with a skiing accident) except a jar of cheese spread and some eggs. He loved the concoction, although of course he was weak. (Alas , he finally got well and went home.)

1 jar (5 ounces) any sharp cheese spread
4 eggs, separated

Melt cheese spread in top part of a double boiler over hot water. Beat the egg yolks until light and lemon-colored. In another bowl beat the egg whites stiff. Add the melted cheese gradually to the egg yolks and blend thoroughly. Carefully fold in the stiffly beaten whites. Pour into an ungreased straight-sided casserole (a heatproof glass bowl is fine) and bake in a 350 degree F. oven until puffed and browned. 30 to 45 minutes."

Clever no? I suggest looking around for a copy. There were a few around on Amazon and eBay when I looked.

04-14 Corn Bread with a Happy Surprise - Wiener Loaf

Hi people! For my April episode, I'm again joined by my friend Margot Potter - The Impatient Crafter. She's showing Mary Ellen and I how to make Wiener Loaf! It's remarkably easy and lots of fun. Here's how:
 
You'll need:

2 corn muffin mixes
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1 package of hot dogs
Butter or crisco

Begin by greasing your loaf pan. We used crisco, but you can use butter or cooking spray if you like. Then pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Make up one of the corn bread mixes as directed on the box and spread it in your greased pan. Next, place three of the wieners on top of the dough. Place them so that any slice will have part of at least one of the wieners. Then prepare the next mix and spread it on top of the first. Slice horizontal parallel lines into the surface of the last two wieners and place them on top of the batter. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Pyrotechnics from the Kitchen - Flaming Kebabs

I don't know why, but I felt like I had to set something on fire today. To that end I thought I'd share a fun little tip with you. We did this on my show for the Style network. Summer entertaining is almost here, and Tiki themed parties are still popular, so why not get into the spirit with flaming fruit? This method will work for flaming fruit (or meat and vegetable, for that matter) kebabs or for flaming garnishes for drinks.

You'll need:

Skewers that have been soaking in water for a while
Fruit of various kinds (I'm using pineapple and strawberries)
Soft bread cubes
Lemon extract

Lemon extract has a very high alcohol content, so it burns beautifully.

Soak your bread cubes in the extract and stack them with the fruit on the water soaked skewers.

Light the cubes and serve right away. The cubes will burn for a little while, but should be extinguished before you try to eat the fruit. The flames will singe the fruit a little, but it's still tasty!

Easy Green - Quick Pesto Pizza

It's cold and raw and wet out today, people. Not a pleasant day to be out and about, as I had to be. So I made myself and a friend an easy pesto pizza for lunch. It goes together very quickly, so it's perfect for a meal on the run!

You'll need: 

Pre-made pizza crust
Olive Oil 
Pesto (I used my own which I make from my father's
4 cheese pizza blend cheese
Sharp cheddar cheese, grated 

Preheat the oven to 450, then put the crust on a cookie sheet and brush it with olive oil. Spread the pesto evenly over the crust.

Sprinkle on the cheese, then pop it into the oven, turn the oven down to 425 and bake for 7 to 10 minutes.

I told you it was easy... Here's the finished product all ready to serve. It's featured here with my Gillian Floral Napkin, now on sale at Felix Populi.

My friend Jeffrey introduced me to these pizza crusts and they really are delicious and so versatile! Use your imagination and I'm sure you can find many ways to customize them for your own gourmet pizzas.

For my father's pesto you'll need:

4 cups fresh basil leaves neatly compressed
1 cup pine nuts
5 cloves freshly minced garlic
1 cup olive oil
1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Salt to taste

Begin by combining your basil, pine nuts and garlic in a food processor. Pulse a few times to begin combining them. With the processor running add the olive oil in a steady drizzle. Once it's all in, scrape the sides of the processor and add the cheese and pulse to combine. Salt to taste. Makes about 2 cups.

04-13 Something to Warm Your Cockles - All About Chafing Dishes

Hello people! Well, I'm topping off my first week of regular blogging with a new podcast episode. It's so nice to be back among you! This time around Mary Ellen has asked me to help her select a chafing dish and I thought I'd show her and all of you, one of mine as an example.

This is my Pot Pourri and it's a lovely little appliance for buffet serving. Have a look!


Here are a few of my favorite chafing dish recipes:

- Swedish Meatballs

You'll need:

1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons minced onion
1 one-inch-thick slice of bread
1/2 cup milk
1/2 pound ground beef
1/4 pound ground pork
1/4 pound ground veal
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup beef stock, warm
1 cup cream (or milk), warm

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat and cook the onion until lightly browned. Soak the bread in the milk until soft. Combine all remaining ingredients except flour, stock, and cream and mix well with your hands. It's important to use your hands; nothing else will combine the ingredients as well. Then roll the meat mixture into small balls and brown them in the rest of the butter. 

Remove the meatballs and set them aside. Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the fat from the pan. Add the flour and stir until it's mixed well with the fat. Remove the pan from the heat, add the stock and cream, and stir constantly until the gravy is smooth and has thickened nicely. Put the meatballs back in the pan with the gravy and cover. 

Simmer over very low heat for 30 minutes to 1 hour, then transfer to a chafing dish and serve.

Makes about 25 balls

- Classic Beef Stroganoff

You'll need:

4 Tbs. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Lb. beef sirloin cut in 1/4" strips
4 Tbs. butter
1 3 oz can of sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 minced clove of garlic
1 1/4 cup beef stock
1 cup sour cream
2 Tbs. dry sherry

Combine 2 Tbs. flour with the salt and dredge meat in flour mixture. In a large frying pan melt 2 Tbs. butter and brown meat on both sides. Add mushrooms, onion, garlic and cook for several minutes until onion is transparent. Remove meat and mushrooms and set aside. Add remaining butter to pan and blend in remaining flour and blend into a roux. Once all the lumps are gone, add the beef stock and cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens. Return meat and mushrooms to the pan and stir in the sour cream and sherry. Cook until evenly heated, but do not boil. Remove to chafing dish and keep warm over water (bain-marie). Serve next to a bowl piled high with buttered noodles.

-Chocolate Fondue:

You'll need:

12 oz bar chocolate, broken up
1 cup of heavy cream

Melt the chocolate with the cream over low heat until smooth, stirring constantly. This can be melted in your chafing dish, or in a sauce pan.

For dippers we chose pineapple, pound cake and strawberries, but you can add marshmallows, kiwi, bananas, cookies, lady fingers, and pretzels and anything else your little heart desires!

#04-11 Grilled Cheese - Melt Some Memories

Hello people! It’s time for a new episode (I know, I know, it’s past time, this was the episode that almost wasn’t). This time out we’re making grilled cheese! Such fun, and so easy… We’ve chosen some delicious cheeses to feature, including Cotswold, Gruyere (our fondue sandwich) and aged farmhouse Cheddar. We’re using sourdough bread, which gives the sandwiches a nice tang. Here are a few grilled cheese tips:

- Grate your cheese: Grated cheese melts more quickly and easily than slices.

- Butter the bread, not the pan: That’s the outside of the sandwich, not the inside. Buttering the bread on the outside ensures that the sandwich will brown evenly.

- Cover your sandwich for the first few minutes: This will conserve the heat and melt the cheese more quickly. Flip the sandwich after about 4 minutes and then leave it uncovered.

Grilled cheese sandwiches are ripe for experimentation. Why not explore with cheeses and breads you find in your local gourmet store? How about a bleu cheese sandwich? Gouda or Fontina would be delicious melted up. As for breads, brioche would make a very tasty nibble! So would a rich hearty 7 grain with plenty of nuts and crunchy bits.

Just in time for the holidays, we have a new Brini Maxwell store! If you click on the “Shop” link at BriniMaxwell.com you’ll be directed to our new store featuring fun Brini Maxwell products, some you may be familiar with, some that are brand new! One of the new products is the Brini poster. It’s a fun, inexpensive way to bring me into your home. Have a look!

04-10 Brini's Brownies - Coconut Edition!

Hi people! Welcome to another episode. This week is all about customization – we’re customizing a brownie mix and I’m going to give you some ideas for making mixes your own.

The benefit of working with a mix is the convenience of it. You can throw together a quick dessert in a few minutes, bake it and have it ready in no time at all. This convenience comes at a price though. That price isn’t taste, as most mixes produce quite tasty results. That price is individuality. Making your mark with a mix is the aim of this episode.

Now we’ve made a traditional brownie mix a bit more posh by giving it an island flavor. We’ve added coconut and coconut rum to the mix. Here’s how:

You’ll need:

1 Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge brownie mix
½ cup oil
¼ cup coconut rum
3 eggs
¼ cup shredded sweetened coconut
Dash more coconut rum

Prepare mix as directed on the box, swapping out the water for the coconut rum and adding the coconut after the other ingredients have been combined. Add the dash of rum after the shredded coconut has been mixed in. Bake as directed on the box. Frost the finished product with Buttercream icing (flavored with coconut extract) and garnish with more shredded coconut.

The key to making a mix your own and achieving professional results is preserving the chemistry of baking. I have a friend who always customizes his mixes and his cakes are always delicious, but they frequently don’t hold together all that well and tend to be a bit lopsided. The reason for this is that he hasn’t preserved the balance of liquid to solid ingredients and hasn’t allowed for the leavening process.

The reason we add a dash of rum to the mix is to account for the added bulk to the recipe from the shredded coconut and the liquid lost more quickly due to evaporation during the baking process – alcohol evaporates more quickly than water.

I’m especially fond of doctoring brownie mixes. One of my favorite holiday recipes is made with a dark chocolate brownie mix, into which you add a teaspoon of peppermint extract. Then frost the brownies with butter cream icing and sprinkle crushed peppermint candy canes on top. I call them my peppermint bark brownies. I’ll be featuring them in an upcoming episode around the holidays, so be sure and look for it!

If you’re interested in learning more about customizing mixes be sure and have a look at The Cake Mix Doctor. Anne Byrn is a whiz at making mixes interesting.

04-08 Hungary? Try Goulash!

Hi people! Brini here and this week we have a delicious stew for you…Hungarian goulash! As stews go, it’s very simple – very easy. Here’s how:

You’ll need:

2 lbs stew beef cut into 1” cubes
3 Tbs. flour
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
¼ cup chopped onion
1 bay leaf
2 whole cloves
1 ½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 Tbs. paprika
1½ cups beef stock

Begin by coating the beef with the flour. Heat the oil in a sauce pan or electric skillet over medium heat and add the beef. Cook until brown on all sides, then add the onion. Stir for about 5 minutes until the onion is tender, then add the remaining ingredients. Blend well while bringing to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to simmer. Let cook for 2 to 2½ hours or until fork tender.

Serve over buttered noodles or boiled potatoes.



This dish is just great for the last chilly days of winter. Perfect for warming up after a blustery afternoon outdoors!

04-05 Strudel-A-He-Ho! Apple Strudel fit for a Tyrol

Hi people! Welcome back to another episode of the show. This week I have a special treat for you. Mary Ellen is back! She joined me while I made a delicious apple strudel. You’ll also get a glimpse of the beautiful fall foliage here in the northeast. We took a trip to Ochs Orchards in Warwick New York to pick our apples for the strudel.


Here’s the recipe:

You’ll need:

4 moderately sized apples, peeled and cut into thin wedges
1 puff pastry sheet
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 Tbsp cinnamon sugar

Preheat the oven to 350. Begin by laying out a linen towel and covering it with a sprinkling of flour. Work the flour into the towel. Place the puff pastry on the towel and work it out with your finger tips to enlarge it a bit. Brush the pastry with melted butter, then lay out your apples on the pastry and roll it up like a jellyroll. Gently transfer the rolled strudel to a greased baking sheet and brush with the rest of the melted butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on the buttery pastry and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve warm with ice cream for dessert or cold for breakfast.

04-04 Pretty and Pink - Strawberry Smoothies

Hi people! This week on the show we’re making strawberry smoothies. They’re so easy to make and so delicious. Here’s how:

You’ll need:

6 frozen, hulled strawberries of varying sizes
½ banana, peeled and sliced
1 cup apple juice
1 fresh strawberry for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass and garnish with a fresh strawberry that’s been split and slid onto the rim of the glass. Serve with a straw.

04-03 Not Even for Ready Money - Cucumber Sandwiches

Hi people! Brini here, this week with the perfect cucumber sandwich! These little morsels are a delightful addition to tea, wonderful canapés at a party and just down right tasty for a lunch time treat. They’re easy to make too. Here’s the recipe:

You’ll need:

Cucumbers
White bread
Butter
Chives (optional)

Begin by slicing your cucumber. You can leave the peel on or you can peel them. If you decide to leave the peel on it’s nice to groove it with the tines of a fork. It makes the slices look pretty. The cucumber slices should be extremely thin. It’s been said that one should be able to read the London Times through the cucumber slice. This is much simpler if you have a mandolin. Once you’ve sliced your cucumber (you should have 3 to 4 slices for each sandwich you’re making), you can turn your attention to the bread. The bread should also be thinly sliced – it should allow light to pass through it – and it should have the crusts cut off. I like to use a Pullman loaf of bread – the rectangular loaves that are baked in a pan – and once I’ve cut the crusts off I cut the slice in half to make a small, delicate sandwich. Spread a thin layer of butter on each slice of bread, then make your sandwich with 3 to 4 slices of cucumber. This is the traditional English cucumber sandwich. I like to Americanize them by sprinkling finely cut chives on the buttered bread before adding the cucumber. It gives the sandwich a subtle kick that I find very pleasant.

04-02 Not Just Small Potatoes - Potato Salad with a Kick

Hi people! This week we’re featuring my recipe for potato salad. It’s ever so easy to make and I know you’re going to enjoy it.

You’ll need:

10 – 12 boiled red bliss potatoes
1 cup halved cocktail olives
1 cup sliced scallions
3 Tbs. mayonnaise
1 tsp curry powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the potatoes into bite sized pieces, then combine with the olives, scallions and mayonnaise in a large bowl and mix well. Add the curry powder, salt and pepper and taste. Adjust seasonings. Serves 6 as a side dish.

04-01 Sisterly Affection for the City of Brotherly Love

Hello people! Welcome to season 4 of my podcast! New season – new developments. This season is all about new material. We’ll be exploring new territory together. I hope you enjoy it!

This week I’m featuring the city of Brotherly Love – Philadelphia. I have many good friends down there and over the past year have been involved in several fun events. You’ll see footage from my trunk show for Philadelphia Home Art Garden, the designs for the flagship store for Felix Populi as envisioned by two students at Drexel University and my cooking demo with Steven Petrecca from Jones Restaurant at Fosters Homeware – a benifit for MANNA.


Steven and I made Jones’ famous mac and cheese and it’s just delicious. Here’s the recipe:

You’ll need:

1 pound elbow macaroni, cooked
2oz butter
+/- 2oz flour (see below)
1 qt milk
½ t Tabasco
1 T dry mustard
½ t paprika
½ pound yellow cheddar, grated
½ pound white cheddar, grated
Salt and pepper

In a heavy saucepot, melt butter. Add flour until it looks like the consistency of wet sand. You may need more or less than recipe. Cook on med-low heat for five minutes until redolent of popcorn.

Add milk (cold) and whisk well to avoid lumps. Add Tabasco, mustard, paprika, simmer on low for 20 min, whisking often. Whisk in cheese a little at a time. Do not let sauce get too hot or it may break. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Place macaroni in a bowl and toss with sauce. It should be very cheesy. Spoon into a baking pan.

Bake in a 350 degree oven until top starts to brown, about 20 min or so. Top with breadcrumbs for final 10 minutes to achieve a golden brown crust (or broil), watching carefully so crumbs do not burn.

Can be made ahead, no problem—just allow longer for reheat.

MANNA Is a wonderful organization. It’s devoted to feeding those who can’t manage it themselves because of disease. They’ve been growing by leaps and bounds and are now able to accomadate 3 squares a day for over 1500 men, women and children. This all takes money, of course. If you’re looking for a worthy organization to give to, MANNA is a great opportunity. If you’re prefer your giving with a reward for you as well, then have a look at our products on Felix Populi. Any purchase made through our website will net MANNA 10% of the profits this month!