As Valentine’s Day is a holiday that gets even the most stalwart homebodies out for a meal, here is the scoop on some places where diners can celebrate.

    In Montauk, Manucci’s, which specializes in seafood as well as Italian cuisine, will offer a special Valentine’s Day menu. Items from the regular menu will also be available. Dinner is served nightly at Manucci’s beginning at 5 p.m. Reservations have been suggested.

Oyster Prelude

    To gear up for Tuesday the 14th, there will be an evening of “Oyster Mania” on Sunday at the site of the old Honest Diner in Amagansett, home to Art of Eating Catering. The event will be a benefit for the Springs Seedlings Project.

    Cheryl Stair, Art of Eating’s chef, will prepare oysters from local waters, as well as dishes based on other local bounty — fish, produce, and poultry — accompanied by locally made wines and beers.

    Reservations are required for the 4 to 7:30 p.m. event. Tickets are $85, or $75 for members of the local Slow Food chapter.

Lovers’ Prix Fixe

    The chef and owner at Harbor Grill, Damien O’Donnell, will make a long weekend of the lovers’ holiday by serving a “lovers’ prix fixe” tomorrow through Tuesday. The special meal is $45 per person and includes a glass of champagne for each lovebird. Starters will include lobster bisque, three cheese ravioli, spinach salad, crab cakes, or chilled shrimp. Entree choices will be beef Wellington, steamed lobster, marinated and grilled Atlantic tuna, or pan roasted chicken breast. The meal will wind up with a dessert sampler for two.

    The restaurant will have live music on Valentine’s Day itself.

    The Harbor Grill is now offering a 15-percent discount on meals ordered by senior citizens. The offer is valid all the time, but does not apply to the grill’s nightly $19 prix fixe.

    Valentine’s dinner at Nick and Toni’s in East Hammpton will bring a $30 prix fixe featuring special dishes, as well as an a la carte entree for two: prime tagliata steak for two, served with gorgonzola beet gratin and pea vine salad with shaved pecorino, for $85. Dinner service begins at 6 p.m.; reservations have been suggested.

At Almond

    At Almond in Bridgehampton, a four-course menu offered on Valentine’s Day, starting at 6 p.m., will include dishes that all feature blood orange. For appetizers, diners may choose iced oysters with blood orange and prosecco granita or a winter salad with blood orange vinaigrette. Entree choices are heritage pork osso buco with saffron risotto and blood orange gremolata, or smoked, then roasted salmon with a warm salad of baby root vegetables and citrus sauce. Dessert will be a warm chocolate tart with blood oranges three ways. The cost is $70 per person. The a la carte menu will also be served.

    A Valentine’s Day prix fixe at Pierre’s, also in Bridgehampton, offers a lineup of love-themed dishes, such as the “Red Hot Lover” — lobster salad and sun-dried apples served with brioche toast, “Hot Tub Meeting” — a pot-au-feu of sea bass, scallops, shrimp, and lobster, and a “Melting Heart” dessert, which is French meringue with raspberry sorbet, red berry coulis, and whipped cream.

    A three-course prix fixe for $55 features a “teaser,” main dish, and dessert.

    A number of special appetizer and entree dishes will be on the menu at the Living Room in East Hampton on Valentine’s Day, where the holiday special will include a glass of champagne.

    Beginning on Sunday, the Living Room will have a “jazzy” brunch each week from noon to 2:30 p.m. featuring Klyph Black on guitar, accompanied by a changing roster of guest musicians.

    At Fresno in East Hampton, singles — and couples — have been invited to have a Valentine’s Day dinner at the bar, served by Diego, the bartender. Specials to be offered that night include oysters on the half shell, filet mignon with grilled prawns, seared scallops, and a bittersweet chocolate fondue served with strawberries, almond lace cookies, and marshmallow hearts.

Rugby Time Food

    Townline BBQ, where the TVs at the bar will be showing the 2012 Six Nations Rugby games over the next few weeks, will offer food and drink specials during the games. They include chili cheese nachos, wings, and warm pretzels for $3, and bottles of Beck’s beer and Magners Irish Cider for $4. The next game will be on Saturday — France versus Ireland at 3 p.m.

Happy on North Main

    Serafina restaurant on East Hampton’s North Main Street is having a daily happy hour from 5 to 7 p.m., with half-off specials on signature cocktails, including new ones created by the restaurant’s own mixologists, and on wine, Prosecco, and beer.

Inlet Reopens

    And the early season begins: Inlet Seafood in Montauk will reopen after a winter break on Friday, Feb. 17. The restaurant and sushi bar will serve lunch from noon to 4 p.m. and dinner from 4 to 9 p.m. on Friday through Sunday, and lunch only on Monday. Inlet overlooks the mouth of Montauk Harbor at the end of East Lake Drive.

    One of the great pleasures of working in the restaurant industry and writing about food is getting to know our local chefs. And when you get to know the chefs, sometimes you can get recipes from them. If you’re really lucky, you may get some of their signature recipes or favorite dishes to cook at home.

    I have been collecting recipes from local restaurants and chefs for many years and they have become some of my absolute favorite tried-and-true meals, often with a story attached, such as “Tom Schaudel gave me this recipe when he was writing his book ‘Playing With Fire.’ ” Or “this recipe is from Tsunami nightclub on Three Mile Harbor Road, may it rest in peace.” I have the original Laundry restaurant’s recipe for crab cakes with chipotle mayonnaise, Holly Dove’s divine pound cake from the defunct Della Femina restaurant, and best of all, one of Kevin Penner’s recipes for salmon tartare, of which there is always some variation on the 1770 House menu.

    When Bamboo restaurant, now Shiki, opened on Montauk Highway, a local chef, Patrick Fromm, had a lot to learn about Japanese cuisine. Using his French training on Asian ingredients and working side by side with the sushi chef, he came up with one of the most delicious steak dishes I have ever tried. As much as I love sushi and sashimi, sometimes you just want a piece of meat for dinner. The recipe included below is a perfect example of French technique (with a reduced sauce), combined with fresh and light Asian ingredients, tofu, mushrooms, and soybeans.

    Tom Schaudel’s restaurant empire is now generally focused on the North Fork. But once upon a time he owned the Downtown Grille in Montauk. He said, “I love Montauk mussels. A local fisherman friend of mine, Larry Keller (who I affectionately call Capt. Grum­py) used to bring me these at the Downtown Grille. They were always very clean (no sand), plump, and the flavor is incomparable. Make sure you serve this with lots of bread and soupspoons. I guarantee there will be very little of the broth left.” And like a true locavore, he suggests serving this with a local wine, such as a Bedell gewurtztraminer.

    When Tsunami nightclub was ensconced at the revolving-door-of-nightclub-locations on Three Mile Harbor Road, it attempted to stay open for its first winter season. This seemed oddly inappropriate because the decor was clearly meant for 2 a.m. dancing, Cristal swilling, and the occasional celebrity sighting. To go to the dark-walled cavern with sensuous billowing curtains and dusky Moroccan lanterns with a gaggle of gal pals on an early winter evening felt peculiar. But the food was damn good and we went often for the chef’s stir-fried vegetables with wasabi mashed potatoes. I believe his name was John Donnelly (my bro’s name!) and I don’t know where he ended up, but his food was fresh, lively, and creative. I have made his wasabi mashed potatoes many times to go with a simple grilled striped bass fillet, halibut, or cod, and people always ask for the recipe.

    Power couple chefs Michael Rozzi and Holly Dove were in charge of the kitchen at Della Femina’s for many years until its closing last year. Holly Dove shared this unusual recipe for pound cake and described it as one of her favorites to make at home. But it was also showcased at the restaurant, paired with a variety of fruit compotes to suit the season.

    Some of these recipes call for unusual ingredients. Feel free to improvise. For Patrick Fromm’s grilled filet of beef with mushrooms you can use any variety of tasty wild mushrooms. You can find red curry paste and lemongrass at supermarkets, and I think King Kullen has yuzu juice or a yuzu marinade.

   I am going to just say it, even though I may be labeled un-American: Super Bowl Sunday is as much about the food as it is the football.

    At Townline BBQ in Sagaponack, specials served during sport time on Sunday will include $3 chili cheese nachos, wings with blue cheese dressing, or warm pretzels with mustard, and hush puppies for $2.50. Popcorn and peanuts will be offered for free. Beer specials at the Townline bar will include $4 pints and $15 pitchers of tap beer, excluding Guinness, or Coors Light for $3 and $12. Drink specials on margaritas, sangria, and other specialty drinks will be $4 at 4 p.m., $5 at 5 p.m., and, you guessed it, $6 an hour later.

    For those serving a horde of hungry sports fans at home, Townline can provide a Bag o’ Wings, with 50 buffalo wings, for $38, or several catering packages, including the Big Man Football Package, which includes nachos, wings, riblettes, fried mac-and-cheese bits, and pulled pork or chicken or burnt-end sliders — enough to serve six, for $96.

    Indian Wells Tavern in Amagansett will make a weekend of it, beginning with a TV giveaway tomorrow, just in time to install and watch the Super Bowl. Entries to win a 42-inch LG flat-screen TV are served up with any draft beer purchased at the bar. But get there today, before tomorrow’s drawing. Also tomorrow, Indian Wells will start the weekend with some live music from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

    On Sunday, when all three TVs over the bar at the tavern will be tuned to football, all draft beers will be $4 a pint and all items on the bar menu will be $5.

    Harbor Grill, on Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton, will serve up orders of wings at half-price — buy one, get one free — for eating at the bar or restaurant during the Super Bowl.

    On Monday we fast.

New Spots

    Foodies may wish to watch the space at the Red Horse Plaza in East Hampton, formerly home of Tutto Italiano, for the opening of a marketplace at which several familiar vendors will offer their wares. They reportedly will include William Bertha, of Gurney’s Beach Bakery, Pasquale Langella, whose homemade mozzarella has a dedicated following, and Tim’s Prime Meats and Seafood.

    Another anticipated move is Muse restaurant’s plan to open in Sag Harbor. No word on whether the eatery, now based at the Water Mill Shoppes, plans to recreate its “aquatic lounge” at the new spot, but here’s one vote for the ability to watch small sea creatures swim while sipping a martini at the bar.

Palm Prix Fixe

    All this month and next the Palm restaurant in East Hampton will offer a Warm Up Your Winter prix fixe menu for $49.95 per person. Dinners will include an entree, starter, and side dish. Appetizer choices are Caesar or mixed-green salad, lobster bisque, or wild mushroom ravioli, while the entree list includes a nine-ounce filet mignon, tamarind-glazed sea scallops, and wasabi and panko-crusted jumbo shrimp.

    The Palm is also offering diners ordering an entree in the dining room on Thursdays a complimentary glass of house wine and continues to offer “prime bites” at the bar — appetizers for $5.50 per plate — on weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. There is live music in the Palm lounge on Wednesdays from 6 to 9 p.m.

Next “Art & Dine”

    Terrie Sultan, the director of the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, will be interviewed by Dawn Watson of  The Southampton Press at the next “Art & Dine” dinner at the Living Room restaurant in East Hampton. It will take place on Tuesday night beginning at 6.

    A two-course dinner will be followed by cookies, a glass of wine, and the discussion. The cost is $36 per person, plus tax and gratuity.

Thai Coffee

    Doi Chaang, coffee made from beans grown in Thailand, is served at Phao restaurant in Sag Harbor in the dining room and bar Tuesday through Thursday nights from 5:30 to 11 and on Friday and Saturday from 5:30 p.m. until 2 the next morning. The coffee, served with heavy cream and a stick of crystallized sugar, is certified organic and naturally low in caffeine.

Cooking Demo

    Using a TurboChef oven, the cooks at the Loaves and Fishes Cookshop in Bridgehampton will be whipping up tandoori chicken breasts on Saturday, during a free cooking demonstration between noon and 2 p.m.

   My editor, Jennifer, recently turned me on to an awesome Web site called HauteLiving.com. The reason being they featured a little article called “Top 5 Power Lunches in the Hamptons.” Power lunches in the Hamptons? In January? Who does that?

    Well, I figured somebody out here must be having business lunches and power lunches. I eagerly sought out the “article” and was delighted by the lyrical writing, chic, glossy graphics, and informative content. Seriously, Haute Living makes Hamptons magazine (fast reading for the slow thinking) look like Henry James. The five restaurants featured were the American Hotel, East Hampton Point, Sant Ambroeus, La Plage, and Tutto Il Giorno.

    Okay, so to begin, both East Hampton Point and Sant Ambroeus are closed this time of year. La Plage is on the North Shore. So that leaves two restaurants in the Hamptons for your power lunch. Even CurbedHamptons picked up on this egregious error, but even they only detected one that is closed.

    The American Hotel is described as “wood garnished.” What’s that? They recommend the “simple grilled lamb chops mint.” At La Plage the “carmelized jumbo sea scallops as entree” are suggested. Sant Ambroeus is “based of equally named restaurant in Milan” and is “reminicint of the old country.” Best of all, Tutto Il Giorno is described as a “beachfront eatery.” Uh, that looks like a park and a marina to me, but who am I to quibble over facts?

    So this got me to thinking, where are the power lunch spots in the Hamptons and who goes? As far as I can tell the only power brokers out here are real estate agents and nail bangers. I would imagine that places like Bobby Van’s in Bridgehampton, Cittanuova in East Hampton, and Silver’s in Southampton are good midday meeting spots. But my idea of a power lunch location is the bench in front of Mary’s Marvelous in Amagansett, where you can wolf down a chipotle chicken panino followed by cold green tea and gossip about the surf, where you’d rather be this time of year, and who’s having an affair with whom. Or perhaps Rowdy Hall in East Hampton for a warming bowl of onion soup, fish and chips, or a superlative burger. The Living Room offers a business lunch menu but this option is woefully underutilized. I know; I work there.

    Once the domain of men only, business lunches over the decades have come to include women. Formal business lunches remain popular in countries such as Denmark, Argentina, and France, each with their own etiquette. The three-martini lunch, popular in the 1950s through the ’90s, has virtually disappeared. However, thanks to the popularity of AMC’s show “Mad Men,” about Madison Avenue ad execs in the 1960s, you can get a Mad Men-style business lunch called “From Reel Life to Real Life” at the Ruth’s Chris Steak House . . . in Dubai. Much beef is proffered and preferred, the raw and the cooked.

    Once upon a time, the three-martini lunch was tax-deductible as a business expense. While campaigning for president in 1976, Jimmy Carter condemned the practice, claiming the working class was subsidizing what he called “the $50 martini lunch.” His opponent, Gerald Ford, responded by saying “the three-martini lunch is the epitome of American efficiency. Where else can you get an earful, a bellyful, and a snootful at the same time?” This was obviously before his wife, Betty, revealed her struggle with alcoholism and opened the Betty Ford Clinic.

    In 1986 a law limiting the meal expense deduction to 80 percent was enacted and by 1993 only 50 percent was deductible, leading the comedian George Carlin to respond “while the three-martini lunch is being cracked down on, it shouldn’t affect the working man’s two-joint coffee break.” Ha ha.

    Times are busier, people want to be healthier, and very few folks have hours to spend over lunch, whether business, power, or otherwise. Perhaps there are clusters of high-powered people meeting at Yama Q or Nichol’s or Southampton Publick House for midday brainstorming, but I wouldn’t know. I think the top five power lunch spots in the Hamptons are the Fairway at Poxabogue in Sagaponack, your car at Wiborg’s Beach in East Hampton with a Villa Combo, the Candy Kitchen in Bridgehampton, John Papas Cafe in East Hampton, and your own desk at work.

    For those who would like to duplicate the decadent power lunch recipes of yore, let’s begin with the martini. . . .

A “Barefoot Contessa” episode that aired on the Food Network on Monday featured cheeses selected by Ina Garten at the Lucy’s Whey cheese shop here in East Hampton. Ms. Garten was putting together an “all-American cheese plate.”

    The shop will be closed for a winter break during February and March. Tomorrow through Sunday, all jams, chutneys, honeys, and crackers will be 15 percent off. During the East Hampton store’s hiatus, items can be ordered from Lucy’s Whey online, or purchased at the shop’s New York City location at the Chelsea Market.

Cooking Demo

    On Saturday, a recipe from the cookbook “Country Weekend Entertaining” by Anna Pump will be prepared at the Loaves and Fishes Cookshop in Bridgehampton. Between noon and 2 p.m., visitors can learn how to make a macadamia nut tart during the free cooking demonstration.

Alsatian Week

    This is Alsatian Week at Pierre’s restaurant in Bridgehampton. Specials on the menu through Sunday reflect Pierre’s French heritage. The items include a soup with chicken liver balls in a rich vegetable broth, which the restaurateur says was his grandmother’s special Sunday evening treat, and a roasted potato dish with fromage blanc, garlic, onions, and chives, which is served by his mother.

    Also on the menu is Choucroute Royale, described as Alsace’s “national dish,” which is white, blood, and frankfurter sausage, pork shank, and smoked pork belly served with sauerkraut and steamed potatoes; veal kidney with spaetzle and a creamy sauce flambé with cognac, and a peasant dish of lamb shoulder, beef round, and pork shoulder cooked together, for 12 hours, with riesling, potatoes, onions, and carrots. There are special desserts as well and a list of selected complementary wines.

New, Tasty?

    Rowdy Hall, open all year for lunch and dinner, is keeping it interesting by adding some new wintertime menu items. On the lunch list is a potato and French bean salad, and, for sandwiches, grilled marinated eggplant with lemon aioli, arugula, chickpeas, and feta cheese; roasted turkey on a baguette with Camembert, frisée lettuce, and a red currant vinaigrette, and a “French Market Sandwich,” which is warm ham and melted Swiss on a croissant with baby field greens.

    At dinnertime, there is country paté with pickled pearl onions, Dijon mustard, and a grilled baguette as a starter, and entrees including pan-roasted local cod with mushroom ragout and grilled endive; New York strip steak served with hand-cut French fries, roasted shallots, and Bordelaise sauce; roasted acorn squash filled with spinach, leeks, pine nuts, and feta, and cassoulet made with braised pork shoulder, garlic sausage, and duck confit.

    Rowdy also has specials every day of the week. They are listed on the restaurant’s Web site, rowdyhall.com.

Eastern Specials

    For those whose home base is west of the easternmost hamlet, a trip across the Napeague stretch to Montauk can seem less than enticing this time of year. But the specials at two sister restaurants, East by Northeast and the Harvest, might be enough to prompt such an excursion. At the Harvest, a $24 prix fixe is served on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. In addition, for those who want to taste a dish but need less than the restaurant’s normal family-style offerings, half portions can be ordered.

    At ENE, there is a $15 prix fixe served all night on Sunday through Thursday, as well as until 6:45 p.m. on Friday, except on holiday weekends.

Race Lane restaurant in East Hampton will host a wine dinner on Sunday. The menu will begin with butternut squash soup with bay scallops, tuna crudo, and handmade burrata with prosciutto, followed by fettuccine with porcini Bolognese sauce, veal, beef, pork, and cream, and braised veal wild mushroom risotto. Dessert will be zabaglione and berries. The Italian wines to be paired with each dish include a Prosecco and selections from Tuscany and Venice. The dinner begins at 7 p.m. and costs $67 plus tax and gratuity. Reservations have been recommended. Also at Race Lane, there is a three-course prix fixe for $30, for which diners may make selections from the full menu.

Art & Dine

    The actress Mercedes Ruehl will be the guest at an Art and Dine dinner at c/o the Maidstone in East Hampton on Tuesday. Dawn Watson of The South­ampton Press will interview her. The event begins at 6 p.m. A two-course prix fixe dinner, served with a glass of wine, will be followed by a cookie plate for dessert, and the discussion. The cost is $36 per person plus tax and gratuity.

Beer and Super Bowl

    At Indian Wells Tavern in Amagansett, those who purchase a draft beer can enter to win a 42-inch flat-screen TV that will be given away just in time for the Super Bowl. The drawing will be held on Feb. 3. Indian Wells now serves lunch and dinner seven days a week.

Caramel Apple Pie

    On Saturday from noon to 2 p.m., a free cooking demonstration at the Loaves and Fishes Cookshop in Bridgehampton will center on how to make caramel apple pie using a recipe from “Country Weekend Entertaining” by Anna Pump.

    The Fair Foods market continues on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Sag Harbor through May, at the Bay Burger building on the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike.

    Among the vendors that gather there are Anke’s Fit Bakery, Goodale Farms, Greek Sweets, A Taste of the North Fork, Harbor Small Batch, the Mecox Bay Dairy, Regina’s Farm Stand, and Wolffer Estate Winery.

East End Chefs Program

    At the Old Whalers Church in Sag Harbor, an East End Chefs program next Thursday will feature Luis Fernando, the owner of Cilantro’s, and a chef from that Mexican takeout shop, which is just around the corner from the church on Division Street.

    The class, which begins at 6:30 p.m., will include instruction in making dishes that could be served at a Super Bowl party, such as pico de gallo, guacamole, quesadillas, and chili. Wine will be served.    

    Reservations have been recommended, as space is limited, and can be made by calling the church. The cost is $30, which can be paid in cash or by check at the door.

Snacks, With Cheese

    At Lucy’s Whey cheese shop this weekend, Saturday afternoon will bring an opportunity to savor some free snacks from 2 to 4 p.m., including nibbles of cheeses served with organic jams and honeys, and hot chocolate made with stone-ground chocolate. The store, on North Main Street in East Hampton, is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Winter Deals

    At Fresno in East Hampton, now open from Wednesday through Sunday, two different prix fixe specials are available nightly, excluding holidays.

    First course selections include a soup of the day, artisanal baby greens served with pears, manchego cheese, pumpkin seeds, and a sherry vinaigrette, white bean and roasted garlic hummus with grilled pita and marinated olives, and chicken liver paté with pickled beets and rye toast points.

    Among the main course choices are rigatoni Bolognese with beef, veal, pork, truffle oil, and pecorino Romano, chicken Milanese with arugula and goat cheese salad and roasted tomato sauce, grilled center cut pork chops served with fingerling sweet potatoes, shaved Brussels sprouts, pancetta, and a port wine demi glacé, a Fresno burger, and Prince Edward Island mussels with shallots, garlic, and thyme in a white wine broth, served with fries.

    Dessert courses include a warm Valrhona chocolate cake with Nutella-fluff center and hazelnut gelato, warm caramel apple bread pudding with cinnamon gelato, and lemon buttermilk pie with sour cherries.

    Two courses are $28 and three cost $30. Other dishes are available for a supplemental charge. The specials are available in the dining room until just after 6:30 p.m., and all night at the bar.

 Red/Bar Brasserie, Fresno’s Southampton cousin, also has prix fixe choices: two courses for $28, or three for $31, served all night on Wednesday through Sunday, excluding holidays, and on Friday until 6:45 p.m.

    Main course selections might include fish of the day, truffled chicken breast with wild mushroom risotto and French beans, a grilled heirloom pork chop with roasted potatoes, and grilled leeks and sauce, or grilled filet mignon with mashed potatoes, asparagus, Roquefort, and a port wine reduction, for $6 extra.

Hot Soups

    At the Springs General Store, five soup choices are offered daily between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. The soups include vegetarian and other choices such as curried zucchini, Thai chicken, creamy turkey vegetable, beef with winter vegetables, and turkey and white bean chili.

    The store is on Old Stone Highway at School Street.

    This is the time of year when soups are on my mind. And my stove. On a recent trip to High Falls, N.Y., to visit our friend Nancy at her bed-and-breakfast, she prepared a ribollita. It was so delicious we had it two days in a row and I begged her for the recipe. I have made it twice since then.

    Ribollita is an Italian soup/stew full of tomatoes, and beans and herbs and more vegetables and lots of kale. I made a huge batch on New Year’s Day, then toodled off to a party at Cindy and Jimmy’s. Cindy trumped me, for sure. She had made a big pot of Ina Garten’s corn chowder with some sweet corn from Pike’s she had frozen at the end of summer. It was a perfect, rich, and warming meal for the guests who had taken the polar bear plunge that day!

    Soups have been around for as long as man could cook in a vessel over a fire. Just about every culture has some form of soup. The French have perfected the delicate and refined soups such as consommés, bouillons, and bisques. Japanese soups are light, elegant, and healthy. Thai soups tend to be gutsy with coconut milk, fish, and fresh green chilies.

    The modern restaurant industry is said to be based on soup. Restoratifs (where the word restaurant comes from), were the first items served in public restaurants in 18th-century Paris. The word soup derives from sop or sup, meaning a slice of bread upon which the soup or broth is poured.

    Advancements in science enabled soups to take many forms: portable, canned, dehydrated, and eventually microwavable. The earliest portable and dehydrated soups were used for the military, covered wagon trains, and cowboy chuck wagons. Eventually, they became a convenience for the home pantry.

    Every cuisine has its own soups, and virtually any braised, sauced, or stewed dish can be made into soup simply by adding more liquid to the solids. Just about any combination of vegetables can be used, as long as you add a member of the allium family such as garlic, onions, or leeks. You can add backbone and more flavor by the addition of meat; cured pork products are particularly good when combined with bean or lentil soups. Sautéing or roasting vegetables enhances the flavor more than just boiling them.

    James Peterson, the awesome author of numerous encyclopedic single-subject cookbooks, describes his basic formula for all chicken soups. From this method you can then take off in any ethnic direction. Cook a quartered chicken in a sauté pan with a bit of butter or oil. Remove from pan when done, drain off fat, then sweat your aromatic vegetables in the same pan. This combination is known as sofrito in Italy, mirepoix in France, and sofriget in Catalan cooking. It is usually a mixture of garlic and/or onions, carrots, celery, and herbs. Add broth to the vegetables, shred your chicken and add it back to the soup. You could add capers and olives to make a puttanesca-style soup, raisins and apricots to echo a Moroccan tagine, cilantro and toasted tortilla strips for a Mexican accent, and so forth.

    There are also many methods for thickening soups other than using flour and cream. You can toast rice, grind it, then simmer it with the other ingredients. Soups can be a complete meal, along with a nice salad and some crusty bread. A homemade cream of tomato soup is always a hit with children, as are any soups with alphabet pasta. Vegetarians and vegans can be sated with any number of vegetable or mushroom broth-based soups, such as Nancy’s ribollita coming up.

    Another plus: Soups are a one-pot meal. There’s less cleaning up, and they are very economical, especially when simply based on beans and a variety of vegetables. So whether you attempt an ajiaco chicken soup from Colombia, a zurek sour rye soup from Poland, or any other soup from the alphabet and the world, I assure you that you will find it gratifying, healthy, and a comforting endeavor in the coming winter months.

Click for Recipes

    Hilary Herrick Woodward will demonstrate vegan versions of some favorite dishes at the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton on Wednesday at noon. The program is free, but reservations are required. They can be made by calling the library or online at myrml.org

Carnivores’ Night

    Steak night is Wednesday at both Michael’s restaurant at Maidstone Park, where a full steak dinner is $21.95, and at Cittanuova in “downtown” East Hampton, where diners can choose one of three ways to have their New York strip steak prepared, for a $19 prix fixe.

Montauk Prix Fixe

    East by Northeast restaurant might just tempt those western East Hamptoners to cross the stretch one night for its specials served Sunday through Thursday, all night, and on Fridays until 6:45 p.m. There is a $15 prix fixe, or a steak dinner with wine for two for $35.

Taste, Wine and Dine

    A Taste, Wine, and Dine event at the Living Room restaurant in East Hampton on Friday, Jan. 13, will feature four courses paired with a tasting of five wines chosen by Chris Miller, the restaurant’s sommelier. The cost is $95 per person plus tax and gratuity, and reservations are required.

    On the menu will be Scottish salmon tartare with pickled cucumber, citrus broth, and an avocado mousse followed by slow-cooked Berkshire pork belly with kimchi, pumpkin chutney, and Swedish dark syrup sauce. The entree, lamb shank over polenta with truffle pecorino and roasted winter root vegetables, will be followed by a cheese course of local Mecox Bay Dairy raw cows’ milk cheese with fig compote and walnut bread. Seatings will be at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m.

Art and Dine

    Tuesday will bring the next in the Living Room’s series of Art and Dine dinners, which feature discussions with artists, writers, musicians, and other persons of interest. Dawn Watson, a Southampton Press editor, will interview Jonni, a singer, songwriter, and pianist from the East End, whose debut single,  “Save Your Breath,” was released when she was 15, received a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year.

    A two-course dinner will be served following a 6 p.m. meet-and-greet. The cost of the evening is $36, plus tax and gratuity, which includes a glass of wine.

    Do you think of New Year’s Eve as a time to reflect on the past year, make resolutions to improve your life and the lives of others, or as an excuse to be as debauched as possible, drink too much, stay up late, and make a fool of yourself? Yeah, me too.

    New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are the most celebrated holidays throughout the world. How and when did they begin? The earliest recorded festivities in honor of a the arrival of a new year date back 4,000 years to ancient Babylon. It was originally celebrated in late March, on the first new moon of the vernal equinox. This was the day that had an equal amount of sunlight and darkness. Civilizations around the world developed increasingly sophisticated calendars, usually pinning the first day of the year to an agricultural or astronomical event.

    The early Roman calendar, created by Romulus, founder of Rome, consisted of 10 months or 304 days. A later king, Numa Pompilius, is credited with adding the months of Januarius and Februarius. Over the centuries, the calendar fell out of sync with the sun. So in 46 B.C. Julius Caesar decided to do something about it. After consulting astronomers and mathematicians, he created the Julian calendar, which closely resembles the Gregorian calendar used by most countries today. Caesar instituted Jan. 1 as the first day of the year, partly to honor the month’s namesake, Janus, the Roman god of new beginnings. Janus had two faces, one facing backward, the past, and one facing forward to the future. The day was celebrated by decorating homes with laurel leaves, offering sacrifices to Janus, exchanging gifts, and last but not least, having raucous parties.

    How is New Year’s celebrated around the world? In most countries it involves lots of fireworks, plenty of toasts and family gatherings, feasts, and lots of drinking. There are also some pretty interesting customs and superstitions. In Italy, red underwear is worn for good luck and old things are thrown out the window. Lasagna is considered a good luck meal, macaroni, not. In Spain, red underwear is also considered good luck, as is eating 12 grapes, one for each chime of the clock at midnight, with a wish made for each grape consumed. This 12-grape ritual is also practiced in Costa Rica, Chile, Brazil, and Mexico. In Costa Rica, some folks grab a piece of luggage and run around the streets with it in the hope of great adventures and new trips in the coming year. Brazilians wear white and eat lentils.

    In the Philippines wearing clothing with circular patterns such as polka dots should bring money. Bright colors show enthusiasm for the coming year and tossing coins at midnight attracts wealth. Shaking coins in a metal casserole brings good luck, jumping up and down will make you taller, and making a lot of noise will scare away evil spirits.

    The Germans enjoy massive fireworks displays and tell fortunes by dropping molten lead into cold water. I do not recommend this activity at home. If you touch a chimney sweep this will bring luck, as will consuming jelly doughnuts and marzipan pigs.

    In Iceland and Canada and many other countries there will be a satirical TV show making fun of politicians, artists (?!), and business people. Then neighbors all get together around a bonfire and watch fireworks.

    Some traditions are quite sweet. In Belgium farmers go outside to wish their animals a happy new year. In the cities and towns all bus service is free, and a company called the Responsible Young Drivers taxi service gets all the revelers home safely.

    An old superstition in France was that the wind direction on New Year’s Eve would predict trends for the following year. Wind blowing east meant a good year for fruit, blowing west a good year for fish and livestock, blowing south meant good weather all year, and blowing north meant crop failure. They also believed that all old wine had to be consumed by Jan. 3. I imagine that if the wind was blowing out of the north on Dec. 31, this would not be hard to accomplish.

    The Russians believed that if a man was first to enter your home on New Year’s Day, the rest of the year would be good. The Japanese clean house all day to welcome Toshigami, the new year’s god. Buddhist temples ring bells 108 times to represent the 108 defilements that people have in their mind.

    What are some of the foods consumed on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day? In Lebanon tabouleh, hummus, and kibbeh are enjoyed after the fireworks display. In Spain the meal usually includes shrimp and lamb or capon. Estonians enjoy pork with sauerkraut, potato salad with beets, and gingerbread. In the Netherlands apple turnovers and apple fritters are served for dessert and the Greeks enjoy Basil’s pie, or vassilopita.

    I like the American Southern tradition of black-eyed peas — Hoppin’ John — for good luck. It’s so much simpler than capons and marzipan pigs.

    However you celebrate, whether simply or elaborately, with hearty partying or earnest resolutions, I think the French sum it up best with the toast “Bonne année, bonheur, santé, amour, argent,” good and happy year, happiness, health, love, and money.