Comprised of piping hot biscuits, fresh butter and homemade jam, strong coffee and fresh-squeezed orange juice, it all arrives on a tray lined with lovely linens. We decided if it were good enough for one of the nation’s finest luxury hotels, it would be good enough for us—and the many houseguests that come calling at both country and beach house this time of year.

Unless you have a staff the size of the Soniat, a sideboard, console, or kitchen island is the perfect place to lay everything out and let guests help themselves as they arise. Contrary to popular wisdom, there are in fact more important meals of the day, ones that require table settings and crystal and animated conversation. We think breakfast is a time for guests—and hosts—to get their bearings quietly, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be pretty. We love this mix of traditional porcelain and modern Peruvian pottery, the complex blend of rich coffee that wakes up even the sleepiest heads, the beautiful but unfussy linens (including some from William Yeoward’s brand new line), and the utterly delicious bites to eat that require no utensils. All that’s left is the newspaper. Afterwards everyone will be primed to greet the hopefully lazy day ahead.

Pictured above, back row, from left: Match pewter honey jar from The Mercantile, filled with local wildflower honey from Blackberry Farm; Match pewter sugar packet holder (for weight-watching guests who prefer Equal) from The Mercantile; Peruvian Pottery sugar and creamer set from Digs; William Yeoward Olive covered sugar jar at Hollyhock, filled with White Wood Farms Louisiana Preserves scuppernong grape jelly at St. James Cheese Company; Herend Rothschild Bird coffee pot, doubling as vase, from Corzine & Company; Peruvian Pottery dinner plate and coffee mugs from Digs; Vesuvio Blend Coffee from Batdorf and Bronson at Star Provisions; William Yeoward Bess tumbler on the new Porcupine coaster in Sky, both at Hollyhock.
Front row, from left: William Yeoward Sassadi napkin at Hollyhock; Match pewter sugar bowl at The Mercantile, filled with White Wood Farms Louisiana Preserves persimmon butter at St. James Cheese Company; Match pewter small crown spoon and green plaid acrylic spreaders from The Mercantile; Peruvian Pottery salad plate from Digs, with biscuits made from Blackberry Farms’ failsafe buttermilk biscuit mix; Gayle Warwick turquoise linen napkin from Hollyhock; Peruvian pottery small board doubling as butter plate at Digs, with Match pewter Gabriella butter knife at The Mercantile.

Grayson Handy, co-owner of Manhattan’s Prudence Designs and Events and author of Flowers for the Home, sets the table above for a dockside Fourth of July picnic with red-and-white linens, white crockery and wicker accessories. “Bluish grapes complete the patriotic color scheme,” he says. “And flashy, red-and-white variegated dahlias remind me of Independence Day fireworks.”

Food and drink can also pick up the red-white-and-blue color scheme. The slushy Watermelon Cooler from Denise Gee’s new book, Porch Parties is spiked with vodka and a perfect compliment to Handy’s table. The strawberry shortcake with local strawberries that Hollyhock’s Suzanne Rheinstein always serves at her July 4 gatherings would also look swell, as would the superlative berry cobbler (use a mix of raspberries, blueberries and blackberries) from the Chez Panisse Dessert Cookbook.

Berry Cobbler

Adapted from Chez Panisse Desserts by Lindsey Remolif Shere

For 4 to 6 servings

2 pints berries
1/3 cup sugar
1 to 1 ½ tablespoons flour

Cobbler dough:
1 ½ cups flour
3/8 teaspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ cup whipping cream

You may use a mixture of any berries available to you – except strawberries. Blackberries or boysenberries are nice for the bulk; a few raspberries or black raspberries add a delicious perfume.

Measure 4 ½ cups of mixed berries and toss them with the sugar and flour. Use the larger amount of flour if the berries are very juicy. Let stand while you make the dough. Mix the dry ingredients for the dough, leaving out the salt if you are using salted butter. Cut in the butter until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal. Add the cream and mix lightly, until the dry ingredients are just moistened. The dry ingredients for the topping can be prepared ahead – even several days ahead – and kept refrigerated. The cream can then be added when you are ready to bake the cobbler.

Put the berry mixture into a 1 ½ quart gratin or baking dish. Make patties of the dough, 2 to 2 ½ inches in diameter and ½ – inch thick. Arrange them over the top of the berries. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the topping is brown and the berry juices bubble thickly around it.

Serve warm with cream to pour over.

Watermelon Cooler

Adapted from Porch Parties by Denise Gee

4 cups 2-inch cubes watermelon
1 cup vodka, chilled
2 tablespoons honey (use standard honey, say clover, instead of a dark or strongly flavored version)

Freeze the watermelon chunks in a zip-top plastic bag until just frozen, about 1 hour. Remove from the freezer and add to a blender. Pour in the vodka and honey.

Process until blended and pour into frosted cocktail or jelly glasses. Garnish, if desired, with small watermelon wedge or mint sprig.

NOTE: Gee warns not to use dark or strongly flavored honey so as not to alter the flavor of the drink. The local wildflower honey at Blackberry Farm would be perfect.

Pictured above: A dockside picnic featured in Flowers for the Home at Digs, and Denise Gee’s Watermelon Cooler.

Shop Digs and Blackberry Farm on TAIGAN.com

When L.A.-based decorator and entertainer extraordinaire Joe Nye was growing up, his mother gave a black-tie dinner party every month—in the middle of rural Nebraska

That these sophisticated events took place in what Nye describes as “literally in the middle of nowhere,” is remarkable enough. There were fresh flowers, lovely linens and china, and even dancing after dinner. But still more remarkable to Nye, looking back, is “how natural it was for my mother to do all the cooking, the flower arranging, setting the table by herself. Having guests in her home for these long fun-filled evenings was something she enjoyed—it wasn’t a chore and she embraced it.”

Her son has embraced the same brand of “elegant, unfussy” entertainment his mother was known for, and in his beautiful new book, Flair, he shows the rest of us how. The book’s subtitle is “Exquisite Invitations, Lush Flowers, and Gorgeous Table Settings,” and in the sections on each, he offers up boundless inspiration and countless tips. Cheap blue and red glassware mixes with Blue Canton dinner plates and red toile tablecloths for an elegant take on good old red, white, and blue. A place card can be as tongue-in-cheek as a convention-style “Hello, My Name Is…” at one modern table setting. For a Chinoiserie themed lunch, he elevates the lowly pink carnation by cramming them overflowing into julep cups and making a tablescape.

Flair is the next best thing to an invitation to one of the designer’s talked-about parties. The flowers are breathtaking, the tables stunning, and there is a really useful “giftbag” in the form of a well-researched resource guide and Nye’s advice on everything from how to create a quick invitation to the best way to polish silver.

Pictured above, from left:
This red-white-and-blue table setting is perfect for an elegant Memorial Day or Fourth of July lunch or dinner. The cover of Joe Nye’s Flair, available at Hollyhock, features a Chinoiserie themed lunch. A single yellow Fuji mum in a teacup makes a great—and fast—individual centerpiece that is especially effective with the blue-and-white color scheme.

Shop Hollyhock on TAIGAN

Bridesmaids’ luncheons usually fall into two categories: stuffy and nostalgic, with great aunts in white gloves and women’s club white food to match (think Trout Margerie or Sole Veronique); or silly and giggly, featuring too many Cosmopolitans and hackneyed gag gifts like edible underwear. Wouldn’t it be so much more fun to throw an elegant, civilized, but slightly raucous luncheon featuring the irresistible combination of pimento cheese, fried chicken, and champagne? It can still be a tad silly, but only in the most creative way. The bride wears a party hat featuring Alice in Wonderland; one of the bridesmaids wickedly mimics the groom’s proposal by getting down one knee and brandishing a wand with a beribboned tag reading “Say Yes, Dear.” The bride’s great aunt has the wisdom to stay offstage and the generosity to send Taittinger Brut in a vintage matching the year of the bride’s birth. The bridemaids’ gifts are real shells made into tiny purses containing lovely surprises: earrings to wear in the wedding and a thoughtful trio of Excedrin in anticipation of the inevitable post-reception hangover. Someone has brought a box of macaroons to have with the coffee they decide not to have. Better to have nails attended to instead—the thoughtful great aunt has also sent over a fleet of manicurists. On the Ipod is a play list that’s a gift from her guests to the bride. Everyone sings along to the Fifth Dimension’s “Wedding Bell Blues” (better known as Won’t You Marry Me, Bill?”) and Dionne Warwick’s “Say a Little Prayer” (shades of “My Best Friend’s Wedding”). From the kitchen comes the sound of another cork popping and a good time continues to be had by all.

Pictured above, clockwise from left: foreground: box of assorted macaroons from Sucre; Shell Boxes at Digs; William Yeoward Annie champagne flute at Corzine & Co.; Herend Chinese Bouquet dinner plate in raspberry at Corzine & Co.; Gayle Warwick Linen Napkin in lime yellow at Hollyhock; Torre & Tagus Moss Green Glasses at Corzine & Co.; Gold Bug Studio “Say Yes, Dear” Magical Faery Wand at The Mercantile; Gold Bug Studio “Trip to Wonderland” Party Hat at The Mercantile; Turquoise Hobnail Pitcher at The Mercantile; Singing Brook Pimento Cheese at Blackberry Farm with Sabre Spreader from Corzine & Co.; fried chicken made with Fried Chicken Mix at Blackberry Farm

Not pictured: Le Jacquard Francais Samarkand tablecloth in kumquat, similar to the one pictured above, at Corzine & Co.; “Will You Be My Bridesmaid?” letterpress invitation at The Stationer

The Kentucky Derby is often referred to as “The Run for the Roses” because of the lush blanket of red roses draped across the winner every year. For the spectators, there are equally rewarding traditions: the epic consumption of mint juleps and, for the women, the wearing of large and elaborate hats.

For almost a century, the julep has been the official drink of the thoroughbred race held each May in Louisville, Kentucky at Churchill Downs. Almost 120,000 juleps are served over the two-day weekend of Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby, an astonishing feat that requires 10,000 bottles of Early Times Mint Julep Ready-to-Serve Cocktail, 1000 pounds of fresh mint, and 60,000 pounds of ice.

Of course, you don’t have to be at the track to watch the race that has been called “the most exciting two minutes in sports”—or to enjoy a mint julep. There are two ways to go: muddling the mint with a bit of water and sugar at the bottom of the glass or adding mint infused simple syrup. If you choose the latter, just bring a cup of water and a cup of sugar to a boil, cool, add a few sprigs of mint, and refrigerate overnight before removing the mint. (The resulting mint syrup keeps a long time and is an excellent thing to have on hand.) When it comes time to make the drink, fill a silver julep cup with crushed ice, add up to a tablespoon of syrup to taste, fill with bourbon and garnish with mint. Pappy Van Winkle’s Special Reserve 12-Year Old and Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select, both made in the heart of Kentucky’s bluegrass country, are two excellent choices.

If you prefer your mint julep the old-fashioned way, there is no better, or more poetic, recipe than the one found in William Alexander Percy’s memoir Lanterns on the Levee, in which he follows the instructions of his mother. “First you needed excellent bourbon whiskey; rye or Scotch would not do at all. Then you put half an inch of sugar in the bottom of the glass and merely dampened it with water. Next, very quickly—here was the trick in the procedure—you crushed your ice, actually powdered it, preferably in a towel with a wooden mallet so quickly that it remained dry, and, slipping two sprigs in the side of the glass, you crammed the ice right to the brim, packing it with your hand. Next you filled the glass, which apparently had no room for anything else, with bourbon, the older the better, and grated a bit of nutmeg on top. The glass immediately frosted and you settled back in your chair for a half hour of cumulative bliss. Although you stirred the sugar at the bottom, it never all melted, therefore at the end of a half hour there was left a delicious mess of ice and sugar and whiskey which a small boy was allowed to consume with calm rapture.”

It is no wonder that the late great novelist Walker Percy wrote about his Uncle Will’s julep with great affection, but one suspects he’d take one either way. Early Times happened to be his favorite bourbon. Both Percys preferred a glass, but a silver julep cup is unquestionably elegant. We especially love the Wakefield-Scearce Sterling Beaded Julep from Corzine and Company. These heavy, handmade cups are copied from an original made, fittingly, by a Kentucky silversmith circa 1795.

As for ladies’ headgear, there is no better choice than the gorgeous wide-brimmed, custom-made hats from Susan van der Linde. They are perfect for the racing season, weddings, garden parties, or any other time you want to look especially cool standing around outside holding a cocktail, mint julep or otherwise.

Pictured above, left: Wakefield-Scearce Sterling Beaded Julep from Corzine and Company. (You may also contact the store for information regarding monograms.)
Right: Large-brimmed Hemp Sewn Straw Sun Hat in two-tone green and cream from Susan van der Linde.

Everyone knows that robins are harbingers of spring, and what better way to mark their arrival than a celebratory lunch on Herend’s Rothschild Bird china? First created in 1850 for the Rothschild family, the china features 12 different motifs illustrating the story of Baroness Rothschild’s pearl necklace. A few days after she lost it on the grounds of her Vienna residence, a gardener spotted birds playing with it in a tree.

The combination of the whimsical story and the lovely hand-painted scenes has made it a favorite ever since. The wide range of colors included in its design also means that it is easy to mix with simpler patterns. I love to mix mine with the 19th century yellow and white English porcelain pictured above. The latter looks especially nice on the table with Bird’s covered dishes—the lemon halves atop the lids are some of my favorite things about the pattern.

For my next spring lunch, I’ll use the Bird salad plates to serve that other harbinger of spring, asparagus, with a classic sauce Alsacienne from my book Ham Biscuits, Hostess Gowns, and Other Southern Specialties. I will follow that with the Stuffed Pork Roulade from the gorgeous Blackberry Farm Cookbook. The pork is not only delicious and so pretty when sliced, it is a perfect make-ahead party dish. I love my cheesy spoonbread alongside, but the goat cheese soufflé from The Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook would work just as nicely, as would a French potato salad.

For dessert, I’ll use a recipe from the brilliant Beth Biundo, the pastry chef at Lilette in New Orleans, for a luscious lemon cake. Biundo is up for a James Beard Award as best pastry chef in the country, an honor she richly deserves.

Stuffed Pork Roulade
Adapted from the Blackberry Farm Cookbook
Serves 4

2 large fennel bulbs, trimmed and finely diced (about 4 cups)
16 large cloves of garlic (about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Zest of 1/2 orange
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 ounces smoked country breakfast sausage, casings removed
1 1½ pound boneless pork loin

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. In a medium ovenproof skillet, combine the fennel, garlic, and oil. Roast, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour, until the garlic is very soft but not browned. Transfer the fennel mixture to a food processor and process until smooth. Transfer the puree to a small bowl and stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, orange zest, and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
3. In a large ovenproof skillet, cook the sausage over how heat for 20 minutes, or until it renders its fat and is just cooked through, breaking the sausage into small clumps with the side of a spoon. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage to a small bowl and set it aside to cool to room temperature. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the drippings. If there is less than 2 tablespoons, make up the difference with olive oil. Set the skillet aside.
4. Butterfly the pork loin by cutting it almost in half through one long side, stopping about 1/2 inch from the edge. Open the loin as you would a book and then place it between two sheets of plastic wrap. Pound it with a meat mallet or heavy rolling pin to a uniform 1/2-inch thickness. Season the inside of the roast with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt.
5. Turn the pork loin so that one long side faces you. Spread the fennel puree evenly over the bottom half of the meat. Scatter the sausage over the puree. Starting with the bottom edge, roll up the meat like a jelly roll. Tie the meat with kitchen twine at 1 ½-inch intervals.
6. Place the reserved skillet over high heat. When the sausage drippings are very hot, brown the pork on all sides. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast for 35 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 145 degrees. Remove the meat from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before removing the strings and slicing.

Aparagus with Sauce Alsacienne
From Ham Biscuits, Hostess Gowns, and Other Southern Specialties
Serves 4

1 pound asparagus
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon red wine or sherry vinegar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 ½ tablespoons finely chopped shallots
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil or tarragon

1. Trim the ends off the asparagus and place in a pot of boiling salted water. Bring the water to a second boil, reduce the heat and boil slowly, uncovered, for 2 to 5 minutes, until the spears bend a little but are not limp. Drain and rinse them under cold running water until cool. Spread the cooked spears in a single layer on paper towels so they will finish cooling quickly.
2. Place the eggs on a spoon and lower into a small saucepan of boiling water. Boil the eggs for 3 minutes (3 ½ if they are chilled). Rinse under cold running water until cool enough to handle. Hit each egg with a knife at “the equator” and pull the halves apart. With a spoon, pull out the yolks into a medium-size bowl. Set aside the whites, in their shells, to finish cooking.
3. Whisk the yolks until they are thick and sticky. Whisk in the mustard, salt and vinegar. Add the oil, whisking by hand or with an electric mixer, drop by drop at first and then in a steady stream. When all the oil is incorporated, stir in the shallots, parsley and basil or tarragon and taste for salt. Sieve or finely chop the egg whites and fold them in, if desired. If sauce is too thick to drizzle over asparagus, thin with a little vinegar.

Spoonbread with Cheese and Scallions
From Ham Biscuits, Hostess Gowns, and Other Southern Specialties
Serves 6 to 8

2 bunches scallions, thinly sliced, some green part included
2 cups whole milk
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup white cornmeal
3 tablespoons butter, plus enough to grease dish
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar, preferably white cheddar
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
4 eggs, separated

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter a two-quart souffle dish or casserole and sprinkle with about a tablespoon of the grated Parmesan—enough to lightly coat the dish.
2. Melt one tablespoon butter in a skillet, add scallions, and cook until just wilted. Set aside.
3. In a heavy three to four quart saucepan, heat milk, half-and-half and salt until bubbles form around edge of the liquid. Slowly sprinkle in cornmeal, stirring constantly. Continue to stir over low heat until mixture is smooth and creamy. Remove pot from heat and add remaining two tablespoons of butter, the scallions and the grated cheeses. Stir vigorously until well incorporated.
4. Lightly beat egg yolks and add them to mixture. Stir vigorously again. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks are formed. Beat a spoonful into the mixture to lighten it up, and fold in the rest.
5. Pour mixture into dish and smooth the top. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, until spoonbread is puffy and golden brown on top.

Beth Biundo’s Lemon Curd Cake

Cake
1 ½ cups cake flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3-4 lemons zested and juiced (4 if small, 3 if large)
6 egg whites
1/3 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease two 8×2-inch round cake pans with butter. Line the bottoms with parchment butter and grease the parchment paper as well.
2. Sift dry ingredients (including flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt) into bowl of a mixer. With the paddle, mix in egg yolks, oil, lemon juice, and zest. Place batter into a large bowl and reserve. Clean the mixing bowl.
3. In the mixer, beat egg whites and 1/3 cup sugar at high speed until soft peaks are formed. Fold meringue into the cake batter.
3. Pour into prepared cake pans and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Lemon Syrup
Bring a ½ cup water and ½ cup sugar to a boil. Cool. Mix in the juice of 2 lemons.

Lemon Curd
¾ cup sugar
Zest and juice of 3 lemons
4 egg yolks
4 tbsp (half a stick) butter, cold
Pinch of salt

Whisk together sugar, lemon and egg yolks in a saucepan. Add butter and salt. Stir over low heat until bubbles began to form around the outside and the mixture has thickened. Immediately remove from heat, strain through a fine mesh strainer, and chill.

Italian Meringue Buttercream
½ cup egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 ½ cups butter (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla

Beat egg whites in the mixer at high speed until stiff peaks are formed. Meanwhile, bring sugar and ¼ cup water on to a simmer in saucepan on the stove and continue to simmer until the syrup reaches the “soft ball” stage. (At about 235 degrees, drop a spoonful of syrup into a glass of cold water and if you can gather it into a soft ball, it is ready.) Turn up the mixer and slowly add syrup. Beat until meringue is cool. Switching to the paddle attachment, beat in butter, 1 piece at a time, until smooth. Beat in vanilla.

To assemble:
Slice each cake horizontally to make 4 layers. Brush each layer with lemon syrup. Beat ½ cup heavy cream until stiff and fold into cold lemon curd. Place the first layer on a plate and spread with the lemon cream mixture, leaving a small border around the edge. Repeat with the next two layers. Place the final layer on top of the cake and chill for 1 hour to set up.
Frost and decorate cake with buttercream.
This is nice decorated with thin slices of lemon, candied or not.

-Julia Reed

Pictured above, clockwise from left: Herend Rothschild china from Corzine and Company; Stuff Pork Roulade from the Blackberry Farm Cookbook; James Beard nominee Beth Biundo’s Lemon Curd Cake

In My New Orleans: The Cookbook, Iron Chef finalist and James Beard award winner John Besh writes: “Mardi Gras is not just a party. It’s that crucial glue that keeps our city bonded.” He is right, of course, and there’s a whole chapter in his lovely new book that proves his case. But make no mistake, Mardi Gras is also a party. An extremely lively and really, really long one, and the bon temps definitely roll.

Carnival season in New Orleans officially begins on Twelfth Night (January 6th) and runs through Fat Tuesday. The last two weeks are especially concentrated with balls and parades, but it’s the last final days when full-throttle Mardi Gras Madness kicks in. The largest and most elaborate parades roll, monarchs at some of the grandest and oldest balls are crowned, and there is not an available table in the city for that last Friday lunch before Lent.

Packed in between are private affairs ranging from King Cake parties (whoever gets the slice containing the tiny plastic baby has to give the next one), parade watching parties, epic weekend brunches, spontaneous crawfish boils and post-ball breakfasts—just to name a few.

If you’re a local, you have no choice but to join in. And if you’re a displaced local, you feel compelled to spread the traditions. I have given Mardi Gras parties in Bath, England (featuring crawfish—or, as they say over there, crayfish—from Sweden, grits and grillades, bourbon soaked bread pudding) and the Upper East Side of Manhattan (shrimp remoulade; chicken ettouffee; and pralines for dessert) and watched as the bemused guests donned beads and ate every bite. In both venues I made Pimm’s Cups and Ramos Gin Fizzes and Sazeracs (recently voted the official cocktail of New Orleans by a Lousiana legislature who should have better things to do). So they also drank—a lot.

Taigan’s own Suzanne Rheinstein, Hollyhock proprietor and decorator extraordinaire, hasn’t lived in New Orleans for more than thirty years, but she celebrates in Los Angeles every carnival season with raw oysters on the half shell and gumbo or jambalaya. She fills her house with purple irises (the Mardi Gras colors are purple, green, and gold) and always serves Brandy Milk Punch, the New Orleans breakfast of champions and the tastiest hangover cure known to man.

For more formal affairs, she has jumbo lump crabmeat shipped in from “home,” serves it on Boston lettuce and tops it with a divine green goddess dressing, and follows with grillades or catfish courtbouillon (locally pronounced coobiyon). But it is not just Mardi Gras that inspires Suzanne’s Creole menus. “Our restaurants here are superb, so I don’t want to compete with that kind of food,” she tells me. “I always come back to the food I grew up with.” On Valentine’s Day, for example, she is throwing a brunch in honor of three houseguests, and plans a menu of an old-fashioned sausage, egg, and cheese casserole, “billionaire’s bacon” (broiled with brown sugar and black pepper and so delicious), and homemade buttermilk biscuits with hot pepper jelly. Accompanied, of course, by milk punch.

I myself will be imbibing a few milk punches on Mardi Gras morn before I venture out to catch the hand-painted-and-glittered coconuts thrown by the Krewe of Zulu, whose raucous parade kicks off the day. They are the most coveted parade “throws,” and almost as beautiful as the masks and crowns from Goldbug Studio whose amazingly talented owner and designer Ashley Carter grew up, not surprisingly, in New Orleans. Her masks are breathtakingly ethereal creations, and the perfect thing for an elegant Mardi Gras dinner or private masked ball.

I’m so inspired I may have to have a dinner (mask de riguer) myself. I am dreaming of a table set with gorgeous crystal glasses in Mardi Gras colors from Corzine and company, along with more crystal bowls jammed with the purple irises Suzanne recommends. I’ll start off with the aforementioned jumbo lump crab with green goddess dressing and follow with John Besh’s divine veal grillades and creamy jalapeno grits. For dessert, I’ll have Sucre’s festive purple, green, and gold King Cake, the best version of that traditional sweet I’ve found.

To make your own Mardi Gras inspired dinner, I offer recipes below, including the Brandy Milk Punch recipe in Besh’s cookbook from Timmy Riely, a Mardi Gras maven and long time lieutenant in the Krewe of Rex. – Julia Reed

GREEN GODDESS DRESSING

1 bunch green onions, roughly chopped with some green
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/3 cup parsley, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons tarragon leaves, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons chives, roughly chopped
1 cup mayonnaise, homemade or Hellman’s
3 tablespoons lemon juice, or more to taste
3 tablespoons anchovy paste
½ cup sour cream
salt and freshly ground pepper

Mix all ingredients except sour cream and salt and pepper in food processor until green onions and herbs are finely chopped and the mixture is well-blended. Place mixture in mixing bowl and fold in sour cream. Add salt and pepper and check for seasoning.

John Besh’s Jalapeno Cheese Grits
Serves 6-8

1 cup stone-ground white corn grits
1 jalapeno pepper
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons mascarpone or cream cheese
1/4 cup grated Edam cheese
Salt

1. Heat 4 cups of water in a large heavy-bottomed pot over high heat until it comes to a boil. Slowly pour in the grits while whisking constantly. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, for about 20 minutes.
2. While the grits are cooking, pan-roast the jalapeno pepper in a small skillet over high heat until the skin is brown and blistered. Cut the pepper in half lengthwise and remove the skin and the seeds from the pepper and discard. Mince the flesh and add it to the pot of grits.
3. Remove the pot from the heat and fold in the butter, mascarpone, and Edam cheese. Season with salt.

John Besh’s Slow-Cooked Veal Grillades
Serves 6-8

4 pounds boneless veal shoulder, sliced into thin cutlets
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons Basic Creole Spices (see below)
1/4 cup rendered bacon fat
1 large onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups canned whole plum tomatoes, drained and diced
2 cups Basic Veal Stock (see below)
Leaves from 1 sprig fresh thyme
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
Tabasco
2 green onions, chopped

1. Season the veal cutlets with salt and pepper. Whisk the flour together with the Creole Spices in a medium bowl. Dredge the cutlets in a seasoned flour and shake off excess. Reserve a tablespoon of seasoned flour.
2. Melt the bacon fat in a large skillet over high heat. Fry the cutlets, several at a time, until golden brown on both sides. Take care not to overcrowd the skillet. Remove cutlets from the skillet and continue to cook in batches until all the veal has been browned. Set the veal aside while you continue making the sauce.
3. Reduce the heat to medium-high, add the onions to the same skillet, and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until they are a deep mahogany color, about 20 minutes. Add the celery, bell pepper, and garlic, reduce the heat to moderate, and continue cooking, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the 1 tablespoon of reserved seasoned flour into the skillet and stir to mix it into the vegetables.
4. Increase heat to high, stir in the tomatoes and Veal Stock, and cook until it comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to moderate and stir the thyme, pepper flakes, bay leaf, and Worcestershire into the vegetables. Add the veal cutlets, cover, and simmer until the veal is fork tender, about 45 minutes.
5. Season with salt, pepper, and Tabasco, then add the green onions. Serve over creamy Jalapeno Cheese Grits.

Basic Creole Spices
Makes 1/2 cup

2 tablespoons celery salt
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1. Mix together the celery salt, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, and allspice in a bowl. Transfer the spices to a clean container with a tight-fitting lid, cover, and store.

Basic Veal Stock
Makes 7 cups

1 pound veal bones
1/4 cup canola oil
2 onions, coarsely chopped
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
1 leek, white park, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 bottle red wine
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the veal bones into a roasting pan and rub them with 2 tablespoons oil. Roast the bones until well browned, about 45 minutes.
2. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until they are almost mahogany in color, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the celery, carrots, leeks, garlic, and tomato paste and cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Add the browned veal bones to the pot, along with the wine, bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns and 3 quarts water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and gently simmer, skimming any foam that rises to the surface, until the stock has reduced by half, about 2 hours.
5. Strain through a fine sieve into a container with a cover. Allow the stock to cool, then cover and refrigerate, or freeze the stock in small batches to use later.

Timmy’s Brandy Milk Punch
Serves 4

1 cup brandy
3 cups milk
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 gratings fresh nutmeg
Handful of ice cubes
Crushed ice in 4 glasses

1. Put the brandy, milk, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, and ice cubes into a blender and blend for 20 seconds.
2. Strain into glasses of crushed ice and serve.

Above, far left: Mardi Gras and Milk Punch aficionado Timmy Reily, properly masked as a lieutenant in the Krewe of Rex. Clockwise from top center: Grand Lieu Amethyst Hock by Saint-Louis, Toccata Amber Hock by La Maison, Toccata Chartreuse Champagne Flute by La Maison, all at Corzine & Co.; The Golden Lady mask by Goldbug Studio at The Mercantile; Jumbo Lump Crabmeat with Green Goddess dressing; Grillades with Jalapeno Cheese Grits from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, 200 of My Favorite Recipes & Stories from My Hometown by John Besh

For King Cakes and Mardi Gras chocolates, shop Sucre on TAIGAN.com

A sideboard packed with beautiful cakes is always a particularly festive sight during the holidays—and a great way to entertain. In fact, it is one of the things I most remember about the annual Christmas Eve parties my mother’s best friend Bossy hosted when I was growing up.

In the years before Bossy’s daughters and I were allowed to avail ourselves of the bar, we made frequent trips to the fine English sideboard instead. It was invariably piled with candy dishes of divinity and bourbon balls, silver trays of pecan tarts and lemon squares, stands featuring caramel cakes and pound cakes and an impressive chocolate torte. But the most exciting—and exotic—thing of all was the first Red Velvet Cake I’d ever seen.

These days Red Velvet Cakes are all but unavoidable, but they are still show-stoppers—and they can still be delicious. In fact, the new cookbook, Dam Good Sweet: Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth New Orleans Style, has by far the best recipe for one I’ve ever tasted. New Orleans native and noted Washington D.C. pastry chef David Guas has concocted a super-moist cake with rich cream cheese icing and red crumbs on the outside for even more drama.

Bossy’s groaning dessert sideboard was part of a larger “cocktail supper” menu, but you can center an entire party around holiday cakes. Be sure and serve lots of Champagne and silver punch bowls with Brandy Milk Punch or Artillery Punch or both. Hire a great dance band or jazz combo, move the dining room table and roll up the rug, and invite people over for dessert and dancing after a big event like The Nutcracker or an earlier holiday dinner.

On my own sideboard, I include Guas’s red velvet cake, of course, along with a Blackberry Jam Cake from Nancie McDermott’s excellent Southern Desserts (its fantastic caramel icing is a nod to the caramel cakes of my youth), and a Golden Lemon Almond pound cake from dessert guru Rose Levy Beranbaum’s new book, Rose’s Heavenly Cakes. Holiday macaroons and a double almond chocolate almond cake from Sucre round out the spread. J.R.

Above left, from left: A double chocolate almond cake from Sucre embellished with fresh raspberries sits on a Bernardaud Grenadiers service plate from Corzine and Company; a William Yeoward Inez vase from Hollyhock is filled with fragrant Christmas greens and white lilies; an antique English silver cake knife (circa 1880) from Corzine and Company rests on Matteo “Folk” linen napkins from Pied Nu; a mercury glass Cody Foster “Season’s Greetings” ornament from Pied Nu; Hollyhock’s William Yeoward “Country” cake stand with red velvet cake; John Derian “Clover” cake stand with Golden Lemon Almond cake from Pied Nu; whipped cream in an early 19th century Georgian footed wine rummer from Hollyhock; diamond cut glass covered jar from The Mercantile filled with blackberries; Vagabond tall glass pastry stand from Pied Nu with double dark chocolate and candy cane macaroons from Sucre; Blackberry Jam Cake on a Frances Palmer pottery cake stand from The Mercantile; William Yeoward Deidra vase from Hollyhock filled with roses.

Shop Corzine and Company, Hollyhock, Pied Nu, The Mercantile, Sucre, and The Stationer on TAIGAN

Nothing says “celebrate” quite like champagne—unless of course it is a festive champagne cocktail. They are as easy to make as dropping a sugar cube in a flute, adding a few drops of bitters (Fee Brothers makes a range of great flavors), and topping with your favorite bubbly. But for all-out holiday glamour, you can’t beat the pomegranate version from the new Hot and Hot Fish Club Cookbook by Chris and Idie Hastings.

If you prefer your bubbles unadulterated, pour pink in honor of the season. Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé is especially luxurious and has a lovely rich color to match, but for under $45, we also love Dumangin Fils Rosé and Nicholas Feuillate Brut Rosé—among the latter’s red fruit flavors there is even a hint of pomegranate. Cheers!

Hot and Hot Pomegranate Cocktail
Yield: 1 drink

½ cup chilled Prosecco
2 tablespoons fresh pomegranate juice
1 tablespoon simple syrup
4 to 5 pomegranate seeds, for garnish
1 lemon twist, for garnish

Combine the Prosecco, pomegranate juice, and syrup in a martini shaker and swirl gently until combined. Slowly pour the mixture into a 6-ounce champagne flute. Drop the pomegranate seeds into the glass and garnish with a lemon twist. Serve immediately.

Pictured above, from left: a pink champagne in a pearly Maryse Boxer flute from Pied Nu; Hot and Hot Pomegranate Cocktail in a handsome flute from South of Market;

Shop South of Market and Pied Nu on TAIGAN.