Salmon Burgers with Curry Mayo

For my English Polo Picnic, I picked dishes that are easy to make ahead for room temperature consumption and are both elegant and easily portable, like these Salmon Burgers with Curry Mayo. I bought pre-formed Salmon Burgers to keep things easy and then just doctored up premade mayo and mango chutney for a very flavorful […]

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Cucumber Lychee Pimm’s Cups

Finally, picnic season is fully upon us and these Cucumber Lychee Pimm’s Cups are perfect for a leisurely afternoon picnic. In fact, I have them in mind as the light, low-alcohol cocktail for my English Polo Picnic Menu. After all, next weekend there’s a match in Jersey City and yours truly intends to be there, […]

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Crawfish Boil and Cajun Dinner

My wonderful friend Kevin, and his partner Juliet host an amazing Crawfish Boil every year. It’s one of the best parties of the year and such a special treat to get to all-you-can-eat Crawfish made by a real Cajun. Kevin shares his culture with us by cooking an amazing meal of crawfish, corn, potatoes, and […]

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Seafood Big Mamou Spicy Tomato Butter Sauce

May is one of my favorite months and this Seafood Big Mamou Spicy Tomato Butter Sauce is in honor of one of the reasons why May is so special. I do a lot of entertaining in my social circle, but I’m also the fortunate guest to many wonderful parties as there are many talented cooks […]

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Cucumber Mint Lime Agua Fresca

We’ve got leaves, we’ve got flowers, we’ve even got some legitimately hot days head our way and since it seems I’m determined to skip right into Summer this year, we’ve got refreshing Cucumber Mint Lime Agua Fresca just in time for Cinco de Mayo. In Spanish, “agua fresca” means cool waters, and I first really […]

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Olive Honeydew Winter Summer Salad

This Olive Honeydew Winter Summer Salad is one of those amazing recipes that is fitting in both of the odd extremes of winter and summer. While a summer melon makes it burst with the gorgeous flavor only possible in summer fruit, the fennel, olives, and orange which are all readily available winter ingredients make this […]

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White Cranberry Sprinter Cocktail

It’s five o’clock somewhere, and it’s almost five o’clock here, so it’s time to get ready for the weekend with this White Cranberry Sprinter Cocktail. Sprinter, that’s spring, plus winter, see what I did there? Corny, I know. But here in Philly, it’s definitely Sprinter. Yesterday it was 70. Today it’s 40. What gives? And […]

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Monkfish Stew with Potatoes and Dill

This Monkfish Stew with Potatoes and Dill has been one of my favorite weeknight dinners this Winter. But all Winter long, I’ve been waiting to post it because I think it’s perfect as we (finally) transition from Winter into Spring. It’s light, bright and healthy, as well as easy, which is the winning combination, no? […]

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Happy Birthday Dempsey Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

I’m really excited to share with you this Happy Birthday Dempsey Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake. Today, my nephew Dempsey was born very early in the morning, just about 23 minutes too late to share his birthday with his father, my brother Ivan. Because we don’t know what Dempsey likes yet, and since he can’t eat […]

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Crunchy Blueberry Avocado Salad

This Crunchy Blueberry Avocado Salad is one of those super simple, but “best thing ever” recipes, especially if you have some pistachio brittle on hand, which you should, since I’m sure I convinced you to make it for my Citrus Flowers with Spicy Pistachio Brittle. It’s really easy to throw together with a very simple […]

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Baked Lime Ricotta with Blackberries

Specialty cheese shops commonly sell an amazing sweet Lemon Ricotta I’ve riffed on with this Baked Lime Ricotta with Blackberries. The original Lemon Ricotta is fun to put on a cheese board, especially a dessert cheese board, because it’s such a great bridge between traditional dessert and cheese for dessert. If it’s easy to buy […]

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Chestnut Sticky Buns

Chestnut Sticky Buns, Barrett? Why are you messing with perfection? It’s a reasonable question, I agree. I have a reasonable answer though. I really love a good sticky bun, I mean, really, who doesn’t? Despite that, I seldom order them out, because, so often they’re disappointing. And once you know how much butter and sugar […]

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