I would have loved Berlin in my younger days, but the older, wiser me is happy that I got to experience and enjoy it without a single hangover. (Full disclosure: since I was 6 months pregnant during my visit, a hangover was not in the cards anyway. But I like to think that regardless, I would have behaved with more moderation than some of the 20-somethings I saw on the U-Bahn still drinking at 8 AM from the previous night.)

If you want to know what the best clubs are or where to go until 4 AM, I am definitely not the best source of information, but I am happy to share some of my favorite places to eat, drink, and see in Berlin! I’ve included street addresses and U-Bahn/S-Bahn stops.

Dinner & Drinks

Berlin is a great city for eating—whether you’re in the mood for traditional German food or more eclectic modern takes on the menu. Of course, since you’re making the effort to go out for dinner, why not stop for a drink nearby to round out the evening?

My top choices for the Kreuzberg area are not in the teeming, tipsy center of it all, but a little bit off the beaten path. For a seasonally changing menu of updated German fare, don’t miss dinner at Nansen, at the corner of Nansenstrasse and Maybachufer. Afterwards, cross the Spree to have a beer by candlelight with the locals at the out-of-the-way Celo Privat Bar at 19a Glogauerstrasse. U: Gorlitzer Bahnhof.

Your Schönberg evening should start at the Green Door, a sweet and friendly little cocktail bar with an extensive drink list. You have to ring the doorbell to get in. The drinks are very good, but not cheap. For dinner, stroll 5 blocks or so to the neighborhoody Renger-Patzsch for your choice of seasonal or traditional Flammekuche (Alsatian thin-crust pizza) or one of the expertly prepared meat specials. Green Door- U: Nollendorfplatze. Renger Patzsch- U: Eisenacherstrasse.

In Charlottenburg/Ku Damm, don’t miss Dicke Wirten (“the fat waitress”) by Savignyplatz for rib-sticking traditional German food. In the wintertime you can get Christmas specials like roasted goose. The portions are large and excellently prepared, the clientele is mostly regulars and locals, and the dining room is plastered floor to ceiling with kitschy Teutonic décor and doilies. After dinner, walk off some of that spaetzle and go to the speakeasy-esque Galerie Bremer on Fasenstrasse, about 4 blocks away, for a digestif. Dicke Wirten- S: Savignyplatz. Galerie Bremer- U: Spichenstrasse.

A warning: lots of bars in Berlin are really smoky, so be prepared for that.

Lunchtime

A Berlin street food staple is the Doner kebab, which is a Turkish-German hybrid dish said to be invented in Berlin in the 1970s, and is sort of like a shawerma. Thin slices of cinnamon-scented lamb, shaved from a spit, are wrapped in bread or Turkish flatbread with yogurt sauce, lettuce, and tomatoes. One of the freshest and best examples is the durum doner at Imren, on Boppstrasse in Kreuzberg. The flatbread is made to order, and arrives warm and stuffed with meat. U: Schonlein Tor.

Post-doner, if it’s a Tuesday or a Friday, you can continue your Turkish adventure at the Turkenmarket along Maybachufer, about 3 or 4 blocks from Imren. You can browse fabric, spices, olives, cheese, and much more. Find a stall with fresh Turkish delight for a perfect dessert. U: Schonlein Tor or Kotbusser Tor. 

Another Berlin-born street food is currywurst, which consists of slices of sausage doused in curried ketchup. I will admit that this is not my favorite dish, but aficionados (and the line outside) will tell you that Konnopke’s Imbiss just below the U-Bahn station in Prenzlauer Berg is the best. If you are not keen on currywurst, you may want to have a relaxing lunch at Fellas nearby. The high-ceilinged dining room is open and convivial, and the food is solid. The salads are especially good. The service is friendly, if a little haphazard. U: Schonhauser Allee. 

Probably the best lunch option overall, costing barely more than a stand-up street meal, is the set menu lunch at Nord-Sud near Hackescher Hofe. The food is outstanding, and incredibly, will set you back a mere €7.50 for 3 courses. The charming French owner will explain the daily menus for you to choose from. Prepare to be impressed—and stuffed. Nord-Sud serves dinner as well. U or S: Hackescher Markt.

Cafes

In a pinch, you’ll always be close to an Einstein Kaffe—Berlin’s local answer to the encroaching Starbucks empire. The coffee is good and the cakes are in a wholly different league than the usual chain sweets. But there are two Berlin cafes that really stole my heart.

EspressoBar in the Charlottenberg/Ku Damm area, tucked away on Mommsenstrasse between Bleibtreustrasse and Knesebeckstrasse, is exactly the kind of café at which I would want to be a regular. (I’d go so far as to say that if I moved to Berlin I would have to live nearby so I could make that a reality.) The place is pretty quiet, but you might hear the sounds of eggs cracking or the mixer going, as the owner bakes fresh cakes and other treats in the impossibly small kitchen. Excellent espresso, a selection of Kusmi teas, and warm flaky croissants—yeah, I could get used to that. U: Uhlandstrasse or S: Savignyplatz.

If you’re a loyalist of Stumptown, Blue Bottle, or the like, then I would have a completely different recommendation: Bonanza in Prenzlauer Berg, on Oderbergerstrasse. This is not a grab-and-go: for reasons unknown, a cup of coffee or a latte will take these mustachioed hipsters literally 10 or 15 minutes to prepare for you. Not only is the coffee worth the wait, you can easily lose track of time as you watch tripping over bags and buckets in this tiny shop as they freshly roast the next batch of beans right in front of you. U: Eberswalderstrasse.

I would be remiss not to mention the café in the MyParis gallery, at 67 Augustenstrasse near Hackescher Hofe. The gallery entry is 6 euros, but you can get a coffee and a snack in the gorgeous, soaring space without ponying up for the show. They have a small but cute and artsy gift shop, as well. U or S: Hackescher Markt.

Next door in the KW Gallery courtyard, at 69 Augustenstrasse, there is yet another arty café with an interesting design, Café Bravo, which seems a little more kid-friendly than MyParis.  U or S: Hackescher Markt.

East & West

I am really fascinated by the history of the Berlin Wall and the divide between East and West Germany, and Berlin is obviously the best place to learn and experience more about it. Aside from the tackified tourist trap of Checkpoint Charlie, there are a couple of other places you can see standing sections of the Berlin Wall. The best-known is the East Side Gallery, in Friedrichshain, which has a section of the wall that was decorated by artists from around the world in 1999 and revamped in 2009. U: Ostbanhof or Warschauerstrasse.

From the East Side Gallery, a short hop on the train will take you to the Stasi Museum, which opened in the previous Stasi headquarters less than a year after the Wall fell. You can see some of the hilariously low-tech surveillance devices, hidden in tree stumps, neckties, and so forth. The film shown at the museum (with English subtitles) gives a great overview of the Stasi and historians share many interesting anecdotes about the Stasi’s history and activities. U: Magdalennenstrasse.

You can find another standing section of the Berlin Wall at Mauerpark, in Prenzlauer Berg. It’s not the prettiest park, but this part of the Wall is the official practicing ground for casual graffiti artists, and is inches thick with spray paint. While I enjoyed the East Side Gallery, somehow the Mauerpark section hit home with me more, perhaps because it was easier to get a sense of the ways in which the Berlin Wall divided neighborhoods so jarringly. U: Eberswalderstrasse.

If you visit Mauerpark, you can pop into VEP Orange, on Oderbergerstrasse, to browse kitschy GDR retro housewares and fixtures. I scored an awesome orange ceramic 1970s lamp for 20 euros. Across the street from VEP Orange you’ll find Bonanza Coffee (exalted in the “Cafes” section above.)

To prepare yourself for all of this Berlin Wall action, I recommend the book Stasiland by Anna Funder, which weaves together stories from both former Stasi officers and from people whose lives were strongly impacted by the Berlin Wall and the Stasi.

Ancient History

Say what you will about Germans, but man, they really knew how to plunder. The result is the excellent Pergamon Museum, which includes a full Babylonian gate, plus some rather astounding displays of Assyrian, Egyptian, Uruk, Persian, Ottoman, Greek, and Turkish treasures. With all this great stuff, the museum gets very crowded, so I would recommend booking a ticket online in advance so you can skip the line (they can scan the bar code or QR code on your mobile phone so you don’t even need to print a ticket out.)

If you want to see the famed bust of Nefertiti (which the Egyptians are still trying to get back) you’ll have to go next door to the Neues Museum. Pergamon and Neues Museum- U or S: Hackescher Markt.

Don’t miss the walk back to Unter der Linden, so you can catch the bizarre juxtaposition of the ostentatious Berliner Dom and the space-agey Alexanderplatz TV Tower.

Need a pick-me-up after all that museuming? Pop into the louche Hotel de Rome for a well-crafted (expensive) cocktail at the bar.

Winter Wonderlands

I imagine Berlin in the spring and summer is just wonderful, with people spilling out of sidewalk cafes, lounging by the banks of the Spree, and sipping frosty beers to cool down. Of course since I was there in late December I wouldn’t know anything about that. The saving grace of the wintertime visit is that Germans are dead serious about Christmas decorations, so the city is absolutely ablaze with lights, and the fabulous Christmas Markets are in full swing. There are over 50 Christmas markets in Berlin alone, where you can drink gluhwein (hot mulled wine), eat sausages and shop for ornaments. If you’re a connoisseur of gaudy holiday ornamentation like I am, you should probably put a Christmastime visit to Germany on your bucket list—the level of glitz and glitter was just outstanding.

No matter what the season or the occasion – don’t miss a trip to Berlin, one of the most affordable, quirky, friendly, historical, art-centric, and culinarily sophisticated cities in the world.

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I got this recipe from the Scaling Back blog, which is the best blog you are probably not reading. I met the author Tina Jeffers at a food photography workshop, but when you read her blog you may be inclined to agree that she probably doesn’t really need food photography classes because her pictures are gorgeous, mouth-watering, and instructive all at the same time. Her tips and recipes are well-chosen, not too difficult, and they work. Subscribe, follow, or just check in from time to time, but for goodness’ sake don’t miss out on this site. It is hands-down one of my absolute favorites, which in the crowded world of food blogs is saying quite a lot.

I reproduce the recipe here because I simplified some steps and made some small changes. As is reflected in the recipe, I do not recommend eating this the day you make it- it tastes infinitely better if you let it sit in the fridge for a day or two or three and reheat it. Enjoy – and thank you Tina for the inspiration.

Recipe: Butternut Squash & Short Rib Chili

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Tblsp live oil
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless short ribs, trimmed of most of the fat and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (ask your butcher to remove the bones for you)
• 1 large onion, chopped finely
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 chipotle in adobo sauce, minced
• chili flakes, cayenne, or hot spice of your choice to taste (I used a large pinch of very hot Chinese chili flakes and a large pinch of cayenne)
• 2 Tblsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup red wine
• 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 28 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
• 2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
• cilantro leaves, crumbled queso fresco, and avocado slices to serve

method:

• Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season beef with salt and add to pan. Cook about 8-10 minutes, browning on all sides.
• Add onion and cook another 8-10 minutes, until onions are soft and translucent. Add tomato paste, garlic, chipotle, cocoa, and spices and cook another 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Add wine, beans, and tomatoes with juice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cover. Simmer for 1 hour.
• Add butternut squash and simmer for another hour, until beef and squash are tender. Cool slightly, then cover and rest in the fridge overnight.
• To serve, reheat on the stove and serve with cilantro, queso fresco, and avocado.

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Of course, the original recipe was a little bit too fussy for me, so I have simplified for all of our sake’s. There’s not much to it, but damn, this thing is irresistible. If you have the time to marinate the night before then sit around waiting for this thing to cook, you can easily make it without too much fuss. He recommends it as the filling for a lettuce wrap, but I served it with rice, his recommended scallion-ginger sauce, kimchi, sambal oelek, and a kale and cabbage salad with miso dressing. And for the record, I don’t make my own kimchi, but I am extremely impressed by people who do, mostly because it makes your fridge stink so much, so if that kind of thing interests you maybe David Lebovitz or Jaden Hair can give you an idea of what you’re in for.

Despite his personal issues and lack of respect for my hometown, I remain, as ever, an unabashed devotee of the Chang-inspired recipe.

Oh, and if you think David Chang’s original recipe with all of its bells and whistles will be better than my version, well you are probably right, so you should totally try it.

Recipe: Momofuku Inspired Bo Ssam, aka Korean Slow-Roasted Pork

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 whole boneless pork shoulder, about 8-10 lbs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup + 1 Tblsp kosher salt
• 7 Tblsp brown sugar

Recipe: Ginger-Scallion Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 bunches scallions, cleaned and chopped (white part and most of green part)
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup grated fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp any kind of vinegar – I used white wine vinegar
• large pinch salt

METHOD:

• Combine all ingredients together a few hours before serving, so the flavors can meld together. Serve alongside pork roast.

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As luck would have it, it turned out to be a very, very good salad that I will be making many more times. When my guests asked for the recipe, I had to demur. I had not even written down the ingredients. So I promised to re-create it as soon as possible and pass along the recipe.

I am not a big fan of raw kale by itself or in big pieces, but shredding it and balancing it with cabbage makes a salad that’s pretty, good for you, and great tasting. I used clementines but if you can’t find them, you can use oranges. At home, I don’t normally supreme my citrus (by which I mean take off all the pithy white bits) but if you want to do that then I recommend this tutorial from Coconut and Lime. I think you could top this with grilled steak or chicken for a main course salad. Enjoy!

Recipe: Kale & Cabbage Salad with Miso Dressing 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 bunch kale (I used Tuscan, but any kind is fine)
• 1 small head cabbage
• 1-2 avocados, cubed
• 4-5 seedless clementines, peeled and segmented
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 3 Tblsp olive oil or vegetable oil
• 2 Tblsp white miso paste
• 2 Tblsp rice vinegar
• 1 Tblsp honey
• 2 tsp very hot water
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp smooth Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

METHOD:

• Wash and dry kale well. Grasp each kale leaf at the bottom of the stalk between your thumb and forefinger, and run your fingers up the stalk to separate the leaf from the stalk. Discard the stalks and stack the leaves. Fold the leaves lengthwise and  shred finely with a large knife. Place in a large salad bowl
• Remove outer leaves and stalk of cabbage, then cut into quarters. Use a large knife to shred as finely as possible. Add to the bowl with the kale. Combine with your hands or salad tongs.
• Top kale and cabbage with clementine segments, almonds, and avocado.
• In a small bowl, whisk remaining ingredients together well, ensuring miso is well broken up and combined. Toss about half the dressing with the salad. Add more dressing if desired. Serve immediately.
• Note: you can make the dressing up to 24 hours in advance if desired. Store in the fridge and whisk well before serving.

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I was a little skeptical at first – raw kale instead of basil? But it turns out, I was totally wrong to doubt. What I like about this is that it only takes a few leaves of kale, and you can use the rest of the kale in something else–unlike basil, pesto, which uses about half a bunch and then forces me to witness the slow and slimy death of the remainder of the bunch every time I open my refrigerator.

For a creamy, fulfilling, vegetarian pasta dish, cook the noodles, then toss some pesto with the pasta and a little of the reserved pasta water in the pot. For a great appetizer, spread the pesto on thin slices of toasted bread and top with sliced cherry tomatoes and/or sprinkle with more crushed walnuts or a little bit of grated cheese. You can make the pesto while you’re boiling the noodles or toasting the bread.

I didn’t have parmesan, so I used some salty grated pecorino, which cut the bitterness of the kale really well. I think you could use either with excellent results. If I’m being honest, I eyeballed the cheese and thereby I probably used extra, because that’s kind of how I roll, so if it’s not tasting great throw another 1/4 cup of cheese in the mix and see how it goes. Get the recipe here! 

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Eating & Drinking

I’ve tasted many Chicago pizzas, but the spinach and cheese stuffed pizza at Bacino’s is my favorite. I could explain how they chop all of the cheese and spinach together to make a perfect blend and so forth but I think the picture is pretty much loud and clear on the deliciousness front. They have excellent buffalo wings, too. Bacino’s: 2204 N. Lincoln Ave.

• TROUT ROE, coconut, hyssop, passionfruit: I don’t even know what hyssop is but damn. This hand-harvested steelhead roe with banana, coconut, and passionfruit gels and pastes, with fleur de sel foam, was a screamin’ start to the eating evening.
• CAULIFLOWER, five coatings, three gels, apple: Five cubes of cauliflower puree with aromatic apple soup. Each cube was crusted with a different dried or dehydrated aromatic such as cheese, nuts, or what have you.
• LOBSTER, popcorn, butter, curry: I think this was my favorite. Apparently it was supposed to be on a theme of “things that taste good with butter.” OK, you had me at butter. There were too many things on this plate to describe but they included a butter poached lobster tail, a butter sphere you popped to get melted butter out of, curry pudding, popcorn, a popcorn gelee ribbon (don’t ask), corn kernels, dehydrated onion, and in my mind an unnecessary dollop of palate-cleansing mango-lime gel.
• WAGYU BEEF, maitake, smoked date, blis elixir: Maitake mushroom on an applewood-smoked fig puree, raw wagyu beef, a dusting of fennel pollen, and sherry that had been aged in casks that previously held maple syrup and bourbon.
• RABBIT, prune, shallot, burning leaves: A tempura’d chunk of tasty rabbit loin with prune gelee, shallot, impressively served on a skewer of smoldering oak leaves.
• HOT POTATO, cold potato, black truffle, butter: I could eat about a hundred of these. You’ve got a cold potato, chive, butter, parmigiano, and truffle slice on a metal toothpick stuck into the side of a tiny wax bowl that holds hot potato soup. Pull the pin to let the cold items fall into the hot soup and drink the whole thing like a shot.
• SHORT RIB, Guinness, peanut, fried broccoli: Melty soft short ribs caged under a Guinness gelatin sheet. Peanuts and broccoli in different forms, including pastes, shaved, etc.
• BLACK TRUFFLE, explosion, romaine, parmesan: Literally an explosion especially for one person at our table who shall remain nameless but who will heretofore be thought of as the one who uncouthly squirted hot truffle juice at the table. One ravioli filled with truffle tea and served with romaine and a truffle slice. Meant to be taken in one bite with your mouth CLOSED to contain the explosion.
• LAMB, saffron, poppy seed, pistachio: Thought I would love this but it was not my favorite. Sous vide lamb in a lamb and veal stock with white poppy seed custard, foam, cippolinis, and I can’t remember where the pistachios came in at all…
• CONCORD GRAPE, yogurt, mint, long pepper: An exploding ball of liquid grape sorbet with a mint shell and bathing in approximately 3 drops of yogurt water. Squirt in your mouth, not in your hands. No idea what the long pepper had to do with this one.
• CRABAPPLE, foie gras, brown sugar, sorrel: An 18-inch metal skewer pointed at your face, with one bite’s worth of crapapple mousse coated in foie gras with apple gelee and a caramel chip. Diners were encouraged to attack the skewer hands-free with one barbaric chomp to the skewer.
• BACON, butterscotch, apple, thyme: Dehydrated bacon suspended from a wire, dipped in caramel and flavored with thyme and dried apple. One bite o’ heaven.
• PUMPKIN, gruyere, Blis maple syrup, smoke: Points for showmanship. Smoke-filled pillows arrive at each person’s place setting. A plate is set upon the pillows which deflate slowly and release smoke aromas to enhance the experience of the dish. There was a lot going on here- roasted pumpkin, pineapple puree, oloroso sherry pudding, maple cream, cereals and seeds, sugar crystals, and puffed rice.
• CHOCOLATE, fig, olive, pine: I was roundly chastised for not finishing this but let’s face it, by this point I was stuffed. A soft chocolate sheet, olive oil custard, and elements of figs and olives plus pine nuts. The olives were mostly in sort of a crumbly form and not too offensive- mostly salty with a hint of brine. It came with pine ice cream which I imagine is made by, you know, soaking pine needles in warm cream or something, which was a little weird.
• DRY CARAMEL, salt: The science nerd in me LOVED this finale. Picture a shot glass full of dry caramel crystals, roughly the feel of raw sugar. Put these in your mouth and they turn to liquid caramel as if by magic. Magic! Seriously. A simple yet great end to an incredible night of molecular gastronomy.

At some point you’re going to want to take a break from your eating orgy to hear some Chicago blues, and there is no better place than B.L.U.E.S. Plus, the name is easy to remember even after a few drinks. Pack yourself in and get ready to rock- this intimate, funky spot has live music 7 nights a week. B.L.U.E.S.: 2519 N Halsted St.

The Museum of Contemporary Art is a manageable and very well-curated modern museum, and their museum shop is one of the best I’ve ever been to–most of my friends and family will find MCA gifts in their stockings this year! MCA: 220 East Chicago Avenue.

Before your trip, check the Second City website for tickets–they have shows almost every day–and experience a live sketch or improv show. Second City is, of course, the comedic birthplace of some of the funniest people ever, like Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Mike Myers, Jim Belushi, and Steve Carell. Second City: 1616 N. Wells St.

If you’re in Chi-town around Christmas time, stop by the Christkindlmarket – an outdoor German-style Christmas market in Daley Plaza, with ornaments for sale, hot mulled wine, potato pancakes, sausages, and lots and lots of people. It’s a fun and convivial atmosphere, but it does get quite crowded on weekends so you may want to go early. Christkindlmarket: Check website for dates and location. 

What are your favorite things to eat, drink, and do in Chicago? Let me know so I can try them next time!

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Do you ever see these things in the store and think “what the hell is that? And how do you eat it?” This is the unattractive and underloved celery root, which is the root of the celery plant. It kind of tastes like celery, but better and with a completely different texture. Once you peel away all the knobbly Hobbit-y bits you get a white, starchy root vegetable that looks like a potato.

The celery flavor goes really well with a hearty, saucy beef or pork dish, like short ribs or pork stew.

Recipe: Celery Root and Cauliflower Puree
serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 whole celery roots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 head cauliflower, leaves trimmed, roughly chopped
• 4-6 Tblsp butter
• 1/2 cup creme fraiche

METHOD:

• Put vegetables into a pot of salted water. Bring to a boil then cook about 15 minutes, until celery root is tender when you stick a knife in.
• Drain vegetables and put them in a food processor or food mill. Add butter, creme fraiche, and salt and pepper to taste, and process or mill until smooth.
• Serve immediately.

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This is one of my favorite types of recipes: the kind where you use a small number of simple ingredients and take advantage of time and temperature to meld them together into something much greater than the sum of their parts. The recipe is really easy from a technique standpoint, but you’ll need about an hour and a half to two hours of cooking time to get it from start to finish. I recommend using a lean pork, because with fatty pork the sauce can get oily and you’ll have to skim off the fat, which adds an extra step. Of course, this tastes very good (better?) reheated a day or two later, so you could also make it in advance, chill it in the fridge overnight, skim off the fat, and reheat it.

I adapted this from a recipe I saw in Real Simple magazine, but ironically I found their recipe to be not actually all that simple. I simplified it by cutting out several unnecessary steps and a few ingredients.

Recipe: Pork and Prune Stew
serves 8

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 lbs. lean pork stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 Tblsp butter
• 1 Tblsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups red wine
• 12 oz. prunes
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 Tblsp brandy
• 2 Tblsp heavy cream

METHOD:

•  Season pork liberally with salt and pepper.
• Heat butter and oil in a large, heavy pot. Add pork and cook, turning and stirring to brown on all sides, about 10 minutes total.
• Add the garlic and cook about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add wine, prunes, bay leaves, and chicken broth and bring to a boil.
• Lower heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours, until pork is tender. If there is a lot of fat on top of the liquid, skim it off and discard it.
• Remove cover and raise heat to boil and reduce a bit, about 5 or 10 minutes.
• Turn off heat and stir in brandy and cream. Serve with crusty bread or over noodles.

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What’s extra great is that there is no flour nor butter in them, just egg whites for binding, so they are practically health food. (OK technically it would be more accurate to say they are practically candy, since the bulk is made up of sugar and chocolate.)

Now I know it’s been almost 2 weeks since Christmas, but do you still have some janky old candy canes lying around? Put them into a plastic bag and hit them with a hammer to make scraps. Sprinkle them on half the cookies before baking, so the chocolate-peppermint lovers in your life can have something nice, too. If you sprinkle them on after baking… well, sadly, they will just slide off. I know this from experience.

Get the recipe from Recipe Girl here.

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The question: “I’m finally making that trip to China I’ve talked about for so long – and will be spending 3 weeks in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Any advice would be appreciated!” 

Hong Kong is one of my favorite world cities, and neighboring Macau also holds a very dear place in my heart–so while I must admit I’m a little jealous about your impending journey, I’m excited to share some fun things to do!

Let’s just get this out of the way right now: in Hong Kong they actually do use bamboo for skyscraper scaffolding, as seen in every Jackie Chan movie ever made. This, I feel, is incredible.

No trip to Hong Kong is complete  without a trip on the creaky wooden tram up to the top of Victoria Peak, the high hill that looms above the city. Ignore the weird wok-shaped mall up there, and focus on the panoramic view of the sprawling city. You can also circle the Peak on a 30-45 minute loop through trees and urban wilderness to see some of the less developed sides of the island. If you work up a thirst, have a drink at The Lookout before heading back down- which you can do on foot if you fancy a walk.

This might sound strange, but I think one of the most fun ways to get between harbor and hill is the Mid-Levels, a long series of escalators built to take businesspeople between their Peak-face apartment complexes to the flatland financial district. You might be tempted to get off to explore the streets that cross the Mid-Levels, which are full of shops, restaurants, markets, and commotion. A note: they switch directions depending on what time of day it is, so be aware of that.

Not far from the Mid-Levels is the boutiquey-cool Gough Street. The stretch between Shing Wong and Aberdeen offers cute and quirky restaurants among locally-owned design and art shops. Another actively gentrifying neighborhood to check out is Wan Chai, which is starting to get its share of hipster restaurants and shops. The area by St. Francis Yard, Star Street, and Sun Street is the epicenter of this burgeoning coolness. If you’re sick of dim sum and craving really good French toast with an in crowd, try Capital Cafe.

Legend holds that one of the first permanent structures the British colonists built was the Happy Valley Horse Track, and Hong Kongers still greatly enjoy this equestrian pastime. The weeknight tournaments offer a chance to place a few bets, mingle with the after-work cocktail crowd, and join in a Hong Kong institution. Best of all, the track is smack in the center of the city, nestled among the tall buildings.

You can cross to the Kowloon side of the river for a cheesy-cool laser light show that happens each night at 8 PM. Head to the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront for the best view of the free entertainment. To counteract the lowbrow nature of the show, follow it up with a drink at the louche Peninsula Hotel (or dinner at the venerated Felix in the hotel, if someone else is paying.) Like any great world city, hot restaurants and bars have a lot more turnover than sights to see, so I’d recommend turning to this recent New York Times article for more tips on where to eat.

I am transit-oriented by nature, so I also fancy a random jaunt on the old double-decker trolleys. Sit on the upper level to get a 2-dollar tour of neighborhoods bustling with noodle shops, meat markets, and more.

I highly recommend a day trip (at least) to Macau–you can get a one-hour ferry from Hong Kong and be back in time for dinner. The history of Macau is fascinating, as it was technically a Portuguese colony from the 1500s until 1999, making it both the first and last European colony in China.The cuisine of Macau reflects this history, and is influenced by the flavors of China, Portugal, and the former Portuguese colonies in India and Africa. Not only can you have a great Macanese meal at Henri’s, you can also drink cheap Portuguese wine or a pitcher of sangria—a welcome surprise in China’s wine desert. After lunch, it’s easy to forget you’re in China at all as you stroll the tiled expanses and marvel at the colonial European architecture you’re seeing. Of course, the skyline is dominated by the many casinos of Stanley Ho’s empire. In the 1960s, as mainland China was crumbling under Mao’s iron fist, former smuggler and black marketeer Ho was building up a fantastical casino empire. Now familiar Western casino brands like Wynn and MGM mingle with his myriad enterprises.

I have never been to Shenzhen, but I do have one recommendation for you: you should read Peter Hessler’s fabulous book about modern China, Oracle Bones, which includes some fascinating chapters on Shenzhen’s unique development and culture.

For books to get you in the Hong Kong mood, my top pick is James Clavell’s slightly silly but highly entertaining historical novel Tai-Pan, which takes place in Hong Kong and Macau during the very beginnings of the British colonization in the 1800s. To get a flavor of Hong Kong before and during the Japanese occupation of World War II, I recommend The Piano Teacher by Janice YK Lee. If you want a longer read that will give you a good overall history of China, I highly recommend Jung Chang’s personal story of growing up during the Cultural Revolution, Wild Swans. Chang weaves her highly compelling autobiography with an overview of 20th century Chinese history.

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