Pick a fruit, pick a cheese (yes, vegan cheese, too) any combination will be good, and you will have a perfect topping for a tartine. My friend Carolyn and I treat each other throughout the year. I get eggs from her lovely flock of hens, and delivery day usually means the handing off of a…
Category: Party and picnic
Stuffed Napa Cabbage Leaves with Peanut Sauce
We love the ease of feeding ourselves a rainbow of nutrition in high summer in Vermont! You never know what you will find at the farm stands and farmers markets in July in Vermont, but it’s a sure bet there will be lots from which to choose and enjoy. This week, I found everything I…
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Cucumber Salad with Lime 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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Spicy Gazpacho
In just a few minutes, you can have a stash of chilled summer soup waiting for you on these hot summer days! it got hot and humid, in the 90s just when we all wanted to work in the garden! This is when I look for a cold lunch or dinner, salads or chilled soups…
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Apple, Onion, and Cheese Party Sandwich
A little sweet, a little savory, and full of flavor, this sandwich can please a crowd and yes, you can make it vegan quite easily. After this long entertainment drought, I’m certainly looking forward to having family and friends over, and it’s never too early to plan for a party. While a big gathering is…
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Dark Chocolate Truffle Tart
You’ll want to make this one again and again, I have! This is one of my favorite go-to desserts, especially if I’m bringing a dessert to an event or entertaining –– it makes a lot! A simple but decadent chocolate dessert, just give yourself plenty of time and start early in the day. Actual hands-on…
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Corn and Horseradish Stuffed Baby Potatoes
Little bites of big flavor, these potatoes are always a crowd pleaser, even if this year the party is a little smaller! The big game is Sunday and since this year Tom Brady will not be leading the New England Patriots to victory, it’s just another game in our area. Who did you say was…
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Zucchini with Garlic, Lemon, and Hazelnuts
The humble zucchini moves from quiet weeknight sidekick, to dinner party pretty, and it’s quick and easy too! My grill has reappeared from the snow, and while I seldom hesitate to fire it up in the middle of winter, it was just been a little too cold this week to stand there for any length…
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Wheat Berry Salad with Oranges, Sprouted Garbanzos, and Baby Artichokes
A hearty salad filled with flavor, texture, and nutrition. When I as at the market recently, I came across two ingredients I’d not seen before. The first, fresh sprouted garbanzo beans, and the second, jarred baby artichokes, really tiny they were! I’ve sprouted many types of seeds and beans, but it never occurred to me…
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Roasted Shrimp Cocktail with Avocado and Melon
I love a recipe that I can make early in the day and let sit around in the refrigerator getting better and better as the day goes on. Special little salads fall into this category, and in our family shrimp is always at the top of the list.
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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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Sourdough Whole Wheat Sesame Crackers
These crackers make use of sourdough discard, with sesame flavor coming from three sources! Homemade crackers are remarkably simple to make, delicious, and can be modified in many ways to create flavor combinations you’ll love. On Saturday, I try to remember to feed “Ginny Junior,” my sourdough starter of 11 years. I often forget in…
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Cranberry Butter Rum Apples Baked in Cider
It’s apple harvest time, and our county has some of the best in the world! We enjoy apples fresh from the tree, applesauce, apple muffins, apple cakes and bread. Baked apples are a special treat, and in our home they hold lots of memories of making them together. Of course, there are so many ways…
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New England Clambake “Chowda”
All the flavors of a traditional New England Clambake in a bowl of chowda! As a New Englander, I have been to traditional clam bakes on many occasions, usually festive events such as a wedding or reunion, anything from four people to several hundred, and what a time it is! A fire pit is dug,…
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Roasted Shrimp and Coconut Bisque
There are certain recipes that feel really special when you serve them to family and friends, and if you are lucky, they are pretty quick and easy to put together as well. This is one of them. We had a lovely physically-distanced brunch with old friends this weekend outdoor under my massive sugar maple tree….
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Smoked Trout and Shiitake Appetizers
A quick little bite that is packed with flavor! This has been the summer of physically distanced mini dinner parties on my front porch. We lugged our houseplants outside, added two long tables together, set up a separate serving area, and added some fans. We’ve made it work, and have been able to enjoy the…
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Tofu Salad with Tarragon, Toasted Pecans, and Dried Apricots
Sometimes a new gadget makes cooking more fun! I have a new toy –– a tofu press. So many of my recipes for tofu call for pressing it first and then baking or cooking in some other way. It involves placing the tofu between two towel-lined plates, placing a balanced heavy can or pan on…
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Kamut with Cherry Tomatoes and Green Beans
The cherry tomatoes were falling out of every nook in my kitchen, I had to come up with something! This is certainly a good year for cherry tomatoes. We’ve had lots of really hot weather here in Vermont, and I can almost see the plants grow! The cherry tomatoes have been producing a bounty all…
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Chill-Out Summer Supper with Tomato Water Granita Starter
Dinner parties are arranged a little differently –– they are much smaller, but just as much fun as we enjoy friends and good food!From tomato water granita (with seafood or vegetarian) to chilled seafood stew, everything was made early in the day, so it was all pretty effortless when it came time to eat. More […]
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Smoky Grilled Garlic Scape Hummus
It’s a little smoky, a little sweet, and a lot savory with the garlic scapes adding a mild not-quite garlic flavor.I think I could eat hummus any meal or snack of the day, and it’s usually front and center at a party or picnic. I’ve made it dozens of ways, but my latest rendition uses…
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Lemon, Farro, and Wild Rice Salad
Farro and wild rice both have wonderful texture, and when you put them together in a salad, you have a winning combination that is packed with flavor and nutrition. I love salads that I can put together and munch on all week at lunch or snack time. They are often the same salads that provide…
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Fresh Spring Roll Lettuce Wraps
I couldn’t make up my mind. Did I want fresh spring rolls or lettuce wraps? I decided to combine the two! It was a rough week, weather wise, here in Vermont. Ice, rain, snow, then frigid below zero temperatures for days; even the sunshine did not make it easier, and no one wanted to leave…
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Smoked Lemon Lavender Tofu
Santa brought me a new toy for Christmas, a hand-held smoking gun. I’ve been playing a lot in the kitchen… My new toy in the kitchen has been put to good use, and it’s been fun practicing. I think you can smoke just about anything, in fact, there are few things I’ve eyed recently that […]
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“Have a Ball” Root Vegetable Salad
Who says melons are the only produce to go to the ball? Carrots, beets, turnips, potatoes, and radishes want to have fun too! I’ve always loved fruit salads made with little balls of melon and other fruits. They are so pretty to look at! I had the melon baller in my hand recently and a…
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End-of-Summer Salad with Marinated Delicata Squash
Summer is hanging on by a mere thread as Autumn breathes gently in the wings. But for a brief window of time, we enjoy all the best produce from both seasons, and that means dishes packed with color, texture, and flavor. I love a composed salad! Groups of vegetables arranged on a large platter create…
