People love Dojo at Findlay Market for their gelato. I am hopeless in the face of their delicious affogato. This espresso/gelato float has gotten me through many a difficult day. On a recent visit, Dojo owner Michael Christner advised me that he was about to up the ante.  

Aren’t you glad you don’t live in the days when “sugarplums” were a big Christmas treat? What is a sugarplum, anyway? I’m looking forward to some old-fashioned goodies, but I’m making my list and checking to be sure it’s all local and all delicious. Pretty much everything included in this list can be found at Findlay Market, so that’s one-stop shopping you can feel good about.  

Take your fanciest tray or cutting board out of the cupboard where it lurks 360 days a year, and put it in your car. Drive to Dutch’s Larder. Seriously, this is the wow-factor your party always wanted.   

I don’t know about you, but when it comes to flu shots, I’d rather skip the doctor and follow the advice of a good bartender, like Rom Wells of The Rookwood in Mount Adams. He prescribes a single barrel (preferably barrel proof) whiskey, lemon and honey, with a whole star anise, cinnamon stick and clove in it, served in a snifter. That sounds like a cure for the common winter blahs.  

Cincinnati’s newest seafood restaurant is also its best. Welcome to Porkopolis, Anchor OTR. I love the scale of this restaurant. No, not the fish scales! The size and scope. It’s just right.  

I just read in New York magazine that pumpkin is the new bacon. They may be on to something. Listen to this shopping list a friend just posted on Facebook: pumpkin coffee, pumpkin oatmeal, pumpkin cream cheese, pumpkin butter, pumpkin cider and pumpkin-chip biscotti. Eat that and you’re likely to start glowing all orangey.  

“These are quality wines under $15 that taste expensive as hell,” said my neighbor and one of my go-to wine guys, Alfonse Mele, senior wine consultant at Dep’s Fine Wines in Covington. “They’re all unique. You could pour these in order for a great tasting, or pair them with just about any holiday meal and impress your guests.”  

Cooking for Martha Stewart has got to be a little like sharing your film project with Woody Allen, right? Surreal is the word Cincinnati chef and caterer Renee Schuler of Eat Well Celebrations and Feasts uses to describe her recent experience cooking for Martha, someone who set the bar for beautiful food when Schuler was growing up.  

New and notable on the dining scene is the latest addition to the Washington Park/OTR/Gateway District — The Anchor (14th and Race, Over-the-Rhine). After a few days of serving family and friends to get in the groove, full-service operations started on Sept. 18.  

I’m more inclined to pop open a bottle from the experts, but, hey, I don’t have the White House staff on hand to fix what “ales” me. So I asked a home brewing friend, Matt Canale, a video game developer in L.A., to fill me in on his experience and give our readers some tips on how to get started.