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 […]
Category: Party and picnic
“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…
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…
Coleslaw with Buttermilk Dressing
A delightful Depression-era coleslaw moves into the 21st Century with just a few slight modifications! I got sidetracked this summer with a project from 85 years ago, and boy was it fun. WPA project on today’s table My husband and I are members of the Vermont Historical Society and we attended a dinner this spring…
Crab and Corn Salad on Corn Fritters
Make this salad and fritters, any number of ways, the star is always the corn. It’s corn season! That means corn on the cobb, corn chowder, cornbread, succotash, corn pudding, and corn fritters. At this time of year, it is not unknown in our house to have a supper that consists solely of corn on the…
Three Cabbage Carnival Salad
It is kind of a slaw, kind of a cabbage salad, it’s full of color, and it feeds a crowd! It is summer cookout time, and we gather together, bringing food and conversation to the table. If I’m asked to bring a salad, I like to stray from the old standby recipes of potato salad,…
Grilled Fish Tacos with Cherry & Radish Salsa
The cherries are in season, so why not use them rather than an imported fruit? Cherry salsa? Why not? We often serve fish tacos with the popular mango salsa, and when I was thinking about making fish tacos recently, I knew I needed to come up with an alternate fruit because of an allergy ––…
Mushroom, Leek & Garlic Scape Pasta
Fresh and bright, these early summer flavors combine for a satisfying bowl of pasta that pleases the whole family. You never know what you are going to find at the farmers market this time of year, but whatever you find, you can spin some magic and come up with something delicious for supper, often using…
Sugar Snap Peas with Baby Carrots
It’s peas and carrots updated for 2019! There is no excuse for grabbing a bag of frozen peas and carrots at this time of year. The first spring plantings of both are hitting the farm stands and farmers markets, and are they ever tasty. With a little updating, peas and carrots move from an invisible…
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…
Fish, Scallops, and Shrimp Kebobs!
It’s time for a cookout and everyone loves food on a stick! My granddaughter says we all love food on a stick because it is fun to eat! She’s right. The farmers’ markets and farm stands are open. The trees have leafed out and it feels like summer in Vermont, at least most days. One…
