Martha has ‘Now that’s a good thing’. Barefoot Contessa has ‘How easy was that?” And, Giada has generally aggressive Italian inflections as her marking. Now, were I to develop a signature ‘phrase’, it might just be ‘…on hand.’ Greg has made fun of me for years for all of the Sara Lee pound cakes, jars of artichoke hearts, indulgent cheeses, gluten free crackers, bottles of bourbon, and extra batches of soups, sauces and cookies that I have made and bought in the interest of having them ‘on hand.’ It’s not my fault; my mom always taught me to be prepared for the uninvited guest and I have taken her words to heart. Now is the perfect time to ease into this practice. My ‘on hand’ holiday grocery list: bottles of bubbly, a bag of cranberries in the freezer to garnish drinks with, clementines, green olives, cashews and pistachios, spicy pickled green beans, a great cracker, a goat’s cheddar, a blue veined camembert, a head of garlic for roasting, fig jam, sweet hot mustard and a fennel salami. It’s so simple it seems silly to write but I’ve found that having these items ‘on hand’ inspires me to have more impromptu get togethers and that’s the whole point. Can’t forget the peppermint ice cream!