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…
Category: Condiments
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,…
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…
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….
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…
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…
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!…
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…
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…
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…
Spiced Currants
Slightly tart, slightly sweet, this vintage recipe needed little to enhance its flavor. My luck was with me when I found some beautiful currants at the farmers market this week. In our area, they arrive with the blueberries and are gone in a blink, a favorite of the birds as well as the humans, so…
Update your picnic with a modern twist on a three-bean salad and other treats
It’s picnic time, if the weather holds… It has been a rainy spring, and while we haven’t thought much about going on picnics, the warmth is returning, and the bonus from all that moisture is a green landscape that begs for a blanket and a basket of treats. The easiest picnic food is eaten with the…
