28 ;e Costco Connection NOVEMBER 2016
COVERSTORY
The Costco Connection:
How do you celebrate the holidays?
Mark Bittman: I get together with friends
and family. We cook, talk, laugh and take pleasure in being together.
Mario Batali: For the past few years, my family and I have spent the holidays at our home
in dreamy northern Michigan. Christmas Eve
begins with an early-morning snowy beach
walk with Willie, our goldendoodle. My wife
and two boys spend most of the day in the
kitchen prepping for dinner: a feast of three
fishes, listening to music and putting the finishing touches on our tree!
Anthony Bourdain: I travel for a living—
about 250 days a year—so generally I stay at
home on Thanksgiving and Christmas. I cook
dinner for family and friends, and I indulge
my daughter. It’s her time.
Ina Garten: Jeffrey [Garten’s husband] and
I love to spend the holidays in Paris. We go to
the street market near our apartment, buy
whatever vegetables look gorgeous and stop at
my favorite butcher, Hugo Desnoyer. I spend a
quiet Christmas Day in my slippers cooking
a delicious lunch for dear friends who are in
Paris with us. Heaven!
Danielle Walker: We spend the holidays
soaking up every tradition possible and spend-
ing lots of time with family. Our entire ex-
tended family (sometimes upwards of 50
people!) gets together for a big Christmas Eve
feast that my grandmother has been hosting
for decades, and I usually host Christmas
morning with a big brunch so my kids can be
at home to enjoy the magic of Santa Claus and
we can open our gifts together.
Anne Byrn: “The holidays preserve what the
everyday loses” is a saying that has a lot of
truth to it. By baking and cooking cherished
family recipes during the holidays, you preserve them. You pass along the tastes, aromas,
visual memories and stories of these recipes,
and the people who first made them, to your
children and grandchildren.
CC: What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Mark B: Baking bread. The tradition is to
make the bread, knead it in the food processor
and then do something else while it rises. One
of the joys of bread is that it does all the work
itself, giving you time to goof off. So you prep
the dough, then you hang out with your family, go for a walk, relax and then you put the
dough in the oven and when it comes out you
savor the miracle.
Anthony B: My favorite holiday tradition
is the day after Thanksgiving, sitting around
in my pajamas, eating leftovers—specifically,
reheated turkey, with gravy and cranberry
sauce. Having spent a considerable part of
Festive feasts
some can’t-miss recipes. The chefs even
shared a few of their holiday traditions
with us.
No matter how your holiday table
looks, there’s always room to create
new traditions. So whether you’re looking to add one new dish—or a whole
menu—to your seasonal repertoire, let
the following pages be your guide.
—Stephanie E. Ponder The holidays are great for so many reasons: colorful lights, festive deco- rations and a pervasive good cheer. Another welcome aspect of this time of year is the food: There is such a variety of treats to sample and savor. The Connection recently spoke with a number of chefs behind some of the biggest titles from this season’s crop of cookbooks and came up with
Celebrating the season with delicious dishes
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