Traditional New Years Day Dinner

Fine Dining in the Desert

Be a diner, but don’t expect hotcakes in a silver Airstream. This trendy eatery, hidden away at Le Parker Meridien Palm Springs, is hip and happening. Dinner entrees include contemporary comfort food items, such as food like Matzo Balls Chicken Pho and Penne Pasta, but the real highlight for me is their all-day breakfast, including a fruit-filled, fruit-covered waffle with a crackly brulee top called “Was-Za?” For chocoholics, there’s the beyond-indulgent Chocolate Decadence French Toast – layered and saturated-with-chocolate pound cake covered in strawberries, pistachios and Valhrona chocolate sauce. Arrive early at LeDonne Cucina Italiano (72624 El Paseo, Palm Desert), because the place fills up after 6 pm, mostly with regulars who have been going there for years, and years. The clientele skews toward 55 and up, which made me and my fellow 40-ish dining companion feel like we were at the kids table. This is definitely a local hangout, tucked away in a strip mall, where folks know the owner and servers by name, and generous portions of good Italian food is served with a smile and strains of Sinatra. Voted the Best Italian Restaurant by Desert Sun for five years running, LeDonne offers a variety of risottos, spaghettis and many veal and seafood dishes among other Italian favorites. One stand out is their zesty salsicce arrabiata, a grilled Italian sausage sautéed in spicy arrabiata sauce. Also good is their chicken champagne, a chicken breast sautéed in a lemon Champagne sauce. If seafood is more your taste, try their large bowl of steamed mussels. Matchbox’s menu features a variety of inventive offerings, with creative twists on standard fare, that is anything but standard. Even a no-frills dish like mac ‘n cheese got a makeover, becoming “adult” macaroni & cheese,” with grilled shrimp & Andouille sausage, sharp white cheddar & smoked gouda. And while I’ve been to many California pizzerias with creative combos, Matchbox’s steak & gorgonzola pizza -- baked in an authentic masonry wood-fire oven and topped with parmesan & garlic béchamel and finished with arugula, red onion, garlic chip and pear tomato salad -- boasted the most perfectly crisp smoky crust and the freshest and most complimentary mixture of garnishes of any pizza I have ever had. While at Matchbox, it only makes sense to check out The Falls, the elegant fine dining restaurant next door owned by the same partners as Matchbox.

Monster Goldfish: Traditional New Year's Day Dinner, But Twisted

In the Southern United States,the peas are typically cooked with a pork product for flavoring (such as bacon, ham bones, fatback, or hog jowl), diced onion, and served with a hot chili sauce or a pepper-flavored vinegar.The traditional meal also features collard, turnip, or mustard greens, and ham. The peas, since they swell when cooked, symbolize prosperity; the greens symbolize money; the pork, because pigs root forward when foraging, represents positive motion. Cornbread also often accompanies this meal. I did things a little differently than usual this year, sometimes intentionally, sometimes accidentally.  One of the intentional twists involved truffle oil, a Christmas gift from a good friend.  I sliced and stripped the collard greens, next sauteed them in a mix of extra virgin olive oil and truffle oil, and sprinkled them with black pepper and salt with truffle oil. (The pretty containers are behind the plate in the picture.)  For the blackeyed peas, this year I marinated them in a sweet white pinot grigio with chopped onion, black and white pepper, and garlic powder.  Usually I make a roux to start the peas, but this year I didn't, because I just plain forgot about the roux!  I'd like think this helped keep the marinade as the focal point as the base of the dish.

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised

The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.

What Tarot Card are You?