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Long before American fragrance became an industry, there was Caswell-Massey. From Colonial Apothecary to American Perfumer Founded in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1752 by Scottish-born physician Dr. William Hunter, the company began as an apothecary serving the prosperous merchants and travelers who passed through one of colonial America’s busiest ports. Hunter sold medicines, soaps, grooming preparations and imported European fragrances, while also blending scents of his own. T

Open a jar of herbes de Provence and the fragrance immediately suggests southern France: sun-warmed hillsides, wild thyme, rosemary bushes and long lunches beneath under plane trees or along an idyllic beach. Herbes de Provence is a widely used dried seasoning blend associated with Provence and the Mediterranean cooking of southeastern France. There is no single definitive recipe, but the traditional foundation is usually thyme, rosemary, oregano and savory. Marjoram, basil,

An icebox cake is made by layering crisp cookies or crackers with whipped cream and refrigerating the assembled dessert for several hours—preferably overnight. As it rests, moisture from the cream slowly softens the cookies, transforming them into tender, cake-like layers. What began as a stack of store-bought ingredients emerges from the refrigerator cool, creamy and scrumptious. Icebox cakes feel light and refreshing. They are also ideal for entertaining. Most require littl

The Compact Mini Food Processor You’ll Actually Use Every Day Large food processors are useful, but they are also heavy, bulky and often more trouble than they are worth when dinner requires only half an onion and a handful of parsley or a few ounces of grated parmesan. The KitchenAid 3.5-Cup Food Chopper succeeds precisely because it is designed for these smaller, everyday jobs. Compact enough to remain on the counter—and light enough to retrieve without fuss—it quickly chop

Clafoutis is a wonderfully uncomplicated French desserts that looks far more sophisticated than it is and is quite easy to make. Pronounced kla-foo-TEE, it originated in rural south-central France. The traditional version—clafoutis aux cerises—is made by arranging fresh black cherries in a buttered baking dish, pouring over a thin batter of eggs, milk, flour and sugar, and baking until puffed, golden and just set. The fruit softens and releases its juices as the batter develo

The All-Clad D3 12-inch sauté pan is the MVP of our kitchen. This is the pan we reach for when we want beautifully browned chicken, crispy-skin fish, a quick pan sauce, or pasta finished in the skillet – which is to say that we use it a lot. It is especially good for searing. Preheat it, add a little oil, and chicken develops the sort of deep brown crust that is impossible to achieve with nonstick cookware. Once you remove the food, the browned bits left behind are exactly wh

Kitchen Utensils designed in France for the pleasure of eating wel Few kitchen pieces are more essential than polished copper cookware. Just ask the French. They will draw your attention to Mauviel, makers of pots and pans that, while they are stunning to behold, offer considerably more than good looks. Made in France, the collection combines a substantial two-millimeter copper exterior with a nonreactive 18/10 stainless-steel interior. Copper heats quickly, spreads heat even

Alvar Aalto’s Stool 60 is as useful as it is iconic. The genius of the piece is its almost disarming simplicity: three bent birch legs, a round seat, and a form so clean it seems inevitable. Designed by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto in 1933, the Stool 60 is one of the masterworks of modern Scandinavian design — practical, humane, stackable, and quietly beautiful. Made in Finland by Artek, the Stool 60 has birch legs and a lacquered seat. It works almost anywhere — as a side

You can spend a lot of money on a bottle of balsamic vinegar, and we have. Once a while, when we have some juicy vine-ripened tomatoes grown by a friend in her backyard, a drizzle of rich, knock-your-socks-off balsamic (plus a few grains of maldon salt) is worth the splurge. But for every day cooking, we prefer a reasonably priced bottle. I did not say cheap. I am talking about a good quality balsamic that satisfies our everyday needs, something dense, sweet, silky, well