High summer. The brilliant orange daylilies are blooming in profusion, the roadsides are dotted with baby blue chicory and white Queen Ann’s lace. Everyone’s flower and kitchen gardens look great just about now, and the Japanese beetles have not quite made it to our rose bushes yet to spoil the fun. We know they are…
Category: Brunch
Too many peas in the garden? No such thing!
The thing is, you either have no fresh peas or you have more than you think you know what to do with all at once. The same with summer squash. Gardens are like that. When the peas are in, we eat peas at every meal, and in our house, this is one crop that is…
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You might have to close your eyes to see the pretty in this soup, or add a little flair.
Just around bedtime last night, we had one of the most intense electrical storms ever. The rain came down so fast I had two inches of water in minutes on my stone patio, hail started bombarding the house, and the lightning flashed unending like strobe lights for over 15 minutes. The dogs jumped on the…
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Hummus and veggies for lunch again? Stop yawning, I will make it a little more fun.
It’s a good day when your roses start blooming. Rosa rugosa, a little late this year but still the first to show up for the show, is her usual fragrant and beautiful self. This is a rose you must stop and smell, it will lure you, calm you down. The original wild rugosa from Japan,…
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Once in a while in a big blue moon…
On this day, we are all living under a ‘blue moon,’ which means it is the second full moon in the calendar month. When we speak of a blue moon, we are generally referring to something rare, in this case, an event that happens every two or three years. There won’t be another one until…
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It’s asparagus season, so let’s celebrate with brunch!
May. Some say it’s a perfect time to live in Vermont. All the months and seasons have their own charm, but I agree that there really is something special about the month of May. In our family, it begins with birthdays. My mom, sister, and one of my brothers were all born in May, spread…
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A little sweet, a little sour, life is all about balance.
I can hear my dad’s voice through all these years announcing the first emergence of the tender but terribly hardy little pea shoots in early spring. “The Peas are up!” They were eagerly anticipated every year, nothing more exciting for the northern gardener after a long winter. When we place those little seeds in the…
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Do cabbages bloom? Not as well as an onion, but yes, and they are delicious with a special sauce.
Spring has been slow to arrive this year, but we are undeniably here. This week, ice out at Joe’s Pond, the definitive sign we are well into Vermont spring, happened at 6:21 a.m. on Thursday. The lottery ($1 a ticket) draws contestants from all over the world, and serves as a good fundraiser for the…
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Get out of the house, then come home to something good to eat.
We’ve turned the corner and I smell spring in the air, at least some days. There’s still a lot of snow and ice to melt, but our driveway is clear and we’ve had some above-freezing days with blue skies to lighten our hearts. Next week, it’s projected a day or two in the high 60s,…
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And thus, a New Year begins.
And here we are. 2026! The beginning of January is a time to look forward, with a glance or two back in the rear-view mirror, but only just long enough to see if we need any course corrections. Do you make resolutions? I gave that up long ago, at least fastening my resolve to a…
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What to pair with the grey early December landscape in New England? Color! We need some vibrant color!
November may be over, but the grey skies and landscapes remain, and our days continue to dwindle to what seems like precious few hours of light. Today is the meteorological beginning of winter, the three coldest months of the calendar year. We always question if we are ready for it, but it definitely is an…
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Write down those family recipes! They really might not be paying attention while you cook.
The dishes served to us as children tend to linger in the back of one’s mind, carved there by repetition, but truly embedded with aroma and taste; it takes just a whiff to send you back in time. Sometimes it is hard to recreate a dish because taste buds and even the memories themselves change….
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Let’s create a dip and make up a name! It would be unique, memorable, unless someone else beat me to it.
Would you like some edamole with your corn chips? We do it all the time, make a mash up of two dishes and rename it. Like a pizza filling stuffed quesadilla becomes a pizzadilla, or a crescent dough doughnut becomes a cronut. Sometimes we just refer to it within our family because it’s a bit…
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Please don’t be bitter; there’s always a way to sweeten up life, and beautiful vegetables, too!
Let’s start with radicchio! Add a little sweet, a little sour, and you’re there! All’s right in the world. We seem to keep drifting between late summer and fall, bright blues skies and finally some rain. Today, I took a walk with the dogs without a sweater, even though I woke up in the morning…
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Autumn arrives, with three beautiful sisters at its side!
And before you know it, fall slips in between the blasting heat and threatening frost. She’s that quick, and always armed with a few tricks up her colorful sleeve. One day shorts and sandals, the next, sweaters and frantic picking of the remaining tomatoes in the garden. Today, we finally have blessed rain to help…
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Party Trick: A little sunshine in a paté for all.
It’s been a magnificent year for sunflowers. Perhaps it was the non-stop rain for weeks followed by intense heat and no rain, but for whatever reason they arrived early and are still delighting us with their vibrant color. All parts of the sunny plant are edible, mostly Filled with color, they are also pretty delicious…
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Panzanella is fun to say, and even more fun to make and eat, especially if one is in Autumn denial. At least for now.
A large basket of sweet cherry tomatoes from the garden. A massive melon from the farm stand. Some stale bread. Let’s mix them all together and feast. Autumn slipped in quietly this morning, and while there was a distinct chill in the air when I first got up, we hit almost 80 by mid-afternoon and…
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Lobster for the frugal New Englander!
Corn and lobsters are perennial sidekicks. Indulge, if you like, but don’t break the bank! In New England, fresh Maine lobsters star in the summertime, especially when combined with our local harvest of golden corn, our very own amber waves of grain. While both shine beautifully on their own, they go together well! One rarely…
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How to make quinoa taste delicious!
Yes, it can be done! I wouldn’t steer you wrong. The first time I made quinoa, I remember not liking it very much. It tasted bitter to me, with a funny off taste. It’s such a nutritious seed, a complete protein with all the essential amino acids present, so for the vegetarians in the family,…
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Just a little bump in the road, but good food makes it better.
Life certainly hands us many lemons along the way. Luckily, it’s one of my favorite flavors, sourness and all. My little glitch this week was a mishap in my kitchen that dislocated my shoulder. Don’t ask me how it happened, it is outrageously silly, and I get absolutely no sympathy when I tell the story….
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We’ve waited for blueberry season all year, and we’re not disappointed now. Scones?
Blueberry Season. It’s a happy day indeed when our local blueberries come in. Nothing better than eating a half pint in the car on the way back from the farm stand, making a mental note that next time we’ll buy more. One should always remember not to go food shopping when hungry, but even if…
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Anyone care for a little summer sunshine in a bowl?
It was hot and I had a hankering for a chilled gazpacho, one of my favorite summer lunches. I usually make a half gallon of it at a time, and we enjoy it throughout the heat wave. However, the beautiful field tomatoes are not ripe here yet in any abundance, so I decided to give…
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How to tame a silly garden serpent!
They are everywhere this time of year in the north. Garlic scapes. They look like little serpents curling out of their baskets, but although they are strange to behold, the good news, is they are delicious and useful in many a dish with a subtle garlic flavor and lovey texture. The garlic tries hard to…
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Add a little snap to your supper? Sounds good, horseradish, please.
Well it’s a hot one! This week’s heat wave has sent many a New Englander and beyond to the lake or into the house for refuge as temperatures hovered in the extremely humid and high nineties, kissing 100 with the heat index. This is not the time for prolonged meal prep, especially when even the…
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With a little ginger, some sesame, all is right in the world. Toss in scallions, and the trio is complete.
It’s a sauce, a dressing, a topping, and no matter how you use it, you’ll go back for more. Sesame, ginger, scallions. A trio that often travels together around the world. We love the flavor of each separately, but combined their individuality is transformed. Add garlic, and all is right in that world. There isn’t…
