Eating

Because it's mouth and soul warming. Because it's a gift. Because chicken soup's free. All leftovers. Delicious and soulful. Better Cheaper ingredients Slowly making remarkably great food to sip Slowly. Food worth eating and talking about.

I wonder why this isn't already a beloved holiday tradition. Somewhere. Really, almost everyone likes chicken. It goes with everything. Has few calories. A glycemic load of zero. And it's cheap and easy. The first of 7 great dishes, each one a conversation piece for a celebration.

Time to be thinking about side dishes for Christmas Eve dinner. And Hanukkah, too. I'm making latkes. Traditional potato pancakes, only better with sweet potatoes. Amazingly delicious. Incredibly easy. Shockingly nutritious.

Waste not, want not. Always remember and never forget: save your mushroom stems and cheese rinds. They make fantastic and really useful stocks. Free soup. Hot, steamy, aromatic and deeply delicious improvements for cold winter days.

Don't throw away those carrot ends and onion trimmings. Two minutes to stick 'em in a pot with some water - then let them simmer for an hour or two. You get a great soup - or a great way to enrich other dishes. Fragrant, deeply flavorful stock. Waste not, want not.

Don't throw away those bones and vegetable trimmings. Stick 'em in a pot with some water and let them simmer for a few hours. You get a great soup - for free. Maybe the best possible holiday leftover. Less than two minutes to put it all in a pot, add water and turn on the stove.

If you like prosciutto, you'll love prosciutto chips. Like prosciutto turned up to eleven. Super-concentrated flavor and aroma when what's in your mouth is more like air. 5 minutes to prepare. Friends and family will be amazed.

This has to be the easiest delicious thing to do with the season's bounty of root vegetables. All of them. At once. Sweet and earthy. Soft and hot inside, crisp and crunchy outside. A lot of vitamins A, B and C. Lots of dietary fiber. Low Glycemic Load. Your winter go-to dish.

If you're looking for something beautiful and luscious to put on the table, you just found it. Despite its intricate beauty, it's pretty simple to prepare. But messy. You'll be licking your fingers before it goes in the oven.