No, it is not the same as fresh; sometimes it’s even better! This post is an encore of one I wrote a few years ago, so please forgive the late summer rerun! Ah, those fresh herbs I admit to being spoiled all summer long when I walk a few feet from my kitchen door to…
Category: Condiments
Orzo and Radicchio Salad Cups with Honey Lime Dressing
Summertime, and the living is easy, at least a little longer. We love a chilled salad, something packed with flavor that we can enjoy over a few meals without any additional cooking. Pasta salads are always at the top of the list, whether a humble macaroni salad, or colorful pasta primavera. They feed a lot,…
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Grilled Napa Cabbage with Spicy Avocado Dill Dressing
A simple salad with the delightful high summer flavors of dill and smoke! When I was growing up, my Aunt Jeanette had a marvelous stand of self-sown dill plants by the edge of her garden. Her dill was happily shared with those in the family making pickles or dilly beans this time of year. I…
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Mostly Mom’s Angel Food Cake
There are some recipes that are so ingrained in the family history we don’t mess with them at all, well, at least not much… My mom, my daughter, and my niece all list angel food cake as their favorite, a it is often a birthday cake request. My granddaughter’s birthday is two days before my…
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Potato Crusted Sesame Tuna with Spicy Lime Dressing
Lightly seared tuna is a once in a while indulgence, and sesame is always a great partner. My mother-in-law Pat was an accomplished chef and she taught me quite a few little tricks of the trade. One of her favorite ingredients to sneak into a high-end meal was potato flakes! This humble ingredient makes pretty…
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A Celebration of Citrus: Fennel, Grapefruit, and Blood Orange Salad
Light and refreshing, this dish shows off citrus at its best! In the dead of winter, when our fresh local produce is limited to root vegetables and greens, the seasonal citrus from the south are vibrant rays of sunshine. I look forward to all the varieties of oranges available, especially the sweet and colorful blood…
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Treats from a Busy Holiday Kitchen
These can be made in minutes! Relax. Time is tight just about now, but we still want to treat our family and friends with delights from our kitchen, especially morsels we create once a year. Cookies and breads top the list of holiday offerings. I know in our family, we have recipes everyone craves and…
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Aunt Mary’s Salt Cod Cakes
The fish that fed the world, traveled from my Aunt’s kitchen to mine, with a few changes along the way. My Aunt Mary made cod cakes frequently, with a flavor that still tickles the memory after all these years. An old New England standby, these were extremely economical, although usually a bit on the bland…
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Sushi Salad with Shrimp, Pickled Ginger, & Wasabi Dressing
A salad using some common components of a sushi roll fits the bill as a light offering, and it’s also quick and easy to make. Now, one might not immediately associate Vermont with the growing of ginger, and yet, in the past few years these exotic tropical nuggets, along with their cousin turmeric, are making…
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Charred Pak Choy Salad with Apple Cider and Miso Dressing
Flavors of the season unite for a delicious and healthful dish! When I was growing up, my dad was the gardener in the family and my mom the cook. He loved puttering with his tomatoes and potatoes, and I think it was probably the only time in his life, besides fishing. when he was alone,…
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Totally Tomatoes!
Red, yellow, orange, purple, green. They’re here! “What’s for dinner?” “Tomatoes.” “Didn’t we have tomatoes for lunch?” “Yep. Guess what we’re having for breakfast?” We wait all year for that blush of red in the garden, and the first few are precious. Nothing beats the flavor of fresh tomato, unadorned except for a sprinkle of…
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Cucumber Salad with Lime Cashew Yoghurt
A cool summer salad, and a vegan option too! In the summer, cucumbers are abundant and serve as a base for a wide variety of tasty and cooling dishes. Chilled soups, refreshing drinks, sandwiches, and many salads, not to mention pickles! We love the traditional tzatziki dip which combines grated cucumbers, yoghurt, garlic, lemon juice…
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Rhubarb and Jalapeño Marmalade
Nothing says Spring like the arrival of rhubarb! My granddaughter brought be an abundant bouquet of freshly pulled rhubarb this week. It was magnificent! The beautiful, ruby stalks are frequently paired with strawberries, also in season at the same time, and usually in a sweet application –– strawberry rhubarb pie or crisp, muffins, coffee cake,…
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Spring Pea and Asparagus Salad with Radish Top Dressing
If you love peas, you’ll love this salad! Spring means the return of fresh, local green things! Fiddleheads, ramps, spring lettuces, radishes, pea shoots, and the much-anticipated asparagus. How we love those first spears, pulled fresh from the earth! There will be grilled and steamed asparagus, asparagus soup, asparagus in stir fries and salads, served…
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Almost Mom’s Salmon Loaf
A twist from 100 years ago, and my Mom’s salmon loaf was transformed! When I was growing up, included in our family’s weeknight supper rotation was the humble salmon loaf, often served on Friday fish nights. A simple recipe that used bread crumbs to stretch an inexpensive can of salmon to make eight servings. I…
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Grilled Endive Salad with Carrot Dressing
Endive is usually chopped into a salad or filled with a dip of some sort creamy filling as an appetizer. But grilling brings out the best of this vegetable, and topped with a carrot dressing, it is a memorable meal.
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Quick Simmered Sushi and Sashimi Soup
Bountiful leftovers from a sushi and sashimi platter? Use every scrap for a left-overs soup that warms the body and soul.
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Carrot Salad with Caper and Herb Dressing
This is not quite your mother’s carrot salad! Every holiday, mom made a little side salad of carrots. Sometimes, all it included was carrots, mayonnaise, a bit of sugar, salt, and pepper. Often, she would add dried cranberries or raisins, and sometimes cabbage as well. A change here and there I’ve changed her salad many…
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Silly Dilly Piccalilli
Green tomatoes carry the promise of ripened fruit if one is patient, but with a lot of them to use up, a few traditional recipes are called into action. Piccalilli is a sweet relish we make in the fall when frosts force us to strip the tomato plants and there are lots of green fruits…
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Grilled Summer Vegetables with Charred Scallion Garlic Dressing
I love grilling when the weather finally turns and Autumn whispers “hurry up, I’m almost here, get your grilling in!” I’m not a fan of standing over a grill filled with red-hot coals while it is 95 degrees out and extremely humid. But as soon as September creeps in, I’m out there grilling whatever I…
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Napa Cabbage Salad with Ginger and Lime Dressing
Crunchy, a little savory, a little sour, and a little sweet! I love a salad with lots of interest! A salad that serves as a meal needs to have a lot going for it in my book – color, texture, a variety of flavors, and a good balance of sweet, salty, sour, and savory, with…
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Zesty Ginger Peach Chutney
This chutney uses the best of the harvest, including Northern grown ginger! It’s harvest time in Vermont, and that means lots of beautiful produce just waiting to be preserved for the rest of the year. Apples, squashes, corn, tomatoes, berries, peaches, ginger. Yes, fresh ginger! There are quite a few…
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Corn and Black Bean Salad with Malt Vinegar Dressing
During corn season in Vermont, we often have left-over corn we’ve cut from the cobs, perfect in salads, especially with a little accent of craft beer! Actually, sometimes it’s a big container leftover! I’ll usually buy a full dozen ears of corn, and what we don’t eat gets cut off the cob and either frozen…
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A slice of homemade bread with some fresh blackberry jam?
Both of these recipes are quicker than the vintage versions, but just as delicious! It’s berry season and that means time to make some jam. I usually make strawberry jam, sometimes blueberry, raspberry if there are enough to be found, but always blackberry! It is one of my favorite kitchen gifts, and on the rare…
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Blackberry Syrup, or would you rather a slice of pie?
Berries are plentiful right now, and the squirrel in me is transforming and tucking away these treasures for the rest of the year. I went to the berry farm today and what a selection! I was looking for blackberries, but went away with more blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries! They also offered currants and black raspberries, but…
