First Week of Winter 2021

THANKS to local food editor Hanna Raskin for her report on cooking cassoulet with Suzanne (via Post & Courier).

Here’s what students are saying about Winter 2021 classes so far:

• “My first week was outstanding. I really enjoyed it because the one hour gave me a soothing distraction from Covid and confidence that we will return to being able to celebrate lovely dinners with friends and family. Your enthusiasm is contagious.”

• “I really am excited! Your enthusiasm is contagious! I have been following you for years and love the book.”

• “The cassoulet was a big hit! So much fun to cook and serve...my friends were impressed!”

Plus, a few useful tips covered this week:

• STOCKS - Save all roasted and raw bones to make stock. Stocks can be made easily from bones, a few carrots and onions, water (or previously made stock for a double stock) in a 225-degree oven overnight, for eight hours. Your house will smell divine.

• TABLE SETTINGS - Thinking about buying a set of dining room chairs? If you want to spend less money, find a variety of chairs and then paint them the same color! Chic! Victoria de la Maza's pet peeve: sharp corners on a dining room table. Use padding, then a tablecloth. Everything sits better, looks smoother and more comfortable.

• CASSOULET - Slow cooking transforms food. This stew of beans, pork, lamb and duck or goose is a masterpieces of many generations, but not overwhelming to prepare. One step at a time!

NEXT UP…

• French Onion Soup on Tuesday @ 10:00 EST

• How to Seat a Table on Wednesday @ 2:00 EST

• Extraordinary Gumbo on Thursday @ 2:00 EST

Secure your spot by registering HERE.

'Where the Orchids Bloom' for VIE Blog

“Did you know the New York Botanical Garden has a rescue center for plants smuggled into the country? Instead of destroying the seized plants, they are brought to the gardens to be bred, propagated, and shared. Marc Hachadourian (NYBG director of glasshouse collections and senior orchid curator) shares many little throwaway but useful facts, which I love collecting. Did you know that a vanilla bean is really the seed pod of an orchid? And there are only six flowers in the world with the remarkable color of a jade vine, a thirty six-inch cluster of turquoise green. Finally, for the finale, when we arrived at the garden’s hugs arches blanketed with orchids. Maybe it’s better to first experience this online, because if I walked under the orchid arches and around the reflecting pool in person, I might have fainted and fallen into the pool.”

Read more about taking one of many delightful virtual tours of the NYBG, on the VIE Blog HERE…