In JUPITER, Casa Mia offers up enticing specials
Casa Mia Trattoria & Pizzeria will be serving their regular menu plus specials (filet mignon with porcini cognac sauce and grilled polenta; zuppa di pesce, which features clams, lobster, shrimp, mussels, and calamari, in a lobster tomato broth; veal chop Milanese and double-cut gilled lamb chops in a garlic rosemary reduction) from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Emile Cessare is the entertainer, beginning at 8:00 p.m. There’s a free glass of champagne at midnight, plus party favors.
Reservations are suggested.
Casa Mia Trattoria & Pizzeria, 337 E. Indiantown Road, in the Fisherman’s Wharf Plaza, Jupiter.
Information: (561) 972-6888, or casamiajupiter.com | Directions, invite a friend

From kids to adults THE RITZ-CARLTON PALM BEACH has it all

For the kids:
A kids carnival runs from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Dec. 31. With a buffet-style dinner and more. $90 per child ages five to 12.
Temple Orange features a kids’ buffet, and “Flames of the Fire” desserts – holiday cupcakes Tic-Tac-Toe and S’mores at the fire pit.
December 31; 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Kids’ buffet $25 per child ages six to 12; no charge for children five and under.
For the adults: New Year’s Eve at Angle, with a la carte cuisine, great atmosphere and live music. There is a $155 four-course dinner with wine pairing. | Directions, invite a friend
Saturday, December 31; 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Party like it’s 2012
in LAKE WORTH

South Shores Tavern: No cover charge or minimum. Party hats, favors, champagne toast. The Tramps Jam Band for entertainment. For $50 per person, a three-course Prix Fix Dinner and Open Bar from 9 p.m-midnight.
Information: southshorestavern.com or call 561-547-7656 | Directions, invite a friend

A formal New Year’s Eve
at PGA NATIONAL

Formal atture required for the New Year’s Eve gala from 8:30 p.m.- 12:30 a.m. Dinner, dancing, champagne. The 5th Avenue band is the entertainment. A $110-per-person New Year’s Eve dinner.
Reservations required. Information: (561) 273-2907 | Directions, invite a friend

A variety of options
at DOWNTOWN AT THE GARDENS

51 Supper Club: Special menu, champagne toast, balloon drop, live music. From 4 p.m. until early morning.
Cabo Flats: A new light show, free tequila pours, a DJ, champagne toast, and you can watch the ball drop on giant flat-screen TV.
Dirty Martini: For $30, there is a buffet and one free martini from 7-9 p.m., free champagne toast at midnight. Music, DJ.

Try New Year’s Eve
in NORTHWOOD

Jade Kitchen offers up variety of its New American menu delights. Dinner starts at 5 p.m. Reservations recommended. Jade Kitchen, 422 Northwood Road, West Palm Beach, Florida, 33407. Information: (561) 366-1185 | Directions, nearby dining

The Omphoy on Palm Beach will feature a Christmas day brunch and a tasting menu for dinner.

Here’s what’s cooking this weekend:

CASA MIA:
The popular trattoria and pizzeria is open Christmas Eve Saturday night, and serving up holiday offerings, like Baccala Livornese (cod in tomato sauce with olives and capers), grilled octopus salad, Dover sole with a Champagne sauce and a half Maine lobster over spaghetti with a brandy-infused sauce. Open 4 to 11 p.m. Saturday; closed Christmas Day. Reservations are suggested at (561) 972-6888.

Casa Mia Trattoria & Pizzeria: 337 E. Indiantown Rd. (Fisherman’s Wharf Plaza), Jupiter. Website: CasaMiaJupiter.com. | Directions, invite a friend
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The airy doughnuts called 'sufganiyot' are among the sweetest treats for Hanukkah. (AP)

It might seem that getting eight nights worth of presents is the best thing about Hanukkah, but it isn’t. The doughnuts are.

Here in the U.S., as well as in Europe, crispy, fried potato latkes are the best known food for celebrating the legendary miracle of one day’s worth of oil that burned in the temple for eight days. But, puffy doughnuts called sufganiyot (which means "sponge," describing the texture) can rival potato pancakes in popularity, especially in Israel.

Many food historians say that in the past, potatoes were more abundant in Northern and Eastern Europe, while in the Middle East and Africa, wheat and other grains were more widely available. Not surprisingly, when it came to celebrating Hanukkah by cooking foods in oil, people fried what was easiest to get.

Given Americans’ love of doughnuts, sufganiyot are growing in popularity stateside. Tehiya Benezra, who with her husband, Michael, opened the North Shore Kosher Bakery in Chicago after emigrating from Israel, says the numbers speak for themselves. For the week leading up to, and during the week of Hanukkah, she says they sell 2,000 to 3,000 sufganiyot each day.

And that’s on top of numerous special orders, including one cultural organization that usually buys about 10,000 of the golden pastries.

Benezra says the yeasted doughnuts are most commonly filled with fruit jams or custard, but in recent years, caramel and fudge have become popular as well.

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By ELIZABETH KARMEL
For The Associated Press
Brisket has become an unfortunate joke. Too often this staple of Hanukkah meals is tough, tasteless and gray.
But turning this culinary catastrophe into a winner is quite simple. When guests at my restaurant try my version of brisket, they are amazed that it is the same cut of meat that they grew up “not eating!”
To make this recipe, it helps to have a smoker, but it isn’t necessary. All you need is patience (it takes a long time to cook) and to buy the right cut of meat.
And not all brisket is the same. A good brisket will have two parts — the top “moist” point (also referred to as deckle) and the bottom “lean” flat.
In the meat industry, this is called the packer’s cut. The fat in the top moist point will keep the lean flat basted and juicy during the long cooking time.
When you buy a trimmed brisket (the moist point has been removed) braising is the only way to make it palatable. That and adding lots of flavorful ingredients, such as onion soup mix and stewed tomatoes.
It’s much better to go with a whole, untrimmed brisket. You may need to order it from a butcher, but it is so worth it.
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Brio in the Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens, will serve a Tuscan-inspired Easter brunch.

EGG ‘HUNT’ FOR GROWN-UPS: The ever-inventive ZED451 has redefined the egg hunt. During its Easter brunch and dinner seatings, the steak house will present diners age 21 and older a surprise-filled “Golden Egg.” (Surprise as in free appetizer, dessert, wine or cocktail.)

At $24 per person, the unlimited brunch menu features items like homemade waffle topped with Buffalo Basted Chicken, tomato-basil frittatas, panettone French toast and crab cake eggs benedict, plus meats carved table-side. At $44 per person, dinner brings the full ZED Menu Experience, which is grilled and delivered personally by the chef.

Brunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner starts at 4 p.m. Complimentary valet parking is available.

ZED451 is at 201 Plaza Real in Boca Raton’s Mizner Park. For reservations, call (561) 393-3451. Website: www.zed451.com.

Special section: Egg-cellent Easter brunches | Easter event listings | More brunch listings

ENDLESS EASTER BUFFET: The Atlantic Ocean Club is serving a five-station brunch Easter Sunday, featuring jazzed up omelets, carving-station meats and lush entrees (think Lobster Eggs Benedict). Executive Chef Lisa Odom’s feast includes unlimited mimosas and Bloody Marys. The Easter brunch, served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., costs $29 per adult and $12 per child, excluding tax and tip. Reservations are recommended.
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The Red Velvet cocktails from Morton's The Steakhouse.

Love is in the air and it is …

TASTY LIKE RED VELVET

Sip one of these Red Velvet specialty Valentine’s Day cocktails at Morton’s The Steakhouse, where the V-Day special is a steak and seafood dinner for two for $109.99. The special includes a complimentary keepsake photo of you and your sweetheart, snapped by the restaurant. To reserve at the West Palm location, call (561) 835-9664; at the Boca location, call (561) 392-7724. Read the full story

Christmas-Spiced Pork Ribs, a tradition of Norway, can be made with other cuts of meat. Cloves, anise and ginger give it the Christmas spice. (Alberto Martínez/AMERICAN-STATESMAN)

By Addie Broyles

Instead of a ham or roasted turkey at the center of your Christmas dinner, what about pork ribs or spicy beef stew?

Just as Santa Claus looks and behaves a little differently than St. Nicholas and Papa Noel, Christmas dinners around the world are as varied as the way Christians and even non-Christians celebrate the holiday.

One of the universal truths of Christmas is that it inspires a sweet tooth in all of us, but instead of focusing on all the holiday cookies, puddings and fried doughs, let’s take a tour of the variety of non-desserts found during Christmas dinner around the world. Read the full story