Stories

Asparagus Cheese Puffs
Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp
Baked Crab and Almond Dip
Chicken Liver Pate
Creamy Crab and Caviar Parfaits
Crostini with Mushrooms and Blue Cheese
Holly Palance's Foolproof Caviar Pie
Home-Made Crab Cakes
Hot Wing Mini Cakes
Ina Garten's Roasted Eggplant Spread
Kahlua-Pecan-Brown Sugar Baked Brie
Parmesan Gougeres
Peperoni in Bagna Cauda
Pesto, Olive, and Roasted-Pepper Goat Cheese Torta
Savory Sausage and Fennel Galette
Smoked Salmon Dip
Sweet & Spicy Rosemary Nuts
Taleggio-Stuffed Mushrooms
Warm and Creamy Bacon Dip

Lillet Champagne Cocktail | Champagne Punch | Aviation Cocktail | Moscow Mule

Since we love books WAY more than college basketball, we just had to share this. So cool!

In its fourth and biggest year yet, Out of Print's Book Madness tournament has given hundreds of thousands of fans a chance to vote their favorite books to glory. This year, Out of Print is taking it to the next level with "Hero vs. Villain."

Like college basketball's March Madness tournament, readers can complete a bracket and compete against fellow bookworms. But this year, it's all about the characters themselves, with fans voting on their favorite heroes and villains from classic lit.

Is Big Brother any match for President Snow? Will Harry Potter's magic be enough to defeat Atticus Finch? It is time to decide once and for all!

Brackets can be submitted through Sunday, March 23rd for a chance to win a $500 Out of Print gift card and other prizes. Voting begins March 24th.

To participate please visit, http://outofprintclothing.com/book-madness

Yesterday, my favorite author died. He was not exactly plucked in the flower of youth, being 91 and all. He also hadn’t published anything since shortly after my third birthday. Well, he didn’t ever publish a whole lot of anything, at least not anything I could easily get my hands on. He wrote three books, a collection of short stories, and a novella which appeared in “The New Yorker,” but which I have never found in buyable form. I have been trying really hard not to read anything being written about him right now, not blog posts, not opinion pieces, not even obituaries, because this is a private thing for me. I need a little time to think my own thoughts before I open myself up to a flood of writing about how Catcher in the Rye wasn’t really that great, how Salinger was not really very nice to his wives or his children, or how he was (pick one) overrated, underrated, wrong to become a recluse, right to become a recluse, etc. ad nauseum.

His is the voice I hear in my head when I write, and always has been. Mostly, that’s between him and me.

This is a true story. Today as I walked into my office I was immediately confronted.

“Hey Matt, my mother-in-law taught my daughter Courtney to make homemade cream puffs! I brought some in today, would you like to try them?” she asked.

Why, certainly!

“Hey Matt, you’ve really gotta try this Almond Toffee Bark I made last night,” said another coworker.

Well, ok, I responded.

“Hey Big Boy, there are Krispy Kremes in the conference room,” teased another.

Not anymore, I thought.

“Oh! I forgot! She also taught her how to make homemade donuts! They took forever and they look funny but they’re really good! Have one!” screeched coworker #1.

And I did.

Do you want to know what’s worse then everyone being clever and crafty and baking and frying during the holidays? It’s being born without one ounce of self control.