Evenings With Peter

In this installment of  The Laundry Room Chronicles , where I occasionally report on the good books I’ve pulled from the basement of my apar...

Blind dates used to be a sticky situation. The time I’m talking about was over 35 years ago, before the age of cyberstalking, when a blind d...

Cooking is often one disaster after another, Julia Child once said (or something like it) and I was reminded of that very notion while maki...

Bonjour ! I love chicken livers, preferably with onions, and I love that it is such a simple and satisfying dish to make. For this adventure...

One evening, a number of years ago, after we’d knocked back practically a barrel of bourbon, my friend took it upon himself to read Ernest H...

In Pittsburgh, there are apparently many mysteries--just ask Michael Chabon about his marvelous book, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh --howev...

I'd wanted to make quenelles for years, after having once had them at an intimate summer dinner party in the back garden of a friend...

When entertaining, I find that simple elegance is the backbone to any dinner. I love these cherry brandy roses! I composed this wonderf...

  Happy New Year! My fella and I had a ball with a cleverly composed collection of companions! I set the table with pink candles stuck in...

This particular evening was inspired by the hilarious, classic "Dinner Party" episode of Mary Tyler Moore, where Sue Ann Nivens...

Soubise! Duxelles! Brunoise! Mirepoix! As simple as these classic French vegetable mixtures are, I can't seem to keep them inside the ra...

If you've ever seen Rosemary's Baby , one lesson well learned is never have Ruth Gordon over for dinner! Apart from noxious tannis ...

In a year where the incandescent Meryl Streep so buoyantly captured the essence of Julia Child on the big screen in Julie & Julia, I th...

Baby borders on near obsession when it comes to making stock. His passion, I think, is wrought from a meditation on the slow simmering of a...

I have to admit my first stab at Sole Meuniere was a real lemon, at least to me, and it shouldn't have been: the recipe is not terribly ...

Frankly the whole thing started because I needed more stuff to put in the dishwasher for a full load and thought that the various pots, pans...

Baby's father (A) was coming to town with his wife (P), to meet up with her daughter, her daughter's husband and their two children....

"What on earth is a Champagne party?" I exclaimed to Baby as I read about the Queen of Sheba cake (The Hundredth Show) in Julia C...

Tiny telephoned, telling me she was blowing into town, so I urged she come for dinner. Now, the hearty gal likes to eat--a lot. Of course, I...