CHRISTMAS 2006

[PHOTOS, from top to bottom]

Merengues, marzipan and Christmas candies always bolster the ailing body.

Cafe Drake's homemade Pecan Panocha.

Our interpretation of red and green for the holidays.

A coffee table always makes a great setting for informal dining with family and friends.

Olives baked with vermouth and fresh rosemary are great with festive cocktails.

The ubiquitous leftover platter enlivened by a fine dry Muscat.

A pre-Christmas dinner.

Lincoln Center.

In a sad twist of fate, illness struck Cafe Drake during the height of the holidays. Never one to be deterred completely, we still managed to semi-persevere, and in addition to a daily diet of antibiotics and Percoset, fought a serious infection with roasted capon, braised hare and Mother's homemade yeast rolls and baked cranberries. (Manhattans, barolos, and a steady stream of champagne didn't hurt either).