Bettina found this cake at Whole Foods today – Fat Tuesday – the day before Ash Wednesday. During this time of year, one of the most-loved traditions in New Orleans is having a King Cake. The tradition is to bake an oval cake in honor of the three kings and then to decorate the cake in Mardi Gras colors. A small plastic toy baby, symbolizing baby Jesus, is baked into each cake. Good luck is said to come to the person who finds the baby. The cake tastes more like a sweet bread than a classic cake. This will be tonight’s dessert after a pot of Red Beans and Rice.

squirt bottle by jennster

Sorry, not those kind. We’re talking tablecloth wrinkles. Practically no matter how you store your linens, you’re bound to have some creases that you’ll want to flatten out before setting your dining table. We’ve used this easy solution forever:

Using a spray bottle filled with water, we gently spritz the cloth all over as it lays on the table. Using both hands, we can flatten out the wrinkles simply by gently tugging in opposite directions and then letting the wrinkles ease out on their own from the simple weight of the lightly dampening water.

Yesterday, the topic on The Kojo Nnamdi show was chocolate. We were only able to listen to about five minutes, but within that time, here is some of what we learned:

The cacao tree is a native South American tree whose seeds are fermented and processed to make cocoa, cocoa butter and chocolate. The words cacao and cocoa are sometimes used interchangeably, with cocoa most often used in the U.S. and referring to the processed bean in powder or butter form.

Chocolate wrappers have become more specific about their cacao percentages. The number indicates the total amount of ingredients in the bar that are from the cacao bean. The rest is usually sugar, which means the less cacao, the more sugar.

Chocolate always has been a symbol of sophistication. To taste, one must smell. The next time you are at one of the many boutique chocolate shops that have popped up in recent years, break off some chocolate and smell it for hints of vanilla, floral, or even earthy notes before taking your first bite and then note the texture and flavor as it fades.

Thinking now of a chocolate tasting on Valentine’s Day, followed by a sip of whiskey – the latest trend.

This recipe was listed as a Saveur staff favorite recipe for 2010 and is worth passing along. Fennel gets lots of attention from Italian cooks, most likely because it adapts to a variety of treatments and grows wild in many places. We have yet to have a version we do not like. It is a winter long favorite. Consider this recipe as a side to a meal this week.

Serves 6

2 lg. fennel bulbs, stalks removed, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/2″ wedges
2 c. heavy cream
1 1/2 c. parmigiano reggiano, finely grated
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 Tbls. unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, toss together fennel, cream, and 1 cup of cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a 3-qt. baking dish; dot with butter. Cover with foil and abake for one hour. Remove foil from baking dish, sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and bake another 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Marcus Nilsson for The New York Times. Food stylist: Brian Preston-Campbell. Prop stylist: PJ Mehaffey.

A couple of weeks ago, The New York Times Magazine printed chef David Chang’s recipe for slow-roasted pork bo ssam that “turns anyone with an oven and a few hours into a chef.” The hype over the this much-written about meal from NYC’s Momofuku Ssam Bar and the end result were both well-deserved and totally rewarding. First of all, the main ingredient – pork shoulder aka pork butt – is an inexpensive cut of meat that feeds a crowd. Secondly, this meal is incredibly easy to prepare; Bettina, who was inspired to make the dish, realized just how many folks could be fed with this that she invited another family over at, literally, the very last minute to share it with her’s. All she added was a bowl of steaming rice and the two accompanying dipping sauces. Dessert was a big bowl of clementines.

This is such a simple salad, considering how delicious it tastes. We eat so many foods in the winter that are roasted, braised or pureed, that it is nice to have a salad with lots of crunch. And, it is a good way to use up celery, which always seems to wilt in our fridge. You can either start a meal or end it with this salad.