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…
Category: Condiments
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…
Chive Blossom Vinegar
The chives are flowering en masse! Now’s the time to make a flavorful vinegar. All at once, the herb bed is filled with the fluffy little purple blossoms as the chives send up their flowers. They are beautiful, they are fragrant, and they are tasty as well. Break up the flowers and use them as…
Marinated Spring Vegetables
You can use either fiddleheads or asparagus, ramps or scallions. These spring treasures will add a pleasant freshness to any meal! When local wild spring vegetables are bountiful, we look for every way possible to use them. Fiddleheads make only the briefest of appearances in our Northern woods, but when they start poking their little…
Homemade Hummus with Roasted Chickpeas
If you make it from scratch with dried chickpeas, this dip not only tastes better than what you find in the market, but it is quite economical as well. I love hummus. I always have some in my refrigerator and I use it for dips and as a spread on sandwiches or crackers. As delicious…
Party Wings & Other Things
Use this Maple, Ginger, and Garlic Marinade on wings, or cauliflower florets, and everyone is pleased! Most of my family loves wings, some love them spicy, some love them mild, and some don’t eat meat at all but love the spicy flavors! Since everyone does not eat meat, there is not a one-shop…
Preserving Herbs for use all Season
No, it is not the same as fresh; sometimes it’s even better! I admit to being spoiled all summer long when I walk a few feet from my kitchen door to find the beauty of a couple of dozen varieties of fresh herbs at my fingertips. I have whatever I need for any recipe. The…
A Perfect Cup of Tea!
A perfect cup of tea is whatever you want it to be! The weather turned, and the iced tea stepped aside, replaced by the steaming pot. One of the most enjoyable parts of running our small Vermont inn was the ritual of afternoon tea – that little stop at 4 p.m. to nibble a snack and savor…
Poached Pears with Homemade Crème Fraîche
A special dessert to enjoy when the pears are as beautiful as they are right now! What a good year for pears! Our Vermont pears have been sweet and juicy, with tons of flavor, and I’ve had plenty straight up with no adornment whatsoever. Most mornings, they appear in my breakfast fruit salad, and I…
Beets are the Color of Fall
Roast them, sauté them, grill them, pickle them, steam them…from root to stem, it’s all good! Open just about any New England menu in the Autumn and you’ll find beets! These colorful vegetables are especially loved by chefs because they are one of the easiest to use “root to stem” every part of them edible, even…
