Bookends & End Tables - The Best of 2024

The table is set for a New Year! What a wild ride this one was, what with upheavals in the weather and the White House—and a Caligula-sized rapper pulling up the rear, finding an unlikely bedfellow in the poster child (more of a centerfold, I guess) for rage against the healthcare system.

But, as I’ve said before: a fella’s gotta eat. So let’s dig in!

Why don’t we start with dessert? It was such a treat to discover Raf’s (@rafsnewyork rafsnewyork.com), the Italian and French bakery on the Lower East Side! Tear-inducing jasmine honeycomb semifreddo with an apricot jam drizzle in a shallow pool of crème anglaise was a near-religious experience.

The medium-rare Muscovy duck breast at Scarpetta in New York (@scarpetta scarpettarestaurants.com) quite literally melted in my mouth, well-assisted by maitake mushrooms, pickled cranberry, and an outrageous foie gras ganache. 

And I loved our dinner at Reveler’s Hour (revelershour.com) one weekend in D.C., particularly the surprising, sumptuous dish of tagliatelle with blueberries and pancetta in a luscious cream sauce.

While visiting family in New Hampshire, we stopped into The Weathervane (weathervaneseafoods.com) for perfectly golden fried clams and thickly cut onion rings—always worth the trip.

Monell’s (monellstn.com/nashville) in Nashville served up a dinner family-style, with all-you-can-eat skillet fried chicken, turnip greens, cornbread, biscuits and white gravy, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, banana pudding, and sweet tea lemonade for $17.50!

I returned to Hoexter’s (@Hoexters hoexters.com) located on the Upper East Side to take another bite out of their gorgonzola bread dripping with garlic gorgonzola cream bechamel. There are more delicious delights on the menu, such as the beefy burger, but making a meal of this bread at the bar is certainly an option...

Speaking of bread, we also loved the smoked focaccia with gorgeous whipped bone marrow at Legacy Records (@legacyrecordsrestaurant legacyrecordsrestaurant.com). A true indulgence when we stopped by one lazy Manhattan afternoon.

BONUS: Click on these links for the best appetizer, main dish, and cocktail that I made at home.

And of course, I read, finding sustenance in the following books that topped my list for the year: 

The Bell by Iris Murdoch. In the hands of the great Murdoch, this story about the lives affected by the installation of a new bell at Imber Abbey enthralled me—especially when the former bell (purported to be of some magical, religious significance) is dredged up from a pond on the grounds.

The Drowned by John Banville. One of my favorite authors, his prickly pathologist Dr. Quirke and detective St. John Strafford are back on the hunt for another murderer, after their stunning debuts in Snow.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Search around for a plot if you must, but otherwise revel in the limbs and leaves—the keen, moving insights on human nature; its strength and frailty, as seen through the eyes of Francie Nolan, a young girl living with her family in Brooklyn at the dawn of the 20th century.

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Longing, regret, lost loves, memory: certainly all of these things are among my favorite obsessions, but only a few of the themes Waugh’s beautiful novel touches upon.

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler. The second gritty novel featuring the Los Angeles-based private eye, Philip Marlowe. Chandler’s hardboiled turn of phrase can’t be beat and the dames are deadly.

My Name is Barbra by Barbra Streisand. I wholly recommend the audiobook, replete with musical clips. While folding laundry, I was riveted to hear Streisand talk about her rise to fame and what she ate and wore along the way.

What were your favorite food adventures this year? Books? Please let me know in the comments!

Merry Crickets!

“It may have entertained the Cricket too, for anything I know; but, certainly, it now began to chirp again, vehemently. 

“‘Heyday!’ said John, in his slow way. ‘It’s merrier than ever, tonight, I think.’ 

“‘And it’s sure to bring us good fortune, John! It always has done so. To have a Cricket on the Hearth, is the luckiest thing in all the world!’”

—A Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens

Seasons Greetings! And a cricket on all our hearths!

Thank you so much for reading Evenings with Peter.

BOOK/A TABLE - The Pickwick Papers

It’s Dickens weather! 

Certainly Charles Dickens is my favorite writer to get cozy with when it’s cold out. There’s always A Christmas Carol and the wintry Bleak House, but on a recent chilly evening (I wish I could say it was by a fireplace), I picked up The Pickwick Papers, which follows the course of Mr. Pickwick (the English Don Quixote), as he travels hither and yon with his cockney Sancho Panza and suffers one hilarious outrage after another.

Responding to an invitation to the country early in the book, their barouche (or carriage) is well-stocked:

“Fastened up behind the barouche was a hamper of spacious dimensions—one of those hampers which always awakens in a contemplative mind, associations connected with cold fowls, tongue, and bottles of wine.”

I don’t know how you’d go about leasing a barouche these days, but reading this made me think of holiday travel, table spreads, and those beautiful but awfully pricey Piccadilly wicker picnic hampers from Fortnum & Mason. A hamper might be very generous as a gift, but speaking as well of wine...and something a bit more affordable, what about this faux-wicker wine cooler I found from Kikkerland for roughly ten bucks? What a chic way to transport your gift of wine—and I guarantee this is the one time your gleeful recipient won’t mind being left holding the bag.

If you can’t get this cooler delivered by Christmas, consider bringing it to your New Year’s Eve party as a gift for your host. I’m sure it’s a suggestion that would make Mr. Pickwick pleased as...well, punch. Like the wine punch listed below!

Sparkling Christmas Party Punch

Adapted from halfbakedharvest.com
8 servings  

Ingredients:
1 (750ml) bottle dry white wine
1 ½ cups pomegranate juice
1 cup vodka
1 cup St. Germain (elderflower liqueur)
2 (12 ounces) ginger beer, plus more for topping, if desired. Perhaps ginger ale?
2 grapefruits or blood oranges, sliced
Seeds from 1 pomegranate, plus more for serving
2 cinnamon sticks
Cinnamon sugar for the rims of your glasses (optional)

Method:
1. In a large pitcher, combine the wine, pomegranate juice, vodka, St. Germain, grapefruit or oranges, pomegranate seeds, and cinnamon sticks. Stir. Transfer to the fridge and chill for up to 1 day.
2. Rim your glasses with cinnamon sugar, if desired.
3. Just before serving, add the ginger beer. Fill each glass with ice and pour the punch over top. Garnish with pomegranate seeds.

BOOK/A TABLE - Read, Drink, and Be Merry!

Let’s raise a glass to...these Library Whiskey glasses from Well Told Design! 

What a delightful gift for the drinkers in your life who perhaps also like to read! A Christmas Carol is a safe bet this time of year, but Well Told Design offers a range of titles tailored to the lucky recipients’ taste, including Moby-Dick, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Jane Eyre, more Dickens, Poe, and even a couple of Shakespeare’s plays.

I featured the Sherlock Holmes rocks glass here in a recent post, but I’ve also had thoughts of gifting myself with the glass commemorating The Count of Monte Cristo, the classic tale of slow-burn revenge, and one of my favorite stories. Detail bonus: each gorgeous glass (11 fluid ounces) features a quote from literature’s greatest works, such as this one from Monte Cristo:

“On February 24, 1815, the lookout at Notre-Dame de la Garde signalled the arrival of the three- master Pharaon, coming from Smyrna, Trieste and Naples. As usual, a coastal pilot immediately left the port, sailed hard by the Château d’If, and bordered the ship between Cap de Morgiou and the island of Riou.”

Now, doesn’t that make you thirst for adventure? Fill you with a sudden wanderlust, an indefinable hunger? Maybe you just need to eat something. Look below for another classic—a recipe for the Monte Cristo sandwich.

Cheers, everybody!

Monte Cristo 
Adapted from Allrecipes.com, submitted by Carolyn Overton
Makes one sandwich

Ingredients
2 slices bread
1 teaspoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
2 slices cooked ham
2 slices cooked turkey meat
1 slice Swiss cheese
1 large egg
½ cup milk

Directions
Spread mayonnaise on one side of one bread slice. Spread mustard on one side of remaining bread slice.
Top with alternate slices of ham, turkey, and Swiss cheese.
Close sandwich with remaining bread slice, mayonnaise-side down.
Beat egg and milk in a shallow bowl until well combined. Lightly grease a small skillet over medium heat.
Dip sandwich into egg mixture to coat on both sides.
Transfer sandwich to the hot skillet and cook until golden brown on both sides and cheese is melted.
Serve hot.

BOOK/A TABLE - Travel Sweets

Stuck on stocking stuffer ideas this Christmas? As you scour your brains, the internet, or perhaps even venture outside to actually shop for the perfect little holiday treat, why not consider travel sweets? This fine suggestion comes via the sugary confections Judith Potts favors in The Marlow Murder Club.

“Judith rooted in her bag again and pulled out an old-fashioned tin of travel sweets. ‘Would you like a sweet?’
Antonia didn’t quite know what to say to the question.
‘No?’ Judith asked. ‘Then do you mind if I have one?’ Judith popped the lid of the tin, plucked a boiled sweet from within the icing sugar, put it in her mouth, and sucked on it for a few seconds.  ‘Lime,’ she pronounced with satisfaction. ‘My favorite.’”

Apart from the sweets found therein, The Marlow Murder Club book itself is also a great gift for cozy mystery fans, featuring ladies of a certain age on the hunt for a killer in a tiny village. And you know how the old pitch goes: if you liked Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club, you’re sure to love... 

Should you prefer to avoid going anywhere this holiday season and observe the whole thing from the bah humbug comfort of your curmudgeonly couch, you are still in luck. The Marlow Murder Club recently aired as a mini-series on PBS!

Order Simpkins travel sweets here with this convenient link.