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…
Category: Condiments
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,…
Share this:
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…
Share this:
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…
Share this:
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.
Share this:
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.
Share this:
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…
Share this:
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…
Share this:
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…
Share this:
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…
Share this:
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…
Share this:
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…
Share this:
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…
Share this:
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…
Share this:
Marinated Artichoke Hearts and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Put this together with simple pantry ingredients in just a few moments! We love little nibbles before a dinner party. Little bites of delicious treats while we catch up a bit, pour a glass of wine, or while we prep the meal. It can be something as simple as a bowl of spiced nuts, a…
Share this:
Brandied Cherries
A perfect cherry suspended in a spiced brandy. These treasures will delight all year long, and they are one of the easiest kitchen gifts to make!Local is always best, of courseMake these when local cherries are ripe, firm, and beautifully colored. If you can get them, try using a mix of sour and sweet cherries, but…
Share this:
Lilac Syrup
Let’s eat the flowers! Lilac season is glorious, though fleeting. I look forward to these voluptuous May blossoms with great anticipation each year. With lots of old-fashioned lilacs on my property, I know I will fill my vases every day, and the scent will fill my lungs with spring. After a long winter and cold,…
Share this:
Marinated Grilled Spring Ramps
The Northeast woods offer many treasures in early spring, and ramps are always at the top of my list! These wild members of the onion family, Allium tricoccum, might find their way into a soup. Or, perhaps they’ll dress up a pot of risotto, or liven a stir-fry. Almost every use is enhanced with a quick…
Share this:
Roasted Carrots with Carrot Top Pesto
Save these gems from the compost bin, add some maple syrup and ginger, and you have a delicious pesto! I have to admit, most of the time I have used carrot greens, or tops, as an addition to the stock pot so as not to waste them, or occasionally added a few leaves to salads….
Share this:
Winter Vegetable Refrigerator Pickles
Winter root vegetables are beautiful to look at, all the colors of the rainbow. Right now, I’m still excited to cook with them, but I know that by March I’ll be tired of rutabagas and beets! The holidays are over and we’re settling in to that long stretch of winter that holds both magnificent beauty…
Share this:
Mushroom cakes with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
This vegan version of a traditional crab cake ticks all the boxes! Full of flavor from herbs and dry sherry, they are crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. Crab cakes have always been popular with family and guests, often served at New Year’s brunch. But this year, I wanted to change things up…
Share this:
Cranberry Orange Relish with Horseradish and Sage
Thanksgiving update. While we had both this relish and beautifully prepared from scratch cranberry sauce, neither made it to the table! Just as we were clearing the dishes, someone remarked, “Where’s the cranberry sauce!” Just five ingredients, buzzed in a food processor, and you have a tangy relish for your holiday table. And no cooking!…
Share this:
Watermelon Radish Salad with Honey Lime Dressing
One thing the farm stands boast right now is color, and lots of it, from vibrant orange squashes and sweet potatoes, to hardy vibrant pink radishes! I love color on the plate, and this time of year we can easily serve up that daily rainbow of vegetables. One of my favorite colors is the deep…
Share this:
Crystalized Ginger
This is a “three-for-one recipe” using only two ingredients – ginger and sugar! You can always have crystalized or candied ginger in the pantry if you make it yourself! If you have a local source for ginger, even better! Our Vermont farmers have started growing fresh ginger during our long daylight hours of summer. They grow…
Share this:
Spiced Crabapple Jelly
We thought of these as a gift when I was growing up, the crabapples that no one wanted to pick or mess with, but we transformed them into a jewel-like jelly with just the addition of a little sugar. They are tiny. They are sour. They are hard. And each 2″ or smaller apple has…
