Episode 45: Champagne and Caviar

The holiday party season has begun and now's the time to indulge in that quintessential excess—champagne and caviar! Master of Wine Mary Ewing-Mulligan and Ed McCarthy, authors of the recently published The Wine Buying Companion for Dummies, will tell us what to select for aperitifs, a dinner party or very special gift. Our favorite fish and seafood expert, Mark Bittman, author of Fish: The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking, enlightens us on what to look for when buying caviar and shares a favorite source. After such extravagant indulging who better to bring us back to earth than Jane and Michael Stern? They'll tell us their picks for down-home comfort food. Steve from Charleston tries to Stump the Cook, and Lynne shares our choice for the best 1997 mail-order gift and takes your calls. Also, some meaningful gift-giving ideas at Heifer Project International.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• December 13, 1997