Spring's Coming: Finishing Touch

In what began as a four-part blog about freshening up the decor in your home to welcome spring as well as guests and family members alike, the series has now unfolded and blossomed into tips on transforming our homes into comfort havens. We began by utilizing bold and beautiful spring blooms to brighten our home visually. Then we gravitated to refreshening the air by bringing in some ideas for infusing comforting scents into our homes to try and squash out the staleness of winter. By now, many of you may have begun your spring-cleaning ritual: diving head-first into closets and desk drawers, attics and other hidden crevices to sort and toss with reckless abandon. Likewise, in our attempts to be productive, little distractions abound everywhere. You may be sorting through your attic and continually stumble across some long ago tucked away and since forgotten object which brings pause in your cleaning spree as you take a virtual stroll down memory lane. You may not realize it, but you could potentially have a whole treasure trove of items which could be brought back to life in your home. In this segment, we'll talk about using different things on display throughout the home to make every room invite a sense of comfort.

Generally, when displaying objets, the key is to keep it under control. I have been in homes where the person's knick-knack collection had multiplied beyond all reason and the walls were covered from floor to ceiling with pictures. The home felt suffocating and the visual experience was way too busy to be comforting. If you are going to collect something, stick to one theme per room. When you see something in a shop, think about it. Will it not only fit into the collection itself, but tie into the color of the room as well? Does it look like a well-crafted item, or does it look cheap and tacky? Be selective, quality over quantity.

To make our home inviting to us, it is the comfort of something familiar and of things we love that makes it so. Such things are varying for each one of us as unique individuals according to personal taste. Let's start with my favorite room in the house: the kitchen. By displaying some cooking or food related items you've collected, your kitchen beckons you, as these personal touches make the space your own. Do you have a favorite cookbook author whose books you have collected? Then you might consider buying any of his or her books which you may not yet own and a single wall shelf to install on a kitchen wall on which to display your cooking idol; his or her books will then inspire you to whip up something rewarding at any given time. If you have space between the tops of the upper kitchen cabinets and the ceiling, this is a perfect space for displaying collections, whether you fancy elegant teapots, whimsical cookie jars, soup tureens, baskets or decorative serving bowls. Moving on into the dining area, if you have the space for some shelves, this is also an appropriate palette for some culinary display. I have a whole wall of my dining room filled with bookcases where I keep all of my cookbooks. In spaces in between these books I have various serving bowls and platters. The display not only lets people know that they are in the dining room, it's all about the food in here; but it also welcomes me to sit at the table and peruse a cookbook for next weekend's dinner recipe ideas.

In other rooms, such as the bedroom, guest room and family room, take the opportunity to display things you love. Being a Long Islander, I love the ocean and everything associated with it. In response to that love, I decorated my guest room accordingly, with a seashell print bedding set, a framed lighthouse poster, and I even framed a poem I once wrote describing the beach in winter. Then I filled in around the room with some conch shells and starfish that I'd collected on our Carribean trips, as well as a few shells I picked up along the shores close to home. The room is now not only comforting to me whenever I need to go in there, but it gives a Long Island welcome to out-of-town guests. In our bedroom, I decorated in a French theme, because I am half French and I also just happen to love all things French. Blue toile linens on the bed and window, a single pillow boasting "I'd Rather Be In Paris", because, frankly, I would. Across the wall right over the bed I placed three black and white prints of Paris landmarks in black frames. Whenever displaying multiple pieces together, keep in mind that odd amounts tend to work best visually. In our library and computer room, I have a show-and-tell of something else I love: Brian's and my weekends together. I am currently working on putting together a collage frame for each season, with photos of us having fun together: some beach pictures from summer, hikes and pumpkin picking expeditions in autumn, etc. Whether your spouse, your children or your pets, by framing a few of the best photos you have of them and displaying in a personal room such as a family room or library, you will not be able to fight back the smile for long when you come across that picture as you enter the room. Again, moderation is key. Three to five large prints is enough to set the mood and make the statement. An entire wall completely covered is turning what should be a comforting space into a chaotic art gallery.

Thinking back as far as your memory will serve, what were some of the first things which brought you comfort as an infant? A blanket? A bath? Guess what? That hasn't necessarily changed! Fluffy new towels in a seasonal or pleasing color and a basket on display filled with bath salts and lotions are the way to make a bathroom feel welcoming. New towels and a soothing lavender scented bath oil will set an inviting and comforting mood when you enter the room after a long tough day; all you have to do is fill the tub, step in, lie back and the day's trials and tribulations melt away. The living room can also be a welcome haven to comfort by simply draping a favorite, attractive blanket over the arm of a cozy chair or sofa. The blanket invites you to get comfortable and lose yourself in your favorite movie or a new book, or even browsing through a memory-filled photo album that you keep on the coffee table.

One last tip for displaying collections to personalize your home: I am a big believer of mixing up old and new. If you just discovered an old pitcher in your attic that once belonged to a beloved grandmother, for example, bring it down. You have probably collected a couple of pitchers yourself over the years. Choose your two favorite ones, and display them right along with Grandma's. It's a tribute to a relative who once gave you comfort, thereby evoking comfort here and now, and links together your shared attraction to collecting pitchers. Using old things that once belonged to now departed family gives an even more personal touch to your decor, it pays homage to someone who was once an important part of your life and it likely has a few stories to tell, stories which may have been told to you over the years by that person and are now stories being opened up for you to tell. I'm willing to bet that there are a lot of things in your attic or closets that you are getting reacquainted with, whether things that have been passed on to you by family members or just things you once purchased, maybe even used for awhile, got tired of and relegated into storage for another day. That day could be today, so while sorting through things and going down the virtual memory lane, also pause and ask yourself if and how this object could be a welcome addition to your home, thereby making your home a welcoming and comforting haven to all who enter. First, better bake up a batch of those cookies Grandma used to make and bring them along, you're going to be up there in that attic for awhile!

Spring's Coming: The Nose Knows

Last time we began a four part series about transitioning the setting of your home from one season to the next, to keep your homecoming interesting as all of your senses perked up when you walk through the door. I reviewed some of the spring treasures to be found in the produce section of your market, and delved into adding some spring flourish of flowers into your kitchen, eating and living areas of your home. Flowers not only enhance our living space visually, if you decorate with fresh cut flowers, they can enhance the room aromatically as well. When you are home, when your spouse comes home at the end of his or her day, or when your invited friends enter your home, you want all of the senses to say "Welcome home! Get comfortable! Feel the love!" Bright seasonal flowers are pleasing to the eye, and the way your home smells can be pleasing to the nose.

We see constant advertisements throughout the media for products to make our homes smell "nice." I actually don't use any of these in my home, they really do pose more hazards than benefits. Aerosol sprays are not only detrimental to the environment, but they are also allergy irritants and can be damaging for pets and for people who suffer from inhalant allergies or asthma. The scents are usually overkill and artificial, way too perfumey for my taste. The plug-in's have been known to cause house fires. Finally, just the thought of infusing more chemicals into our lives doesn't sound so comforting, does it? I prefer to utilize more natural means to produce more comforting and less harsh sensory enjoyment for the nose.

The most welcoming and seasonal aromas in your home from autumn through spring emanate from your kitchen. When you expect company, arrange to feed your oven about thirty minutes prior to your guests' arrival. Whether you are baking a pie or a chocolate cake for a an afternoon coffee visit, or the dessert for the evenings get-together meal, nothing sends such a welcome greeting to your guests as something baking in the oven. They will walk in from the cold, there may be traces of snow still on the ground outside, but inside the sight of spring tulips on the end table and the aromas of a blueberry crumb cake wafting in from the kitchen will immediately wrap their senses in warmth and contentment. Ideal springtime delicacies that your oven will present include blueberry crumb cake, lemon meringue pie, coconut cake, a pound cake to serve with a sprinkling of those fresh spring strawberries or a raspberry cheesecake. You can achieve the same ambiance in the fall and winter months when baking up pumpkin bread, apple pies, pear tarts and cranberry bundt cake. Even when preparing dinner for your family, your spouse who arrives home later than you will really feel the comfort of being home when he or she walks into a house that tantalizes both the nose and the appetite with the aromas of a roasting rack of lamb or orange-glazed ham beckoning from the kitchen.

As the daytime temperatures start to creep up, open as many windows as you are able throughout the house, even if only for three hours a day in the early afternoon. Your home has been sealed off from the outside elements for four months. The springtime ritual of allowing fresh air to circulate through your house every day will air everything out, and crisp fresh air with notes of early spring blooms and new grassy growth, is a comforting aromatic treat in itself; the effect magnified if you are fortunate enough to live by the beach and can add tints of salty sea air to the experience. Why else are there aerosol cans of room freshener sporting labels such as "Fresh Air" and "Ocean Breeze"? No corporation has really been able to successfully duplicate such scents, there is nothing like the real thing.

While I may shun many of the room-freshener products on the market, I do have one vice: scented candles. I do enjoy the calming and welcoming ambiance that a seasonally scented candle can create. The soft glow of the burning flame is soothing and creates a nice lighting effect for visual appeal, and I switch out the scents with the seasons for aromatic appeal. Throughout the winter I like the vanilla cookie varieties, in the summer I go for the citrusy and melon scents. Nothing says fall like a candle of cinnamon spice. Now to welcome spring, I like to seek out lemony scents. Candles can put a subtle layer of aromatic essence into the air, evoking feelings of warmth and comfort. However you should choose unscented candles when using candles for lighting effect at the dining table, as you don't want your nose to be caught in a battle of the scents as the food and the candle compete with one another.

As an avid home cook, a homeowner and a happy homebody, I do declare that the most effective and pleasing way to permeate the aromatic environment of your home with ease is from your kitchen. Through the ages, scents of various products from lip glosses to candles, and even to dolls, are those of edible delights: strawberry, vanilla, lemon, coffee, the list goes on and on, and on. Eating is something we all do, something many of us enjoy. We are comforted by the smell of cinnamon apple pie on a crisp fall day, or by a simmering pot of soup on a blustery day. Even on the smallest scale, for example, most of us would agree that the most welcoming and comforting scent when we first get up in the morning is that of freshly brewing coffee. It says "Good morning! Welcome to your day!" and we all enjoy savoring that aromatic cup of java as the warmth envelopes us in a virtual embrace before we head out the door to fight the day's demons. Next time we'll talk about how visual accents strategically arranged around your home can illustrate a scene of seasonal comfort. Many of the items which can be used are already in the treasure troves of your closets or attic; prepare to make your spring cleaning and sorting work for you to give your home that welcoming look the whole year through.

Spring's Coming: Flower Power

With last week's snowstorm and possibly another one on the way still, March is certainly coming in like a lion. Spring is, however, imminent as the sun is setting later and the temperatures aren't quite as bitingly frigid. After being holed up in the cozy warmth of our homes, everyone is eager to witness the first signs of spring as the crocuses and daffodils emerge from their winter naps, the sounds of birds coming home for the summer and the smell of fresh new grass after a spring shower. In preparation, many of us begin what has been referred over the ages as spring cleaning. The winter ski jackets are relegated to the back of the closet in exchange for lighter layers, the new season's fashions begin to fill our closets. The home gets a freshening up as marathon cleaning and sorting sessions get underway and windows are opened for the first time in months. The first of the season's produce adorns our dinner tables. This begins a four part series of tips to make the transition into spring enjoyable and help to make your home a more welcoming haven to come home to in any season, without breaking the bank on expensive home improvement projects.

When you have been away at work all day and trying to de-escalate the stress level during your commute home, it's important to walk into a home that really feels like a home should. It should feel welcoming. It should lift your spirits and evoke a sense of calm simultaneously. Your home should reflect your personality as well, the sights and smells and sounds should say who you are, so that you are comfortable in your own skin, or rather in this case, home. If your home feels relaxing to you, that will likely transcend to your guests as well when you have friends over for dinner or coffee.

This installment is going to focus on plants, and that includes produce; this is, after all, a blog on kitchen and home. While you have undoubtedly noticed that most vegetables and fruits can be procured from a supermarket all year round, those specimens which are not in season will not have the same impact of flavor on our palates. Produce should be enjoyed primarily during its peak season. With the arrival of spring, start by bringing home some asparagus. Spring is the best time to enjoy this versatile vegetable, and with the numerous ways that it can be prepared, you will not grow tired of it anytime soon. It can be roasted, simply lay the spears out in a single layer on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and place in a 450-degree oven for about 15 minutes. It can be steamed. After steaming you can bring it right to the table for immediate consumption as a healthy side dish, or you can cut the spears into one inch pieces and toss them into a salad, a soup or a pasta dish. Also at peak season in the spring are peas, which can also add some bright green to a pasta dish or made into a delicious soup. Berries also enjoy the spring spotlight, and can be enjoyed au natural with no additions, or as a garnish on ice cream, or as an ingredient in baked goods. If you are fortunate enough to live near a farming community, take advantage of spring harvests which include lettuces, new potatoes and baby vegetables. Once again, you will taste the difference between these and the ones purchased in the supermarket during the off season.

Since the temperatures have not yet begun to heat up, one can still benefit from the use of the oven. Sending a whole chicken to the oven to roast for dinner will allow some time to putter around the home as you engage in your spring cleaning projects. In addition to bringing home spring produce from the store, consider bringing home some flowers to help set the spring tone. Think about which flowers are typically associated with spring: first daffodils and then tulips, for instance. You can create an eye-catching and warmly welcoming display on your kitchen counter, on your dining table and in your living room and/or family room. You can either choose colors which compliment the room's overall color scheme, make a statement with a bright color that pops the room to life, or go with the neutral classic of all white blooms which will create elegance in any backdrop. For a kitchen display, place the flowers in a whimsical container, such as a ceramic pitcher, a small galvanized watering can or an old-fashioned milk jug. Coming home to a display of bright yellow daffodils in a white pitcher evokes an uplifting feeling, knowing that your home looks welcoming as you revel in the season.

If you have curious pets or toddlers, I would urge you to consider using silk flowers rather than live cut blooms. Many plants and flowers are toxic when ingested, why take chances? If visions of your grandmother's obviously fake plastic flower displays are haunting you, put those images out of your mind. Today's artificial flowers are make from silks and look so real, it's near impossible to discern them from the live varieties unless you physically touch them. After an incident with one of my cats, which fortunately did not end tragically in this case, I have only used silk flower arrangements in my home. Other benefits to using silks include the fact that they will never look spent or die, they require no care whatsoever, and you'll be able to use them for several springs seasons.

The first image conjured in people's minds at the thought of spring is that of flowers. By gracing your home with flowers, this is the first step taken toward making simple and inexpensive changes to your decor to make your home feel welcoming and comforting. Flowers are uplifting in their brilliant visual appeal, and that will make your guests feel welcome and vibrant yet relaxed in your home as well. As spring moves into summer, tulips should be switched out for sunflowers, daisies, hydrangea blooms and peonies. When fall approaches, choose mums and choose flowers in colors that display a fall palette. For December, poinsettias set the holiday mood, as well as blooms of white and red. For winter I usually stick with white roses and hydrangeas in white or blue.

Another way to add floral decor to make a home seem welcoming is to display seasonal wreaths on each door that enters into your home. Wreaths aren't just for Christmas anymore, they now come in arrangements to suit any season and holiday. Some are strictly made of silk flowers indigenous to the season at hand, others are embellished with whimsical additions such as little stuffed snowmen, garden gnomes or teddy bears, ornaments of birds, seashells or miniature garden tools, or "Welcome" plaques. Every season I change my wreaths on the front and back doors, as well as the garden flag in front of the house, whose design changes to suit the season. If I actually had neighbors close enough in proximity to see it, I think they would be threatening me to take away the "Let It Snow" snowman flag right about now!

Flowers are not the only example of flora for use in kitchen decor. Edible displays are not only at home in the kitchen, but can strike that seasonal note effectively. In addition to a display of flowers on a counter, I often use a display of seasonal fruit. In the summer I'll fill a bright blue bowl with lemons, evoking the cooling idea of fresh lemonade. Not only do they look appealing, but when it comes time to juice a lemon for a recipe, room temperature lemons yield considerably more juice than refrigerated ones. In the fall I'll fill a wicker basket with a variety of fall-colored apples. In the winter I'll fill a white ceramic basket with green Granny Smiths, or a bowl with red pears and bosc pears. For spring, lemons and oranges look nice, as do the yellow and red tints of gala apples. These displays perform double duty: they not only enhance the decor, but encourage healthy snacking too.

Next time, we'll focus on how aromatics can play a role in making your home envelope you in welcoming comfort. I'll give you one hint: I think the oven and some of those spring berries might be involved! As we count down the days until that first official day of spring, next time you make a stop at the market, pick up two bouquets: one of asparagus for the evening's meal, and one of the season's first picked daffodils for your kitchen counter. Nothing welcomes spring like the lively picture of yellow daffodil blooms and a dinner of roasted salmon and asparagus with a light lemon sauce and fresh raspberries for dessert. It may be too cool yet to enjoy that meal al fresco among those springtime blooms, but you can certainly bring the flower power indoors all year long.

Big Flavors In Little Packages

As the outdoor temperatures continue to send us into the confinement of our cozy and comfortable homes, many of us take the post-holiday, pre-spring months to plan and organize. This can include making home improvement project plans, designing the upcoming garden, going through closets and drawers to sort and organize accumulated clutter, and just sweeping through the whole house throwing away old junk to replace with new, refreshing things to brighten those winter gray days. As I was going through my own pantry recently, several little bottles and jars that I keep on hand beckoned me to write about them and sing their praises as to why you too should stock them in your kitchen ingredient repertoire.

Cooking and baking does not need to be complicated; a dish does not need to have an ingredient list as long as a child's wish list to Santa Claus. While there are some ethnicities which use a lengthy variety of spices and other ingredients to season their entrees, most dishes that you make regularly need only one or two extra-special epicurean delicacies to give the offering that big finish and to enhance the flavor to it's fullest potential. When preparing vegetables, for instance, so many people make the mistake of adding some of this and some of that and oh-let's throw that in too. What they are left with is a side dish heavy on the additional ingredients with a little vegetable. That vegetable doesn't really get to shine in its best light, it's masked with too many other flavors. While making the occasional complex veggie side dish is fine and even fun, sometimes, less really is more. The best way to prepare vegetables simply is using three ingredients that no kitchen should ever be without: a high quality extra-virgin olive oil, freshly ground pepper - buy a pepper mill and fill it with whole black peppercorns - and salt, preferably sea salt. Prepare the vegetable of choice for cooking; that is, peel those which need to be peeled, such as butternut squash, and cut into chunks those which are large specimens, such as eggplants. Place the vegetables into a roasting pan, and toss with the three abovementioned ingredients. Roast in a 450-degree oven for 20-30 minutes, depending on the vegetable, or until the cut edges caramelize. This can be done with any vegetable: eggplant, summer squashes, winter squashes, fennel, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, parsnips, turnips, rutebegas, baby carrots, etc. On the occasion when I want to add just one more flavor to the pan, that's when I'll toss in a handful of garlic cloves, either whole or sliced, before roasting.

When serving baby potatoes or fingerling potatoes, I will occasionally add one more ingredient to the olive oil, salt and pepper combination: a fresh herb. Potatoes can be a little bland, but when combined with some fresh rosemary, parsley, thyme, dill or sage - the choice is yours - the herb enhances the earthiness of the potato. Try to always keep some fresh herbs on hand, whichever ones you like. If you are fortunate enough to have a kitchen window with a wide, sunny windowsill, planting a few herbs in pots along the windowsill will be rewarding to your palate all year and be economical on your wallet as well. Something else I like to roast with the olive oil-salt-pepper-herb lineup is onion. I cut two yellow or white onions and two red onions into eight wedges each and toss with these ingredients. After they have roasted to the point of being almost completely caramelized, I'll drizzle them with a little balsamic vinegar before serving, another little bottled ingredient that gives big payback in flavor boosting. A light drizzle of a good high quality balsamic vinegar can be a nice finishing touch to many dishes, including soups, roasted vegetables and meaty stews. An ideal combination choice for drizzling on roasted sweet potatoes is maple syrup and melted butter; this also marries well with butternut squash.

Another oil to keep on hand for the occasional change of pace is white truffle oil. Last week I made some homemade mashed potatoes and used some truffle oil in place of butter when whipping them. It imparted an earthy yet elegant flavor, without the price tag of purchasing whole truffles. To purchase truffles for one meal can set you back a paycheck. However you can serve up a taste of luxe for less than twenty dollars by keeping a bottle of that truffle oil in your pantry, just that one ingredient can make a huge impact on the flavor of your dish. It is also nice drizzled on a salad. Plate some mesclun greens or baby spinach, top with thin slices of Brie or Camembert cheese, and finish that salad with a drizzle of truffle oil and a sprinkle of black pepper. For an occasional treat, pick up a little tub of white truffle butter next time you want to prepare a simple pasta side dish to accompany your meat entree. Simply stir the truffle butter and a little cream into your cooked pasta, sprinkle the finished pasta with freshly cracked black pepper and a little chopped parsley and you're done: a luxurious pasta side dish using a total of five ingredients.

Saffron is another jewel that should grace your spice rack. When preparing a rice dish, such as a paella, or any Mediterranean entree, using just this one spice will impart the sunny flavor of the region. Saffron is what gives those dishes that golden hue. Saffron is sold in jars, usually in thread form. Some recipes call for soaking the threads in either hot water or lemon juice before adding to the pot; others simply call for crushing the threads into the pot. Either way, it is a must-have in my kitchen.

One ingredient that I believe no kitchen lacks is vanilla extract. The type you use is important and makes a difference. Avoid buying a product whose label says "imitation vanilla extract". Imitations of anything in life are rarely as good as the real thing. My vanilla of choice reads "Madagascar Burbon Pure Vanilla Extract", and you can tell the difference. It has more of that pure, smooth vanilla taste and less of that harsh alcoholic flavor. Another way to impart some intense vanilla flavor into your custard or ice cream recipe is to add vanilla beans. The pods are sold in jars. All it takes is one pod. Slit the pod lengthwise with a sharp knive and then scrape out the "beans" - more like seeds in appearance - and stir them into your ingredients.

One exciting aspect in the culinary world is the introduction to what I'll call "fad" ingredients, for lack of a better term. Some ingredient, whether it be a particular vegetable or a spice or even a whole ethnicity of cuisine, receives a lot of attention in the latest cooking shows and magazines and those of us who love to cook are all over it, embracing all of the charms that this showcased star has to offer. Recently, Pernod has been one of those ingredients. When I came across six recipes in a span of two months calling for Pernod in the ingredient list, I visited my local liquor store. Sure enough, this one liquor adds and enhances flavors nicely. It is an anise-flavored liquour from the Provence region of France. When a dish calls for using fennel (also called anise), a vegetable with a similar flavor, adding a small amount of Pernod enhances that flavor to the next level. Between Brian and I, I think we've used it in about five dishes already and I only bought the bottle last month!

There are other flavor-boosters from the bar, particularly useful in baking. Everyone loves the combination of chocolate and raspberries. Chambord, a raspberry-flavored liquour, tastes divine when mixed into the batter of a chocolate cake which I make every Valentine's Day. Khalua, a coffee-flavored liquour, is also nice in any chocolate dessert recipe, because coffee takes the flavor of chocolate to the next level. The two flavors are the perfect marriage as they compliment and bring out the best of each other.

When life gives you lemons ... well, grate them over a dish before serving. A light sprinkling of grated lemon zest over the asparagus or brussels sprouts brightens the dish, makes a brighter presentation and adds another dimension of flavor. When combined with minced garlic, chopped rosemary, salt, pepper and olive oil, you have a perfect topping to roast on pork, chicken, lamb or duck.

Every good Italian knows that the ultimate finishing ingredient is some freshly grated cheese. Whether using Pecorino Romano or Parmagiano, be sure to only buy imported. A more economical approach, and better tasting as well, is to purchase a whole block of the cheese and grate it yourself at home as you need it, rather than buying the tub of already grated cheese which costs more and will not be as fresh. The cheese is not just for topping pasta anymore, it can be used to finish plating soups, it can be lightly sprinkled over asparagus for the last five minutes of roasting, and it can be tossed with roasted potatoes for a nice breakfast companion to your scrambled eggs.

When sauteeing vegetables, such as spinach or broccoli rabe, lightly toss some pignoli nuts separately in a dry frying pan over medium heat until they turn golden brown, then sprinkle the toasted pignolis over the sauteed veggie before serving. They add a nice little extra to both the flavor and texture of the dish.

I leave you with one of my finishing tricks for pies, the last two ingredients to stock up your shelf with. Whenever I bake a pie, I brush the top crust with an egg wash before baking. The egg wash is simply a beaten egg with a little water, used by bakers primarily for giving pies that glossy golden glow. I use it for one additional purpose, however: so that my topping sticks to the crust without rolling off. The toppings? When making savory pies, such as a pot pie, I like to lightly sprinkle the top with sea salt crystals before baking. Sea salt crystals are also useful when added to a pot of boiling water for pasta, and in soups. When finishing a sweet dessert pie, I christen the top with turbinado (raw sugar) crystals before presenting it to the oven. Both variations give the pies an attractive sparkle, plus an added facet of flavor and a delicate crunch in every bite. The turbinado sugar achieves the same nice effect when sprinkled over muffins or breads before baking as well.

So as you go through your kitchen to sort and organize, or when you draw up your next grocery shopping list, pick up some of these ingredients. They allow for simple and quick solutions to bring out more flavor from your food, basic cooking with a kick. Big flavors come in little packages, and can boost the flavor of your next meal to the next level with little cost or effort on your part, leaving you more time to clean out your next closet.

No More Broken Promises

Happy New Year! And happy new decade. With the start of a new year, many of us view this time as a new beginning for a fresh start, a time to reflect on ourselves and to make some big positive change in our lives. Some popular resolutions include finding a better job, to quit smoking, to make more time for family and friends. The number one new year's resolution is to achieve weight loss. It all sounds good, doesn't it? What could be so bad about wanting to improve oneself? Well, wanting and doing are two different things. The truth is, when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve and the flashing ball in Times Square makes its mark, everyone who has imbibed alcohol to excess makes these lofty goals for themselves; goals which turn out to be empty promises. Part of the problem is people make such proclamations without any thought or plan as to how they intend to achieve such goals. Since this is a blog space that delves into food and cooking, I'm going to address that ever-popular new year's resolution of "I'm going to lose weight." How many of you have uttered those words, followed by a few days or even weeks of embarking on some faddish deprivation diet which typically shuns a whole food group, only to crash and burn when you could no longer endure this self-torture which you imposed on yourself as you ultimately binge on a whole quart of Ben & Jerry's in one sitting? Perhaps a more successful resolution would be "I'm going to eat healthier and enjoy doing so." This alone will steer you away from those broken promises you've made to yourself time and time again, and excess weight will come off naturally. However, you first need to acknowledge that the task lies in your hands alone, you need to take responsibility for reaching your own goals. Everyone wants a quick and easy fix to simply fall into their laps, an unrealistic expectation. The goal itself needs to be realistic as well. A woman in her 40s is wasting effort in desperately trying to achieve the weight she was at on her wedding day 15-20 years earlier. Metabolism changes, our bodies change, our activity levels change, our caloric needs change. Instead of fighting a losing battle with some new fad diet to achieve an unattainable goal, by making a few simple changes with the goal of eating healthier, the truly excess pounds will dissolve in a process which will be better for you and sustainable in the long run.

In order for anyone to lose weight, one has to make some alterations in their eating habits and in their attitudes toward their perception of food. Traditionally, Americans are the top candidates for the fat-farm. No niceties here, Americans are F-A-T. - fat! Asians are not overweight. Europeans generally are not either. Even at the innocent age of eight, on a trip to Paris I was observant enough to inform my mother "Mom, there are no fat people here!" This is because Americans have absolutely no clue what the act of consuming food should be about. Americans view dining as simply fueling up as quickly as possible for the unreasonably overburdened day which they have inflicted upon themselves, pumping their bodies with quickie salt and sugar-laden processed foods as they run from one errand to the next. Fast food eateries are the ultimate 'truck stops' in eating to fuel up. Even on the occasion that they do actually assume the position of sitting down to a table, they shovel their meal in the way one would feed coal into a furnace, often mentally engrossed solely on whatever is on their television set whose switch seems to be perpetually in the on position. They have little idea what they have just consumed, nor do they really care. Conversely, Europeans observe the act of dining as a ritual to be savored, appreciated and enjoyed with family and friends. It is a culture and a social rite that is embraced and looked forward to every meal of every day.

The first step in eating healthier is to change your viewpoint toward food and dining. Focus on what you are eating, think about the flavors as you chew and take the time to actually communicate with your dining companion(s). Turn the television off, let the answering machine do its job, and make dining a daily ritual in which you concentrate your senses on food and drink, and your mental faculties on stimulating conversation. This will slow down the eating process, allowing your system to find the opportunity to signal to your brain that you are now full. It will also make your mealtime a time to relax and socialize with your family.

The second step to eating healthier is to change your overall eating plan. What diets have you tried and ultimately failed at in the past? Low carb? Your body needs carbs, particularly whole grains. No sugar? Guess what, your body needs sugar too. No, not that whole pie you picked up this morning! Perhaps you tried some sort of purge diet, such as consuming exclusively cabbage soup for three months. The reason that all of these diets fail is simple: your body is a complex machine in need of a large number of balanced dietary components in order to function properly. Depriving that system of any one nutrient leads to uncontrollable cravings, possible illnesses resulting from nutritional deficiencies, and a body which is not functioning at maximum efficiency; in other words, one which in the long run remains overweight. No more fad diets which boast promises of excessive weight loss - if it sounds too good or too easy to be true, that means that it is. Now think about how you ate when you were not on one of these unreasonable dietary quests. Take out fast food for dinner four to six nights a week? A can of Coke whenever you felt thirsty? A whole tub of ice cream late at night because you felt stressed about something? Declared a dislike for an entire food group, such as fruit or vegetable? Here lies the problem. There is only one diet that everyone should be following, and it should not be perceived as a diet at all. It is an eating plan, based upon the government food pyramid. This guide is actually not unlike the daily eating habits in which people in Europe normally partake. It is high in daily intake of fruits and vegetables, low in meats, higher in carbs made from whole grains; high fat dishes and sugary treats should be treated exactly as such: occasional treats.

The third step is to use that food pyramid as a guide to reallocate where your caloric intake comes from and reduce your portions. The best way to achieve this is to dine at home. It is time to reacquaint yourself with your kitchen, where the power is in your hands to control portions. Many restaurants in this country have gone completely out of control with portion sizes; an individual diner is being fed double and even triple the amounts of what they need. The food pyramid states that one serving of meat should fit on the palm of your hand, or be similar in size to a deck of cards. Go to a restaurant in France and see what size of steak your waiter presents you with. You will be handed a plate with a single filet mignon of exceptional quality. Here in the states, you are often presented with a cut of beef that nearly exceeds the size of the entire dinner plate- in fact it is often presented in a platter, not a plate - piled with at least two servings of fries, and vegetables, if offered, are meagerly served in a little side bowl no bigger than the bowl your child feeds his hamster in. Some steakhouses in this country now have their staff circulate the dining room showing off a 76-ounce steak, offering a free dinner to anyone who can consume the entire piece of meat which, by the way, is about 70 ounces more than a single serving size. Just think about how disgusting and unreasonable that whole concept really is. Americans love excess and gluttony, and that includes in their diets. Instead of filling up on meat, the food pyramid suggests filling up on vegetables. Considering that we should consume a minimum of four servings of vegetables per day, that means at least two servings of vegetables with dinner and two with lunch. Restaurants often overcook the vegetables and do not put much effort in making them very flavorful or appealing, simply because it is not accepted practice in our culture to embrace pure fresh foods or seasonings other than salt. Canned vegetables are even worse. For those who claim not to like vegetables, I would be willing to bet that if they just tried purchasing something fresh from the farm stand or supermarket, bringing it home, looking up a simple recipe for preparing it, and cooking it themselves, it would prove to be a revelation. Make two different vegetables, not merely a double-helping of one, as it will make your meal more visually appealing and more satisfying as you take in two different tastes and textures each prepared with different seasonings. We should consume an equal number of fruit servings per day, whether for desserts or for breakfast and snacks. During the summer when fruits are abundant and at their peak for flavor, there are plenty of varieties to choose from. When it comes to carbs, despite what the no-carb cultists are trying to tell us, your body does need them. However there are 'good' carbs which offer nutritional benefits, such as whole grain breads, cereals and pastas; and there are empty carbs, such as white bread and white rice, which offer little to no benefit. For those who make such proclamations as 'I don't like whole grain pasta,' I have one thing to say to you: pasta has little flavor, the flavor of a pasta dish comes from what you put on the pasta. Pasta soaks up the flavor of the sauce used, the cheese sprinkled on, etc. It is almost forgivable when a four-year-old complains and gets picky about foods; it gets pathetic when an adult whines in the exact same closed-minded manner. A four-year-old doesn't know any better, a parent has to take the responsibility of coaxing their child to eat properly. An adult should possess the mental capacity to buck up and take responsibility for himself or herself if he or she really does care about health.

The fourth step to eating healthier is to feel content with your new meal plan, do not deprive yourself entirely of the things you love. To tell yourself that you are going to abandon all cake and ice cream for six months so that you look like a toothpick in your bathing suit come summer is not a reasonable goal. Allow yourself that piece of cake, but keep it limited. Have one single serving - not half of the cake - not more than once a week, and let that be the only sugary treat you enjoy that week. Enjoy it as the treat that it should be, such as on a Friday night to kick off your weekend, or for dessert for a special weekend family meal that you create. Go ahead and cook that pasta dinner one night with the creamy carbonara sauce, but keep the serving size reasonable and instead of reaching for seconds, round out the meal with a cooked vegetable and a salad. Try and keep the sugary sweet to once a week and also a higher-fat entree to once a week as well. Plan ahead for holidays. If you know that Christmas is next week, know that you can eat whatever is on the menu that day, no holds barred; but that is your free ticket for the week. The rest of that week you do need to avoid the little extra treats altogether. Finally, one dinner a week should be composed of anything you like, the only rule still to be applied is portion control. By allowing yourself these limited and controlled indulgences, your new eating plan will be something you can sustain for life. Once you have reached a comfortable and reasonable weight on your bathroom scale, you can then gradually tailor how many of those treats you can typically allow yourself in a regular week of dining without resulting in the weight creeping back up again. Everybody is different, everybody has different caloric requirements to maintain weight. This is how people in Italy and France manage to revel in such decadent delicacies as fettuccine alfredo, fine cheeses, rich desserts and high-fat meats. They keep portions reasonable, and they are not eating these particular foods constantly at every meal of every day.

The last step to eating healthy is to embrace quality, variety and flavor in your foods. Turn your back on the low-quality corporate mass-produced food products, just walk away. Make better choices, especially when you do allow yourself a treat. Pass the Hostess or Entennmans cakes in the supermarket and make a detour instead to a bakery or, better yet, bake a cake or a batch of decadent cookies yourself using only the finest ingredients. These higher quality foods usually have more flavor, and are therefore more satisfying. When food is more satisfying and offers more flavors and textures to appreciate, you'll need to eat smaller portions to feel satiated. Leave the processed "convenience" foods in the store, get into the habit of cooking your own meals using the best ingredients. Foods that are less processed and not mass-produced tend to be made with more attention to quality, therefore yielding an eating experience that rewards your palate with more flavors, more textures, more substance, all in all more 'oomph' to every mouthful. With cooking becoming en vogue again, thanks to the media-provided cooking magazines, celebrity chefs and Food Network, it is now easier than ever to embark on cooking up some original dishes to satisfy every taste. It is also more exciting than ever to embrace new cuisines as more and more ethnic ingredients from around the globe make their appearance in our gourmet shops and specialty food markets.

By making these changes in how you approach food and dining, and adding a sensible exercise routine that is convenient enough to stick to long term, you will be able to keep your resolution to eat and be healthier and the excess pounds will melt away. No, it will not be so easy for one who has been conditioned lifelong to subsist on quick fixes for meals and to consume exorbitant volumes of anything one craves with reckless abandon. There will be a lesson to embark on first; but once you perfect the art of eating healthier, you'll find yourself eating very well indeed, appreciating better foods, and knowing that you are now living to eat, not eating just to live. Mentally as well as physically, that's a pretty rewarding promise that you're not likely to break any time soon.

Oh, Those Unexpected Guests!

With the holidays imminent, we all look to touch base and reconnect with old friends. Those couple of weeks of Christmas and New Year's bring a lot of drop-ins; 'tis the season in which the open house policy thrives. People make the rounds as they hop from home to home to pass along holiday wishes and spend a couple of hours catching up. If you're already cooking up scrumptious feasts for the actual holidays themselves, you don't need to add more cooking for these impromptu visits, on top of last minute gift shopping and wrapping. Take it easy and enjoy your company. Putting out some delectable delights does not necessarily require any slaving in the kitchen at all and can be very elegant nonetheless. Yes, I love to cook. It is my passion and I think nothing of spending hours in the kitchen creating a meal to top all others. However, I want to take part in the holiday festivities too. I want to have fun with my guests and enjoy their company, good conversation and a few laughs. You can as well, very easily, and it will require only minutes in the kitchen. All you need to know is the location of your nearest gourmet market, and where you last stashed those three or four serving bowls.

Decide ahead of time on a location to sit around and make that the designated "holiday visiting" spot. For us it's usually the living room where the decorated Christmas tree instantly provides festive lighting. I'll put some holiday tunes in the CD player, and I will have already worked out the lighting and music for a happy holiday ambiance. The food finds its way to the coffee table with the same ease. Depending on the time of day and number of people, I either put out four hors d'oeuvres and a fun mixed drink or a bottle of wine; or something just baked in the oven and freshly brewed coffee.

Try to have variety with the hors d'oeuvres, you don't want to be repetitive and give your guests a choice of a dip and, well, a dip. For minimal cooking, you could make one dip and serve with chips which will complement the dip, such as pita chips with a roasted eggplant dip, or tortilla chips with a homemade black bean dip or guacamole. One of my personal favorites is a baked crab and cheese dip, served with gourmet crackers. I do recommend making your own dip from scratch, however. Most store-bought dips are loaded with salt and taste artificial. Homemade dips are so easy to make, especially with the helping hand of a food processor, and they can be made ahead of time. Now that the dip is out of the way, we move on to the second and simpler hors d'oeuvre. For no cooking but merely minutes of preparation, try wrapping either fresh halved figs or honeydew melon balls with prosciutto and arranging the bundles on a lettuce lined plate. A cheese hors d'oeuvre would be a fine third addition, and the preparation becomes yet even simpler. Pick up a block of imported pecorino Romano or Parmesan reggiano. Take a very sharp knife and thinly slice the block. These cheeses tend to be dry and hard, so they will slice into perfect chip-sized shards, and with their salty and nutty flavors, no seasoning is needed. Place the shards into a nice little serving bowl, done! Now for one more item on the coffee table palette. How about something that requires no cooking at all? To complete this picture, pick up a pint of nuts such as pistachios or cashews, or a pint of good olives from the olive bar. These just get dumped right into another little serving bowl and voila, move over 30-minute meals, we now have 30-second munchies! Some other no-cook options to stock up on to keep on hand for those really last-minute unannounced visitors can include a bag of gourmet potato chips, Cheese Sticks (made by John WM Macy), gourmet crackers, nuts and olives. If you want to create a hot hors d'oeuvre, keep some frozen puff pastry on hand. With a quick trip through the express lane, you can pick up two or three ingredients to stuff into the puff pastry for baking, such as ham and gruyere or ham and blue cheese. Another quick hors d'oeuvre is shrimp cocktail, there are plenty of recipes for basic cocktail sauce and shrimp boils or roasts very quickly. Whatever you choose, balance out the menu: something hot, something cold, something with cheese, something with fruit or vegetable, and be sure to include a couple of things that require no cooking time at all. The above-mentioned ideas will be an elegant presentation, your guests will feel satisfied and indulged, and you will still have energy after they depart to hang more ornaments, engage in a gift-wrapping marathon, spy on your spouse's gift-wrapping marathon, or chase the scavenging dog or cat away from the remnants of those appetizers. If just one friend pops in earlier in the day, that can get even easier: put out some of those holiday cookies you baked, set up a coffee bar and you're all set.

When it comes to the drinks, keep them simple also. Simply uncorking a bottle of wine is perfectly acceptable. If you want something a little more festive to toast friendships and holidays by, champagne is also a fine choice. Champagne pairs well with anything you nibble. If you have discovered your inner chemist however and want to show off your mixology skills, I strongly recommend choosing one mixed drink combination and stick to it, making a large batch for everyone; or you'll be chained to the bar all afternoon while your guests are having fun without you. Some of my favorites for the holidays are sparkling martinis made with vodka, white cranberry juice and champagne; and cranberry blinis are also nice as they provide a lovely ruby red holiday hue. I always say that if only high school chemistry involved mixing substances that we would actually utilize in life, like vodkas and rums and liquours, I think we all would have aced the course hands down!

I hope that these ideas have lightened the frantic, overwhelmed cloud that can sometimes shroud our mental state when news of unexpected guests drops by. We are all busy throughout the year these days, even more so now with our holiday preparations. It's important to also make time for friends and family whom we don't see as often as we like. With a cozy location to sit around and share in celebratory exchanges, a little festive decor or lighting, some music softly emanating in the background and these oh-so-easy tasty tidbits, entertaining guests can be enjoyable. So have fun, eat, drink and be merry without the stress.

To all of my readers - raise those glasses, please - I bid you and your families a very merry and enjoyable Christmas and a happy and safe New Year!