Sheryl Julian's Favorites

I feel insecure when there aren't a couple of kosher chickens in the freezer. What if someone gets sick and I have to make soup immediately? I've always been sold on Empire kosher brand, which is conveniently sold at Trader Joe's. Newly available are Weiss kosher organic chickens ($3.99 a pound), whose taste is as good as birds I buy directly from a farmer in Vermont. The dark meat is really dark, the breasts moist and loaded with flavor. The only Weiss chickens I've found -- they seem to be scarce -- are either quite small or quite large. But don't despair. You want small. A 2 1/4-pound chicken will cost about $9, which is plenty to spend on this. Make more sides and eat like, ahem, a bird. Available at some Whole Foods Markets.

Peppadews ($7.99 a pound) are bright red, hot, sweet, and vinegary. They're wonderful with roast meats or fish, or beside sandwiches. The heat sneaks up on you. At first, you only taste the sweetness and the piquant bite of vinegar. Then another bite and that peppery flavor kicks in. From the first moment I tried them, I put them on the weekly shopping list, right under the 2 percent milk and clementines. Available at Shubie's Liquors and Marketplace, 16 Atlantic Ave., Marblehead, 781-631-0149.

Readers of our food blog, Dishing, know that I love to bake late at night while listening to the BBC. If the occasion calls for something simple, I often pull out a trusty sugar cookie recipe. The dough is made with butter and egg whites (whites make the mixture especially easy to roll). Instead of using flour, I roll them in granulated sugar. The thin cookies, dredged in sugar, are very crisp, almost crunchy, after baking. I use a fluted cutter to stamp out rounds, but this is an especially good dough for making whimsical shapes, too. I assemble the dough one night, refrigerate it, then let it soften slightly the next. Then when I hear those familiar voices on the Beeb, I start baking. Click here for the recipe.

The cookbook review bin starts filling in the spring and by year's end, I can hardly see over the volumes. Even when something catches my eye, it's got to be pretty terrific to get transferred to the "A" stack on my desk. Colleen Rush's "The Mere Mortal's Guide to Fine Dining" (Broadway Books, $12.95) did. It's written with a Southerner's humor. As her bio says, Rush was raised in Louisiana, where "Didya get something to eat?" was the familiar greeting. "Mere Mortal" (above) demystifies restaurant dining with chapters titled, "What the Food Snobs Know" and "Wherefork Art Thou?" Learn to tip, order, and ingratiate yourself to the staff at your favorite restaurant. Available at book stores.