I cannot remember the first time I had Irish brown bread. I’m guessing it was while living in Dublin and going to school that, one day, I bought a regular old package of sliced bread and the creamiest butter I’ve ever had. Toast and butter, …
I love coffee. I like to think I love the flavor, but, at this point, it is the feeling of drinking coffee that makes me happy, though the flavor rarely disappoints. Like my Croatian relatives, I can’t drink coffee from a tall paper cup while …
There is no real story here, other than summer is coming and it’s definitely time for some beautifully flavored cocktails. More than anything, you’ll find I love baking with alcohol: wine, rum, brandy (esp. Croatian Sljivovica), liqueurs like Amaretto, Grand Mariner, whiskey, Guinness. The list …
It is finally Memorial Day weekend. I wouldn’t know it, since Mondays, work days, sunny days, summer, spring, winter. It’s all one big blur. It’s hard out there in Manhattan. I don’t wish any loss or sickness on anyone, old, young, healthy or otherwise. But …
I’ve been dying to make a rustic savory tart using fruit for the longest time. And the time is now. I fell in love with all tarts sweet and savory awhile back, when I acquired my mom’s large fluted tart pan. I recently added a …
The man in my life and in our home is an American Turk. He grew up with a Turkish father in Astoria, Queens, which is where my mother calls home too. After years there, in Long Island, and California, he is still very Turkish, also …
Sometimes I resist the urge to extract family recipes, regional Croatian favorites, new and old Turkish discoveries, and French fare for a good, sweet American style layer cake. I grew up licking frosting off of my chubby fingers, after all. This is one of those …
Croatians love simplicity. Prosciutto, cheese, bread, tomatoes, olives, wine. Fruit can serve as dessert. Cheese can come with breakfast. Croatian desserts mainly come from the two main cultural influences: Roman/Venetian and Austro-Hungarian. The latter is filled with tortes and custard and streusel. The former comes …