We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
The BD family will also be celebrating another almost- arising from death on Sunday. My father in law recovered from his quadruple bypass after a near-fatal heart failure, returning back home from San Diego on Saturday and we'll all provide an Easter feast for them down in NJ after their Mass - if they can get to Mass. They never miss Mass. At worse, a priest visits but they do not need that yet. Guy emails me that he feels great.
Along the way, he learned that one or two drinks per day can help prevent future heart problems. Will not need to twist this Irishman's arm about that wholesome remedy. It seems mild to moderate alcohol enjoyment prevents heart disease. Diet, otherwise, does not seem to matter at all so no fruits and greens and nuts for this Irish meat and potatoes mensch.
I happen to love corned beef and cabbage (plus potatoes) - as long as there is plenty of horseradish mustard and beer.
The real name of the meal is New England Boiled Dinner. I cook it all together in a giant pot. If the beef needs a knife, it's underdone. I think it should almost crumble.
I will make some for my Irish father-in-law tomorrow. No Guiness, though. It really does not go with food in my opinion. Heck, it's a meal in itself. In Irish pubs, they throw one or two raw eggs in it, stir it up, and call it breakfast.
(Our kids are 25% Irish, 25% Southern Italian, 40% English, and 10% Scandinavian probably via the Norman invasion. In other words, all- American. Genetic mongrelization worked well for our kids, cuz I am 90% English, around 10% Scandinavian and thus overly-inbred in New England since the 1600s.)
Most cultures in the world have some form of fried dough treat.
In the US, you have to know where to go to get a fresh deep-fat-fried donut with a hard crust. I am no fan of Dunkin Donuts' donuts because they seem like cake donuts to me. No crunch, no grease, no good. OK for a quick sugar fix.
I can't figure out whether any Dunkin Donuts are fat-fried or not. There was a time when they were made on premises by Fred, but no longer. They are made off-site and delivered early. And yes, their bagels are frozen. I've seen them delivered at 4:30 AM. Toasted, tho, they aren't terrible bagels.
I go for their bad coffee.
The cool food court under the Plaza Hotel has a kiosk that fries mini-donuts to order. The real deal. Great. A place in Wellfleet used to do it, but it's gone now.
You want a ribeye as thick as you can get from the butcher. One inch is not really thick enough. Go for the 1 1/2 or 2". Worth the price. Please, never subject a ribeye to a grill.
I am more of a beer or wine guy, but for treats with buddies I am known to go for a whisky. That means Scotch, not bourbon. No bias, though.
I was introduced to Highland Park by Craig McDonald in Scotland. A man who knows his whiskys and lots of other things. If you can put up with male teasing, he's good company on hill hikes in the highlands.
With the kids mainly out of the house, I began a plan in 2017 to catch up with pals alone or as couples at least twice a week. It has been great fun. As a natural introvert, I recommend it as a plan.
I am blessed with interesting, smart, creative, and amusing pals who, like me, always have stories to tell. It's a very good thing for guys to get together, and not just in guy Bible study groups, poker, or with sports. A good reality check, laughs and tears, tragedies and triumphs. Very little politics.
Mrs. BD has been in charge of the social life in the past, but I take care of my own now. Drinks, burger, whatever. Connecting is not just for the gals. I believe that gals need gal time and guys need guy time.
A whiskey makes guy communication more open, because guys tend to be reserved. God made spirits for a reason.
The problem with home-made pizza is that an oven does not have the hot surface or heat of a wood-fired or commercial pizza oven. That's why we usually pre-cook the crust before cooking again with the toppings. 500 degrees or close is oven pizza temperature. Also, pre-heat the darn oven.
Pizza dough is easy to make, or to buy fresh pizza dough balls at your market. My preference is a thin, cracker-like crust with burn marks on the bottom.
Our current favorite topping is rather effete, but don't knock it if you haven't tried it: Olive oil, Goat cheese, arugula or dandelion, sliced fresh figs, and sprinkled with pignoli and then with some ground pepper. Best to wilt the bed of arugula in some oil for a minute first.
I worked late last night, so Mrs. BD and her Dad brought me a take-out Osso Bucco from one of our favorite Italian trattorias where they had had dinner.
I've made it several times, and have eaten it out for dinner several times too. This was the best. Done right, the veal shank meat falls off the bone and can be cut with a fork. The jus has to be thick, flavor-packed, with no darn tomato in it. Porcinis - ok. They added a handful of small apple cubes towards the end of the long cook which added a bit of sweetness to the jus - perfect touch.
It was on a very small bed of papparedelle - my favorite. Just enough to grab some jus. Since it's a northern Italian specialty, it's sometimes served on a bed of polenta or rice. Or just plain.
That's real Italian cuisine. My advice: Have a great one in an excellent restaurant, and then try to copy it at home. No tomato.
A chef friend brought me this canned treat from a trip to Paris. She swears it is delicious, and she is always right. It's a goose confit cassoulet. Cassoulet is peasant food, and confit is for things that would be difficult to eat without the confit treatment.
If you've made a cassoulet yourself you know how much work it is, mainly making the confit. I've done it only twice, making confit of things my friend and I shot: Snow Goose breast, wild boar sausage, wild duck leg, pheasant leg. It is remarkable how the confit process can dissolve all of the tendons in a duck or pheasant leg.
Anyway, if you want to try the canned I discovered that you can get them via Amazon, shipped from France. What can't you get on Amazon?
Here's a homemade cassoulet, correctly finished with breadcrumbs on top. You serve it with baguette. Yes, it's a white bean casserole with sausages and confit meats.
100 classic French recipes. Every chef owns a copy of this. Lots of photos. Try the mussels in cream sauce. The Techniques section at the end is clear, with photos.
It's a Primo. A platter like that is to serve at least 2 people from. I can be an annoying stickler about Italian food but there is a tradition to it, and a logic to it too.
A big bowl of pasta is not a meal and, in fact, it would be a terribly unwholesome meal. A small plate of pasta, like the Bolognese recipe (the correct recipe) featured today is an excellent Primo preceding a meat and vegetable course (the Secondo). Bolognese is not a meat sauce. It's a tomato sauce flavored with some meat. Typically, less meat than shown in the photo.
Italians seem to reserve their 4-course meals (Antipasto, Primo, Secondo, Dessert - sliced fruit usually) for special occasions. It's just too much food and puts you to sleep.
However, when we are in a food paradise like Norcia, Mrs. BD and I do their 4-course dinner (around 1 pm is dinner there) we just order one plate per course and share so we get all the tastes. Restaurants don't mind that at all.
Main rule for pasta? Dump the wet undrained pasta into the pan with the sauce with the heat on, and swirl around. Add some pasta water if a sauce is too dry or not creamy enough.
Maggie's Farm is a Stilton cheese place. It's our favorite artery-smoother, although there are hundreds of other cheeses we love too. We also believe that great cheeses should be served after the main course - either instead of dessert or before dessert. (I agree with that article that you can and should eat the rind of cheeses - unless coated with wax or stuff.)
Somebody you know needs a Stilton Spoon. Give them a wheel of cheese to go with it - or what good is the spoon?
I see Williams Sonoma has them. They have the proper spoon, and the cheese too. Who needs bread or crackers? You could eat it right off the spoon like ice cream. (Correction - they don't seem to have them anymore.)
Regular readers know I am no fan of pasta but if you stick with the Italian traditions (I am married to a half-Italian), the Vigilia on Christmas Eve is a fast day - meaning tons of seafood. And in southern Italy, a mean without a primi is no meal at all.
I've never refused a well-made Linguine alla Vongole. Delicious. Those European and Mediterranean clams are small, sweet, and just right. Around here in Yankeeland, you just have to find the smallest Littlenecks you can find and if overcooked, they get too chewy.
It's how to do pasta too - cook with the sauce in the pan. Never on top. Usually needs some of the pasta water too.
Around the HQ, we stick with the un-Yankee, Southern Italian/Sicilian Christmas Eve fast, which means seafood. In past years, I have had the real 7 Fishes with fried baccala, steamed mussels, scungilli, etc etc. A wonderful fish feast which it would be a stretch to term "fasting." The Catholics are very clever with their concept of fasting.
The best-known Sicilian Primi is Pasta Con Sardi - pasta with anchovies (ie small sardines) - what I term Pasta With Minnows aka Pasta with Bait.
What is an "anchovy"? Never, ever use those tinned brown over-salted anchovies that they put on cheap pizzas. Disgusting stuff, cat food for a cat you hate. If you can't get fresh anchovies (they are white) at your local fish market, use the canned white anchovies in olive oil. Tasty. Good Italian markets have good fresh or oiled white anchovy filets.
Here's the recipe. Yes, to be authentic it needs the breadcrumbs. And here's another Vigilia favorite: Fried Baccala Balls. I've also had these with mashed potato in the cod mix to hold it all together. Nothing is more delicious.
Traditionally, you have to have Struffoli for dessert even though I find it inedible.
Truth is, in recent years we just make poached salmon with yogurt-dill sauce, to be ready to serve at room temp. after getting home from church.We typically have lots of friends over for that after-church supper.
I forgot to mention Caviar Pie in my recent authoritative American caviar post. This decadent concoction is perfect for a brunch, hors d'oevres, or munchies.
Some caterers make Caviar Pie which looks perfect, round, and daintily-finished, but the ones I've had at fancy New Year's Day cocktail brunches look a little raggedy, as in this photo. They don't have to look good because as soon as they are attacked by people armed with cheese knives or crackers it's messy anyway.
You scoop a piece out and put it on toasts, or bagel chips, or whatever. It goes fast.
As usual, one uses the most expensive caviar one can afford - or not afford.
Chopped red onion is key. Here's one recipe, but you can google for more. It's a real meal too if you want, with a glass of champagne. The height of decadence +/- seduction.
My annual Christmas present for my Dad used to be a tin from Petrossian. Worth every penny for the delight it provides.
You can go French with Bouche de Noel, or you can go Brit with Figgy Pudding. Are there any other choices? Oh yeah, Struffoli. I do not like that one even though it is Italian.
Struffoli:
Do not even try to make a Bouche. Order it from the bakery. They will make whatever size you want.
In Yankeeland, it's Apple Pie. Certainly after Thanksgiving, when there are always a few leftover pies, Squash, and Apple. Mrs. BD makes one heck of a good pie crust.
Apple Pie gives you the morning energy to go out in the cold to milk the chickens, feed the cows, and to get to the gym as I did this morning.
To foreigners, a Yankee is an American. To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner. To Northerners, a Yankee is an Easterner. To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander. To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter. And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast.
- Attributed to E.B. White, but he might have quoted it from elsewhere.
Better than I could have done:
Popularly known as Easter. The word Easter comes from the Teutonic goddess of spring, Eustre.
A Greek Salad seems too healthy to be tasty, but it is. 
Most cultures in the world have some form of fried dough treat.
I am more of a beer or wine guy, but for treats with buddies I am known to go for a whisky. That means Scotch, not bourbon. No bias, though.
Like Apple Pie and a bit easier. Much easier than a Tarte Tatin.
"Osso bucco" means marrow bone. 
100 classic French recipes. Every chef owns a copy of this. Lots of photos. Try the mussels in cream sauce. The Techniques section at the end is clear, with photos.
The best-known Sicilian Primi is Pasta Con Sardi - pasta with anchovies (ie small sardines) - what I term Pasta With Minnows aka Pasta with Bait.
I forgot to mention Caviar Pie in my recent 
In Yankeeland, it's Apple Pie. Certainly after Thanksgiving, when there are always a few leftover pies, Squash, and Apple. Mrs. BD makes one heck of a good pie crust.