Smoked Haddock Cakes with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

You can use any smoked fish here, they are all delightful. Pan- or oven-fried cakes of any sort are an economical way to stretch a pound of smoked fish, which can be on the pricy side these days. When I was growing up, smoked and salted fish of any type was cheap food to feed…

Rosemary and Goat Cheese Scones

The weather has turned, and with a chill in the air and a fire in the hearth there might be the urge to take a bit more time cooking, or bake something tasty. Bread baking is always satisfying, whether yeasted or a quick bread. Sometimes as we prepare a meal there’s a feeling a little…

Roasted Ratatouille with Red Lentil Pasta

All of a sudden, you have too much of everything! This time of year, when the peppers, squash, eggplant, and tomatoes are staging their grand finale, and we feel like we have more than we can deal with, the urge to mix them all together is strong. Thoughts often turn to ratatouille. A humble peasant…

Because sometimes we all need to be coddled.

 Coddled eggs may have gone out of fashion, but they are always a delight. One of the last gifts my mom gave me was a set of egg coddler cups from Williams Sanoma. They were beautiful little treasures in Delft white with blue, which she knew I loved, with shiny stainless-steel tops. She thought my…

Honey Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread with Anise

Slightly sweet, beautifully textured, with the subtle fragrance of anise It is a frigid day, so a perfect time to bake bread and make soup. I needed to feed “Ginny Junior,” my sourdough starter, so bread making was definitely in the cards. Sweet and sturdy       I wanted a sturdy loaf, whole wheat with a lot…

My favorite leftovers!

We try hard to reduce waste in the kitchen, and planning for use of “leftovers” goes a long way to help! It can be a challenge to repurpose those leftovers hiding in the refrigerator. One can toss the remnants of yesterday’s casserole in soups, vegetables and grains in frittatas and omelets, and lots of leftovers…

A Really Good Cup of Hot Chocolate!

      December is here! In the north, that means you’ll need a good cup of hot chocolate, and I’m ready. After making snowmen and forts with my brothers on cold, blustery days, Mom would have steaming hot chocolate waiting for us! Nothing tasted better, and nothing warmed us more, beginning with our frozen…

Jan’s Parsley and Cheese Bread

This was one of my sister’s favorite bread recipes. Dear friends, I have been absent here for a while. Sadly, I lost my beloved sister Jan on the morning of Halloween after a brief and unexpected one-month battle with lung cancer. It still doesn’t seem possible she won’t walk through my door, and my heart…

Scallion and Patty Pancakes

Right about now, you’ve probably got a lot of summer squash to use! Did you plant too many summer squash? Did your neighbor? At this time of year, summer squashes are bountiful so we’re digging out our recipes for ratatouille, roasted vegetables, zucchini bread and cakes, and any number of other dishes to use up…

Sea Scallops and Baby Potatoes in Purgatory

Any time of day, this flavorful dish is a crowd pleaser! We love eggs in purgatory, the Italian version of shakshuka, a spicy tomato sauce in which eggs are simmered. It is a delicious breakfast, brunch, or supper dish, that is popular around the world.  Let’s make a swap! But for a different take on…

Celebrate the Season with a Luscious Lighter Strawberries Romanoff

This is a much lighter version of the old standby, with all the flavor and beauty. Strawberries are our first fruit of the season, and we wait all year for these beautiful little gems. Sweet, sometimes with a tart edge, red through and through, there is something magical about the aroma of macerated strawberries when…

Colcannon Cabbage Wraps with French-Fried Potato Peels

Rustic, tasty, filling, inexpensive, but also worthy of company. Who could ask for anything more? The Irish in me looks forward to St. Patrick’s Day cooking because there is usually a potato involved! One of my favorite country dishes is colcannon, a humble bowl of mashed potatoes mixed with kale or cabbage a few scallions…

Whole Wheat Lemon Muffins

This tangy and tender muffin began life as a humble home economics recipe from high school.  When I was in high school, I thought I’d take a break from my heavier schedule and signed up for home economics one term. Since I had been cooking with my mother since I was very young, I found…

Honey Whole Wheat Sourdough English Muffins

That sounds like a mouthful, but they are easy to make, and full of flavor and nutrition! When I was growing up, my mom made English muffins once in a while, but not as a regular part of her baking routine. She used tuna-fish cans as the mold to shape them, and as a kid…

Omelet with Nantucket Bay Scallops and Peas

When they are in season, Nantucket Bay Scallops are a treasure from our New England waters. If you are lucky enough to travel to Nantucket Island, Mass., from November to March, plan to dine at one of the fabulous seafood restaurants and look for their bay scallop dishes. You won’t be disappointed. The best in…

Pear & Ginger Muffins

Ripe autumn pears dance beautifully with spicy ginger! We had a lovely brunch with friends Suzy and Bob last week at the peak of Vermont’s fabulous foliage color. It was an autumn celebration of some of the best of the season: a frittata featuring native squash, beans, and corn. Roasted potatoes, of course. A few…

Corn and Red Pepper Fritters with Poached Eggs and Salsa

Hurry! Corn season is fast winding down. This dish will serve as breakfast, brunch, or a quick summer supper, and there’s simple vegan and gluten-free options as well. We are approaching the Equinox, and with it the final days of our corn season. This is the time to squeeze in as many fresh corn dishes…

Grilled Peaches with Ginger Rum Sauce

It’s Peach Season and we simply can’t get enough! This is the week when it seems we have every wonderful local fruit possible. Muskmelons, blueberries and raspberries, tasty apples, plums, and the show-off of the season – fresh, juicy peaches. I stopped at the farm stand and smelled the peaches the second I walked through…

Abandoned Zucchini Bread with Marmalade Thyme Butter

Lock your cars and sun porches, it’s zucchini season here in Vermont! It’s long been a joke that the only time anyone around here locks the car is during zucchini season. They grow really fast, especially if there’s been a lot of rain, and it always seems like these fruits go from tender little treasures…

Maple and Spice Granola

When my children were small, I got in the habit of making granola for them, a big container always graced a prime spot in the larder. With oats and raisins from the bulk section of the health food store, this was a simple and inexpensive cereal to make while on a really tight budget. We…

Strawberry Orange Crêpes with Nutella Sauce

Strawberries, chocolate, hazelnut, and a hint of orange make this a memorable breakfast. My guests at the inn always loved crêpes, any kind of crêpe, sweet or savory. When it is strawberry season, and they are starting their annual bounty so nothing else will do, of course. It’s a show-off kind of breakfast that is remarkably…

Oatmeal Rum Raisin Bread

Mostly savory with a touch of sweetness from the raisins, this humble little loaf began its life in 1939. Thumbing through an old cookbook from 1939 “The New England Yankee Cookbook” I came across an oatmeal bread recipe, simple in ingredients, and it made four loaves! Although I love my usual oatmeal bread (recipe here)…