Kitchen

Cocoa powder.

While studying abroad in Venezuela, I, along with other students, would take overnight buses to the coast. It was there where I discovered cacao trees, which give us chocolate and is found growing as an understory tree.

For most of us, holiday food is imbued with emotion and memory—recipes handed down from generation to generation, images of cousins crowded around the kids’ table, and everything made with love.

It was a marriage made in kitchen heaven: homeowners with a strong sense of personal style and a design expert equipped to deliver this inspired vision of function and form. The result?

Every great party begins and ends with the guests, and the moments in between should be filled with spirited laughter and sparkling conversation. Home wine tasting parties can inspire an event to remember with effortless planning that will leave guests wanting another glass of hospitality.

’Tis the season for entertaining, and what to serve is surely at the forefront of every host’s mind. But this year’s holiday gatherings needn’t be daunting. Take the pressure off by whipping up an appetizer that’s both classy and crowd-pleasing—the dip.

Excelsior chef Joan Angelis is whipping up food of all kinds for Minnesotans. Angelis is a personal chef, meaning she travels to people’s homes to make meals. Depending on the size of the family, she makes enough food to last up to a month. Many larger families she visits weekly.

McCormick’s is an Irish pub, and a delightful one at that. The food exceeds expectations, pushing this pub into the realm of gastropub, a place to enjoy a pint that also has finely crafted, thoughtful and creative food.

Food and wine needn’t get all the attention during holiday meals. This season, bless your guests by layering your table with simple or luxurious accoutrements that will make your dinner party shine. Not sure where to start? No problem.

They might be your neighbors, your co-workers or even your friends. For decades, a fluid group of friends and foodies has been meeting in various kitchens around Lake Minnetonka. By day, each of them lives and works as something other than a chef.

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial beginning of summertime, as well as a time to remember the service men and women who died while serving in the U.S. armed forces.

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