Heading south on Interstate 81, I follow what was once the Wilderness Road through the Shenandoah Valley. To the west is the crest line of the Allegheny Mountains and to the east, that of the Blue Ridge. It’s a nice drive, with picturesque views of pastureland and Constable skies, but the truck traffic is wearing. I’m ready […]

The smell of nuts, smoke, and char is in the air, and steam rolls across me like incense at High Mass. I could be in northern Italy, where the chestnut vendors shake their hot pans over a wood fire and shout “Caldaaaaaroste!” when they see you coming. Or not. I’m actually on Fifth Avenue, surrounded […]

Our heritage turkey from Bill Niman’s BN Ranch was really expensive. And it was not nearly as chesty as your typical supermarket bird, the aptly named Broad-Breasted White. Sleeker and more streamlined (nice gams!), it reminded me of that great Spencer Tracy line from the picture Pat and Mike: “Not much meat on her, but […]

Cradling a bourbon in one hand, my father would always remark during our Thanksgiving celebration—in which the turkey played second fiddle to an oyster roast—that southern colonists were throwing cocktail parties by the time the Pilgrims anchored off Cape Cod. That must be why milk punch feels so right. My Thanksgivings here in New York […]