Let’s drink to the end of an extraordinary year
Watching Gramma Mutti with my 7-year-old eyes was nothing short of mesmerizing. I did not know it at the time, but I had fallen hopelessly in love with baking forever.
Inspired by the modern classic cocktail, the Gold Rush, this is a tribute to the Gold Coast of California, where this amaro is made.
The best-selling amaro cocktail at Mezzaluna, it originated at Bourbon & Branch in San Francisco and uses Averna instead of sweet vermouth—a groundbreaking move when it was created in 2005.
We’ve always loved foraging and eating outdoors, but in these times especially, there is almost no more pleasurable way to pass the afternoon than on the beach with a small group of friends, gathering and preparing a simple wild meal.
My favorite winter soup is Greek Lemon Chicken Soup, also called Avgolemono, and it is perfect for keeping the funk away or curing a cold.
Teetotaling? Prefer apples to barley? Replace the beer with sparkling water, apple cider or even carbonated kombucha.
Any dried fruit and nut combination will do; some pleasing combinations are apricot and almond or cranberries and pecans.
Feel free to play around with flavor enhancements and combinations! The more you experiment, the more satisfying the end result will be. Matcha powder in the Almond Crackers was subtle and wonderful.
Chickpea curries are my ultimate pantry meal. They’re what I throw together when I can’t fathom a trip to the grocery store and have to rely on staple ingredients from the fridge and pantry. By happy accident, I once added too much liquid to my curry, and this soup was born. The warm flavors are perfect for a cozy, winter night.
My husband and I love to go to The Stationaery in Carmel and were thrilled when the café started serving dinner. We attended its first-ever dinner service, and a gigantic bowl of this stunning soup was the first dish that was set before us. The smooth soup brimmed with buttery Dungeness crab, making it reminiscent of an elevated, modern crab bisque. This is an easy-to-make-at-home version of that spectacular dish.
