Article on our Biscotti at Noon workshop

Thank you again Jonnie Bassaro of the News-Times for this terrific article! Hope you're all making biscotti this holiday season!

best,

Gina and Irene

Biscotti-making workshop, Sunday, Dec. 13

There are still some seats left for the biscotti-making workshop at the Jewish Community Center in Sherman, Conn., on Sunday, Dec. 13 at 1 p.m. To reserve your spot, call Susan Stein at the JCC at 860-355-8050 or e-mail her at jccinsherman@yahoo.com

Hope to see you there!

Irene and Gina

Cooking classes for 2010

______________________________________________________________

The Season of Soup –– Sunday, January 17, 11:30 a.m.

(Snow date: Sunday, January 24)

Learn how to make three great soups (and great stock)!

• Roasted Tomato

• Lentil with broccoli rabe

• Escarole with turkey meatballs

____________________________________________________________________

Great Starters –– Sunday, February 21, 11:30 a.m.

(Snow date: Sunday, February 28)

Try these yummy appetizers on family and friends!

• Hummus

• Smoked salmon spread

• Artichoke dip

____________________________________________________________________

Fruit and Nut Biscotti –– Sunday, March 14, 11:30 a.m.

(Snow date: Sunday, March 21)

___________________________________________________________________

All workshops are $45. To reserve your spot, e-mail coifedtocook@sbcglobal.net.

It's the season of soup!

Learn how to make three great soups (and great stock)!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

11:30 a.m. or 2:30 p.m.

$45

(Snow date: Sunday, January 24)

To reserve your spot, e-mail coifedtocook@sbcglobal.net.

Please indicate which time you would prefer.

Irene and Gina

Toffee Apple Biscotti

1 small naval orange

3 eggs, large

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons butter, melted

3 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder (check date for expiration)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups dried apple, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups Heath English toffee bits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a large cookie sheet. Cut the orange into half and each half into quarters (including the rind.) Process the orange chunks in a food processor until it breaks down (the rind will be in larger pieces than the pulp.) You will have about 3/4 cup of processed orange. Set aside.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs and sugar until light and creamy. Add the processed orange and vanilla and beat until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add butter and stir.

In a smaller bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. With a wooden spoon add and stir the dry ingredients into the egg mixture (the dough will be stiff.) Stir in the apples and toffee bits.

On the buttered cookie sheet, place 3 evenly sized long mounds of dough. With wet hands (to prevent sticking) shape and form the dough into 3 slightly flattened logs about 12 inches in length and 3 to 4 inches wide.

Bake the logs in the middle of the oven until golden, about 30-35 minutes (depending on your oven.) Place the cookie sheet on a rack and allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes.

Transfer the logs to a cutting board and with a serrated knife cut each log at an angle crosswise into 12 to 14 slices.

Arrange slices (laying down) on the cookie sheet (you will not have room for all the sliced logs at one time.) Bake for 7-8 minutes, turn the slices over and bake another 7-8 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool. Repeat until all sliced biscotti have been baked again.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 10 days or place cooled biscotti in freezer bags and freeze for 3 months. Biscotti do not require thawing therefore may be eaten frozen.

Makes 36-42 biscotti

Biscotti at Noon

Gina and I did our first Biscotti at Noon workshop on Sunday, Nov. 8. It was a smashing success (if we do say so ourselves)! Thanks to our wonderful participants –– Ann, Sharon, Mary, Lisa, Jackie, Jen, Maddie and Jonnie –– for their enthusiasm and interest and all the great talk about food. Let us know how your biscotti turned out!

We are most grateful to Jonnie Bassaro of the News-Times who wrote the article that got everyone to call or e-mail about this and future workshops. We'll be posting new workshop information on this blog within the month.

Hope to see you soon.

Irene and Gina

Orange, Pumpkin and Pecan Biscotti

Orange, Pumpkin and Pecan Biscotti

Image by TPapi via Flickr

1 small naval orange

3 eggs, large

1 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons butter, melted

4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder (check date for expiration)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Image via Wikipedia

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
4 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a large cookie sheet. Cut the orange into half and each half into quarters (including the rind). Process the orange chunks in a food processor until it breaks down (the rind will be in larger pieces than the pulp). You will have about 3/4 to 1 cup of processed orange. Set aside.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs and sugar until light and creamy. Add 1/2 cup processed orange, pumpkin and vanilla. Beat

Image via Wikipedia

until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add butter and stir.

In a smaller bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves to the flour mixture. With a wooden spoon add and stir the dry ingredients into the egg mixture (the dough will be stiff). Stir in the pecans and crystallized ginger.

On the buttered cookie sheet, place 3 evenly sized long mounds of dough. With wet hands (to prevent sticking) shape and form the dough into 3 slightly flattened logs about 12 inches in length and 3 inches wide.

Bake the logs in the middle of the oven until golden, about 30-35 minutes (depending on your oven.) Place the cookie sheet on a rack and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.

Transfer the logs to a cutting board and with a serrated knife cut each log at an angle crosswise into 12 to 14 slices.

Arrange slices (laying down) on the cookie sheet (you will not have room for all the sliced logs at one time). Bake for 8-10 minutes, turn the slices over and bake another 7-8 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool. Repeat until all sliced biscotti have been baked twice.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 10 days or place cooled biscotti in freezer bags and freeze for 3 months. Biscotti do not require thawing therefore may be eaten frozen.

Makes 36-42 biscotti

Read all about our biscotti classes!

Biscotti-making workshops

In honor of our Biscotti at Noon workshops offered on Sunday, Nov. 8, and Sunday, Dec. 6, we are posting our recipe for Cranberry and Pistachio Holiday Biscotti. Yummmy and so easy to make!

If you'd like information about Biscotti at Noon, e-mail coifedtocook@sbcglobal.net. We hope to see you there!

Cranberry and Pistachio Holiday Biscotti

1 small naval orange

3 eggs, large

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons butter, melted

3 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder (check date for expiration)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups dried, sweetened cranberries
1 1/4 cups pistachios, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a large cookie sheet. Cut the orange into half and each half into quarters (including the rind). Process the orange chunks in a food processor until it breaks down (the rind will be in larger pieces than the pulp). You will have about 3/4 cup of processed orange. Set aside.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs and sugar until light and creamy. Add the processed orange and vanilla and beat until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add butter and stir.

In a smaller bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With a wooden spoon add and stir the dry ingredients into the egg mixture (the dough will be stiff). Stir in the cranberries and pistachios until well combined.

On the buttered cookie sheet, place 3 evenly sized long mounds of dough. With wet hands (to prevent sticking) shape and form the dough into 3 slightly flattened logs about 12 inches in length and 3 to 4 inches wide.

Bake the logs in the middle of the oven until golden, about 30-35 minutes (depending on your oven). Place the cookie sheet on a rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Transfer the logs to a cutting board and with a serrated knife cut each log at an angle crosswise into 12 to 14 slices.

Arrange slices (laying down) on the cookie sheet (you will not have room for all the sliced logs at one time). Bake for 7-8 minutes, turn the slices over and bake another 5-6 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool. Repeat until all sliced biscotti have been baked again.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 10 days or place cooled biscotti in freezer bags and freeze for 3 months. Biscotti do not require thawing therefore may be eaten frozen.

Makes 36-42 biscotti

How she wears her hair (now)!

Sleek, smooth and -- flat-ironed

Image by stockingvixen via Flickr

Want to make Biscotti for the holiday?

Join us for one of two biscotti-making classes: Sunday, Nov. 8 or Sunday, Dec. 6

Noon – 3 p.m., Danbury, Conn.

Class size limited so register now!

Call (203) 733-8176 or e-mail coifedtocook@sbcglobal.net

Lemon logic

Remember when you were young and hanging out on the beach with your friends? It was summer then. The saltwater and sun in your hair made you beautiful and the rest of your life somehow stretched before you, promising more of the same. You squeezed fresh lemon (or bottled lemon juice) and combed through your wet hair to brighten the color.

Image via Wikipedia

You’re grown-up now, so this technique works best if you’re sitting in the sun on a sunny beach in the Caribbean (as long as we’re dreaming).

Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons over Couscous

Plan this dish at least a month in advance if you plan to preserve the lemons. Or, you can buy them in specialty stores.

For a printable version click here.

Image by sethfrantzman via Flickr

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 whole chicken, cut into 8 serving pieces

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

rind of 1 preserved lemon, cut into slivers (recipe below)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Fresh cilantro to garnish

2 cups couscous, cooked as directed

Heat the oil in the bottom of a tagine or a large Dutch oven. Saute onion and garlic over moderate heat for five minutes until onion is translucent and soft (but not brown).

Raise the heat, add the chicken pieces, and brown evenly turning often. Add the turmeric, cilantro, chicken stock, salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile rinse the pieces of lemon in cold running water and with a sharp chef knife trim the flesh and white pith of the lemon and discard. Cut the softened rind into thin strips and stir into the chicken.

Cover and cook very slowly for about 1 1/2 hours. Remove lid and if necessary, boil rapidly to reduce and thicken.

Garnish with fresh cilantro before serving with couscous.

Serves four.

Preserved Lemons

For a printable version click here.

Image by jfraser via Flickr

8 lemons

1/4 to 1/2 cup kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon whole peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon whole cloves

Quarter 4 of the lemons, but don't cut all the way through; leave the slices attached at one end.

Sprinkle a pinch of salt in the bottom of a glass jar with a lid or an earthenware crock.

Liberally sprinkle a few pinches of salt on each lemon, and pack tightly into the container, crushing them to release the juice. Squeeze the remaining 4 lemons and add the juice to the container so that the lemons are almost covered with juice.

It is difficult to predict how many lemons you will need for this process because of varying amounts of juice in lemons.

The lemons you are preserving don't need to be totally covered with juice.

Cover the jar or crock and refrigerate for about 4 days, then stir the lemons, re-cover, add peppercorns and cloves and return to the refrigerator.

Leave undisturbed for at least one month. Rinse the lemons in cold water, discard the flesh and pith, and slice the rind before adding to a recipe.

Want to pay less for your produce?

When you walk through the aisle, are you one of the many who feel reassured that the water sprinkler keeps the lettuce from drying out? This feature might also keep you from staying in your budget. Yes, it’s keeping the produce crisp and fresh, but it’s also adding weight and cost to the price of your purchase. So when you pick out you’re your lettuce, shake it before buying.

Image via Wikipedia

Pasta Maddalena

For a printable version click here

½ cup pignoli nuts

½ cup soft breadcrumbs (homemade preferable)

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion, cut in half and sliced thin

4 large cloves of garlic sliced

1 large head of cauliflower (cut into small florets)

3 large fresh tomatoes (peeled and crushed) or 1-½ cups of tomato sauce (homemade or jarred, not canned)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

¼ cup dry sherry or white wine

1/3 cup currants or equal amount raisins

1 or 2 heaping tablespoons basil pesto

1 pound short pasta

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a small dry non-stick skillet, toast pignoli nuts until golden and set aside.

In same non-stick skillet add 1 Tablespoon oil and toast the breadcrumbs until golden brown.

Set breadcrumbs aside to cool and then stir in grated cheese. Put this mixture aside.

In a large deep skillet or Dutch oven, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil and cook onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook about 2 minutes more. Add the cauliflower florets, tomatoes/sauce, tomato paste, stock, dry sherry and currants. (If using raisins add at end of cooking time.) Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until cauliflower is tender, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in basil pesto. Adjust final seasoning of salt and pepper.

Image via Wikipedia

Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt to taste. Cook pasta according to directions and drain.

Toss the pasta with the cauliflower sauce and serve in individual plates. Allow each guest to garnish with breadcrumb and cheese mixture, then top off with pignoli nuts.

Serves 4-8 depending if used as main or side dish.

The 00s

Cooking with a conscience

Welcome to the third millennium, a sober time marked thus far by war and economic uncertainty –– never mind competing values in our lives. Although generally pleased with the instant communication available to us via the Internet, many of us welcome the opportunity to slow things down when we can. Yes, we appreciate having good take-out at our fingertips, but we also like the idea of planning and creating a meal to share with those we love.

The slow food movement, for example, is a growing worldwide trend that links the pleasure of

Image via Wikipedia

food with community and the local environment each food type support. Consider the plain and simple act of breaking just-baked bread along with a salad of just-harvested greens over lunch (remember lunch?) with someone you love. Or someone you’re just getting to know. News is broken over lunch. Questions popped. In-laws introduced or losses grieved. Deals brokered. Honorees feted. A meal, with its conventions, rituals and promise, creates a moment in which a relationship can flourish.

No surprise that these days more of us busy folks are finding time to cook for self, family and friends. Some of it is belt-tightening; most of us are eating out less and when we are, we’re doing so on a less-grand scale. But also something about the 9/11 tragedy has brought us together –– in a crazy way, even alerted us to the humanity, culture and cuisine of the Middle East whose millions got dragged by a violent comparative few into the tragedy that has affected us all.

Image via Wikipedia

Now when we cook, we invest our American and international creations with fresh produce and organic products. Since 1990, the demand for organic has grown nearly 25 percent a year. We’re buying locally, often creating a feast around a seasonal crop or market. All-you-can-eat fat-and-carb-laden meals where quantity overshadows quality seem to be a thing of the past. Most fast food chains now offer an array of salads and nutritious meals, which means we can choose to stay on the diet straight-and-narrow when we need to eat fast.

The super-size mentality still exists, of course; everything from food to the square-footage of homes will always be subject to the concept in our collective unconscious that “bigger is better.” But as global warming and political unrest rises, as the roller coaster economy barrels towards the next decade, many are choosing non-processed, in-season food not only for pleasure and nourishment but as the answer to world hunger, as well.

It’s all about the comfort to be found in food. That’s why we call the best of it “comfort food.” We master a recipe, then alter it to our taste. In the same way, we style our hair any damn way we please these days: short, chic and highlighted like Senator Clinton or long, dark and glamorous a la Governor Palin.

New ground is being broken –– some of it in our lives, some in the kitchen. Busier than ever,

Image via Wikipedia

we’ll text invitations to dinner and the next day e-mail over the recipe that got raves. We’ll friend each other on Facebook and faithfully read each other’s blogs. But at the end of the day, there’s nothing like the face-to-face conversation we’ll continue to share over a great meal.

So strap on your food GPS system and let’s take a tour of the most popular foods that have defined the first decade of this century. Happy eating!

"Beauty isn't worth thinking about; what's important is your mind. You don't want a fifty-dollar haircut on a fifty-cent head." ~ Garrison Keillor

How she wore her hair: short, short (think Demi Moore and Sinead O’Connor)

Image via Wikipedia

The 90s –– What's Hot / What's Not

Perriere / tap water

arugala / iceberg

Image via Wikipedia

John Grisham / Ian Fleming

NFL / MLB

olive oil / corn oil

the Rachel / the Afro

chardonnay / rose`

Pilates / Jane Fonda

“Pulp Fiction” / “Moonstruck”

low sodium / high fat

Image by Old Shoe Woman via Flickr

Cranberry and Pistachio Holiday Biscotti

For a printable version of recipe click on this link.

1 small naval orange

3 eggs, large

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons butter, melted

3 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder (check date for expiration)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups dried, sweetened cranberries

Image by athena. via Flickr

1 1/4 cups pistachio, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a large cookie sheet. Cut the orange into half and each half into quarters (including the rind). Process the orange chunks in a food processor until it breaks down (the rind will be in larger pieces than the pulp). You will have about 3/4 cup of processed orange. Set aside.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs and sugar until light and creamy. Add the processed orange and vanilla and beat until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add butter and stir.

In a smaller bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With a wooden spoon add and stir the dry ingredients into the egg mixture (the dough will be stiff). Stir in the cranberries and pistachios until well combined.

On the buttered cookie sheet, place 3 evenly sized long mounds of dough. With wet hands (to prevent sticking) shape and form the dough into 3 slightly flattened logs about 12 inches in length and 3 to 4 inches wide.

Bake the logs in the middle of the oven until golden, about 30-35 minutes (depending on your oven). Place the cookie sheet on a rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Transfer the logs to a cutting board and with a serrated knife cut each log at an angle crosswise into 14 to 16 slices.

Arrange slices (laying down) on the cookie sheet (you will not have room for all the sliced logs at one time). Bake for 7-8 minutes, turn the slices over and bake another 5-6 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool. Repeat until all sliced biscotti have been baked again.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 10 days or place cooled biscotti in freezer bags and freeze for 3 months. Biscotti do not require thawing therefore may be eaten frozen.

Makes 42-48 biscotti

Biscotti at Noon

Biscotti-making class: $45

Sunday, Nov. 8

Noon – 3 p.m., Danbury, Conn.

Class size limited so register now!

Call (203) 733-8176 or e-mail coifedtocook@sbcglobal.net

Broccoli Rabe, Spicy Italian Sausage and Beans over Pasta

For a printable version click here

Image via Wikipedia

Broccoli Rabe, Spicy Italian Sausage and Beans over Pasta

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, sliced thin

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1/2 pound spicy hot Italian sausage, removed from casing

1 large bunch broccoli rabe, cut in 2 inch pieces including peeled stems

8 ounces chicken or vegetable stock

1 can, 19 ounce cannellini beans, drained

1/2 pound dried pasta, rigatoni, ziti, mostacholli or farfali

1 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste

1/3 cup grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese for topping

In large deep skillet, saute onion in oil for 5 or 6 minutes until translucent, then add garlic and crushed red pepper (if using) for an additional 2 minutes.

Push onion and garlic to side of pan or set aside in small dish.

Using same skillet, saute sausage , mashing with a fork, until lightly browned. Return onion and garlic to skillet, add broccoli rabe and stock. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes until the broccoli rabe is tender. Add drained beans and stir until thoroughly mixed and heated.

While sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Cook pasta according to directions for desired doneness and when draining pasta, reserve 1-cup pasta cooking water.

Image via Wikipedia

Plate pasta with sauce, using reserved water if more moisture is needed and top with grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese.

The 90s

Celebrity Food

It was the Age of Aquarius, come at last. Tom Petty was Learnin’ to Fly while a number of us nervously snacked on veggie-chips and gazed up, waiting to witness the Hale-Bopp comet making its once-every-4200-years sunward pass. Bopping toward us in the final long blink of the old century, what did it signify about the new one we’d soon be entering? Would we be okay as we drove on into the next millennium?

Crack out the Pinot Grigio, we said. Might as well enjoy the show.

And what a show it had been since the 50s when American Bandstand ruled and Checkers was a cute little cocker spaniel that came with his own controversial politician (Nixon) and then morphed into a Chubby singer. Here in the new era it was Raves – dancing like having a seizure – and Dolly was the newest cute little animal to come with a controversy (cloning). The first Big Mac was sold in Moscow. And we learned about all of these via that ever-spreading genius thing we were now calling the World Wide Web.

Tattooed-and-pierced, grunge-minded youth of the day wore Doc Martens and retro polyester as they sang “Losing My Religion” like daring acolytes drunk on the Eucharist wine behind the sacristy, while baby-boomer Married with Children types fretted about losing data on their hard drives.

As the Dot-com bubble burst and terrorists bombed the World Trade Center, we held our breath, casting an uneasy eye towards the rest of the world.

Image via Wikipedia

Some looked inward. Men with thinning hair explored a softer side, accompanying Robert Bly on a drum-beating journey of self-discovery. Others dared to look out. Women went to war alongside men in Kuwait; in the boardrooms of cities big and small, even in video games like the one where uber-sex-symbol Lara Croft’s goal was to conquer a man’s world, we women were pushed-up and plunged out via our Wonderbra, but determined to smash the glass ceiling of our professional lives.

Okay, most of us didn’t exactly aspire to be Lara Croft. Until we vied to have it all on our own terms –– marriage, kids, a career. Also shiny, sleek hair like the cute Rachel on Friends, a style that could be pulled back into a ponytail as we sweated at pilates in the gym.

We tried Feng Shui and environmentally friendly paper. We read Julia Child’s “Appetite for Life” and began a quest for more meaningful experience, much of it involving food. Lemongrass chicken from that Thai place we’d discovered. We could make that! And, hey, who couldn’t master the art of Mexican cooking as long as we didn’t wimp out on the hot sauce?

We rediscovered the power of homemade soup, made even better with fresh produce from local

food growers and organic low-sodium chicken broth. We gorged ourselves on the Food Network, where celebrity chefs fused eclectic combinations and brought them to our tables.

Image via Wikipedia

Meanwhile, we eyed the coming Y2K crash that the fear mongers and computer-snake-oil salesmen screamed was bound to happen but didn’t. And we inched our way over the line into 2000 celebrating with caviar from a free Russian republic and champagne from a France still in love with a pre-Bush Clinton presidency.

Gina's Gems

For a printable version click here

This is a most impressive appetizer. Dried fruit comes to life when plumped in Marsala wine. The cheese and nut filling is wrapped in tissue-thin prosciutto and served warm on a small silver platter with lemon and lime wedges.

Image via Wikipedia

4 ounces dried figs, whole

4 ounces pitted large dates, whole

4 ounces dried apricots, whole

1 cup Marsala (I have also used Madera, Vermouth, dry Sherry, or white wine)

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup favorite nuts, toasted and chopped

8 ounces imported prosciutto, thinly sliced

Juice of one lemon

Lemon and lime slices (garnish)

Chopped fresh Italian parsley (garnish)

Cut the figs in half and combine with the dates and apricots in a small bowl. Cover with 1 cup white wine and let marinate at least one hour or overnight, tossing a few times.

Process the cream cheese, nuts and 1 tablespoon marinating liquid in a food processor until blended, refrigerate until cold for easier handling.

Drain the marinated fruit reserving the liquid. Slit each date and apricot down the center and open each fig half along the cut side to form a pocket. Fill each piece of fruit with a teaspoon of the cheese mixture.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut strips of prosciutto to wrap around each stuffed fruit. Sprinkle with some of the reserved marinade as you work to keep the prosciutto moist.

Place the wrapped fruit on a baking sheet and bake until heated through, 7 to 10 minutes.

Let cool slightly, arrange on a serving dish, sprinkle with lemon juice, garnish with lemon and lime slices. Sprinkle with parsley.

Image by talekinker via Flickr

Makes about 40 appetizers

How she wore her hair in the 80s

Cover of Working Girl

Big teased bangs.

The 80s –– What's Hot / What's Not

Sinead O'Connor / Twiggy

microwaves / short-wave radio

Swatches / Micky Mouse watches

sun-dried tomatoes / freeze-dried coffee

hairstylist / hairdresser

All-you-can-eat buffet / juice bars

parachute pants / hot pants

Overeater’s Anonymous / three squares

Roseanne Barr / Donna Reed

Dirty Dancing / Dirty Harry

Steven King / Alfred Hitchcock

VCR / RCA

shag / pixie

Guess jeans / Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Fatal Attraction / Love Story

Dippity-Do / Dudley Do-Right

mini quiche / maxi skirt

Texas Two-Step / Tennessee Waltz

Oprah / Liberace

New Kids On The Block / The Partridge Family

chopsticks in your hair / flowers in your hair

Prozac / Valium

E.T. / AT&T

Bruce Willis / Lee Majors

Ben and Jerry’s / Mister Frosty

Portabello mushrooms / B&B canned mushrooms

Starbucks / Chock full o’Nuts

mousse / Brylcream

curling irons / hot rollers

yuppies / hippies

spiral perms / sleek and smooth

Gravlax with Dill Mustard Sauce

For a printable version click here

Gravlax with Dill Mustard Sauce

2-3 pound salmon fillet, halved lengthwise and thoroughly boned (preferably wild caught)

1 large bunch of dill

1/3 cup kosher salt

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons freshly ground pepper

5 or 6 drops liquid smoke

Place half the fish, skin side down, in a deep glass dish. Spread most of the dill (saving a small amount for dill mustard sauce).

Mix remainder of ingredients and sprinkle over the dill. Top with the other half of fish, skin side up. You now have a dill sandwich on fish.

Cover the fish with clear plastic wrap and weight it with a five-pound object. I use a patio brick, which I ran through the dishwasher. I covered it with aluminum foil and placed it in a plastic bag.

Refrigerate the weighted fish for 48 to 72 hours, turning the salmon every 12 hours and basting with the accumulated juices.

To serve, remove fish from marinade (save your brick for next time), scrape away dill and spices and pat dry. Slice diagonally very thin and serve with any or all of the following: lemon/lime wedges, assorted bagels and black bread, thinly sliced purple onion, capers, cream cheese and dill mustard sauce (recipe follows).

Serves 6-10

Dill Mustard Sauce

½ cup sweet mustard

½ cup dairy sour cream

¼ cup chopped fresh dill

Mix all ingredients together. Cover and refrigerate until needed.