One of our favorite little lunches is a plate of Asian style dumplings, filled with something bursting with flavor, and dunked in a sauce with even more. While rural Vermont does not boast the best selection of dumpling grazing spots, there are a few companies out there who offer some of these homemade delights in…
Category: Snacks
Let’s create a dip and make up a name! It would be unique, memorable, unless someone else beat me to it.
Would you like some edamole with your corn chips? We do it all the time, make a mash up of two dishes and rename it. Like a pizza filling stuffed quesadilla becomes a pizzadilla, or a crescent dough doughnut becomes a cronut. Sometimes we just refer to it within our family because it’s a bit…
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How to tame a silly garden serpent!
They are everywhere this time of year in the north. Garlic scapes. They look like little serpents curling out of their baskets, but although they are strange to behold, the good news, is they are delicious and useful in many a dish with a subtle garlic flavor and lovey texture. The garlic tries hard to…
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It’s time for a snack, how about some Homemade Pita Bread and Muhammara Sauce, but no nuts please!
Nuts are delicious and nutritious, but sometimes we need to make modifications. We dined out recently with two of our beautiful nieces at a local restaurant, and for a shared appetizer we ordered the meze (mezze) plate. It was beautiful and bountiful, loaded with treats – tasty stuffed grape leaves, marinated feta, mixed olives, cucumber…
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Let’s review a Spanish cookbook and make tapas tonight for supper!
Our Cookbook Club is back in business! In early 2023, Bernadette from New Classic Recipes started a cookbook review club. We’d review a specific cookbook selected by the group, post a recipe and decide whether (or not) that book deserved space on our (physical or digital) shelves. After a brief pause, we have resumed our…
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Apple Cheddar Walnut Bread
There’s a tradition in New England to eat our apple pie with a slice of cheddar cheese on top. Give it a try, and expand on the idea! It may sound strange to some, but many think it is the only way to enjoy that thick slice of pie. Way better than ice cream or…
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Scrap Happy Planet: Fromage Fort, from refrigerator bits to star of the party!
Let’s use our kitchen scraps to create better, more flavorful meals, and help in our own little ways to cut down on food waste. Once a month, we’ll offer some little tips on using up those items that normally go in the compost bucket or trash stream. It always starts with us. You rummage through…
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How about an Heirloom Tomato Toast with Whipped Ricotta?
Sometimes it is fun to recreate a dish that you have at a nice restaurant. At times, we succeed, sometimes we fail, but it is always fun to try, and we bring along the memory of that night in the process. I’ll always remember a seafood paella I had at a sweet little restaurant in…
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A week in the life of a dozen ear of corn!
Fresh corn on the cob is a ritual of summer and into fall in New England. From the first ear to the last, we are hooked whether eating it slathered in butter right off the cob, simmered in a chowder, creamed in a casserole, corn pudding, or soufflé, fried as a fritter, stuffed in a…
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Maple Graham Fire Crackers
Graham crackers have been a pantry staple in my house since I was a child. My grandmother loved them, so they were always on the shelf along with her ginger snaps. She was a bit greedy about her ginger snaps, but often shared the graham crackers. My own grandchildren now love them when making s’mores,…
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Christopher’s Burbon Butter Tarts
Sweet little butter tarts are a quintessential Canadian treat. Little pastry shells filled with butter, syrup, egg, and vanilla. They’re also the topic of much disagreement about what exactly, if anything, should be added to these little pastries; some bakers add a little extra something. Raisins? Nuts? Be careful not to declare your preference too…
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Rosemary and Goat Cheese Scones
The weather has turned, and with a chill in the air and a fire in the hearth there might be the urge to take a bit more time cooking, or bake something tasty. Bread baking is always satisfying, whether yeasted or a quick bread. Sometimes as we prepare a meal there’s a feeling a little…
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For those of you who love Goat Cheese, and especially for those who don’t.
This nibble is lunch, or supper, or a very quick first-course for a casual dinner party. Or slip into goat cheese quietly with a flavorful retro-inspired cheese ball, perfect for the Fourth of July celebrations. Half of our family loves goat cheese, and half do not. In fact, a couple put it on their terrible,…
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Meyer Lemon and Herb Hummus with Confit Garlic
So many possibilities! What do you like? Anyone who has been to my kitchen knows there is always a bowl of hummus in my refrigerator. It is often lunch, a snack, sometimes even breakfast or supper. We have it on a salad, offered up with cucumbers or endive leaves, smeared on rye crackers, or dressed…
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Secret Recipe Toffee Squares: Now you know!
This is THE recipe to contribute to the bake sale; first to sell out, and always popular. And now, you know the secret. For years, my friend C. helped me stock the green room for our performing artists at the Roots on the River Music Festival. It was a great deal of fun, and our…
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Sherried Mushrooms on Sourdough Toasts
A simple recipe that is perfect for a snowy day! Growing up in rural New England, I was fortunate to be surrounded by forests. I was also lucky to have an uncle who was an avid forager for all things wild and wonderful in our woods. Fresh food and antique glass He lived just up…
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Chickpea Flatbread with Asparagus & Chives
Chives and asparagus are among our earliest sprouts here in New England, dancing together nicely at this time of year! This is the season of lilacs in our village, and what a year it is! There isn’t a street where one does not inhale this incredible scent of spring, and their luscious color as well….
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Pear & Ginger Muffins
Ripe autumn pears dance beautifully with spicy ginger! We had a lovely brunch with friends Suzy and Bob last week at the peak of Vermont’s fabulous foliage color. It was an autumn celebration of some of the best of the season: a frittata featuring native squash, beans, and corn. Roasted potatoes, of course. A few…
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Savory Olive and Rosemary Madeleines
Little three-bite savory delights, perfect for a party! It started with a trip to King Arthur Baking in Norwich. I was meeting my friend Suzy for lunch at the cafe, and had a couple of things to pick up from the baking store, primarily the organic white whole wheat flour I frequently use. Of course,…
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Peach and Cheddar Tartine on Sourdough Rye Bread
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…
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Maple and Spice Granola
When my children were small, I got in the habit of making granola for them, a big container always graced a prime spot in the larder. With oats and raisins from the bulk section of the health food store, this was a simple and inexpensive cereal to make while on a really tight budget. We…
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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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Vermont Cheddar and Rosemary Biscuits
Tender, moist, and packed with flavor, these cheddar and rosemary biscuits are a perfect little afternoon snack or brunch favorite. Do you need a little pick-me-up in the middle of the afternoon? A cup of tea, or perhaps an iced coffee, along with a nibble of something sweet or savory, and you’re set to go…
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Toasted Jack O’ Lantern Seeds
Pumpkin seeds! We have a ton when we carve a Jack O’ Lantern. Don’t throw them away, we can turn them into a delicious snack! You don’t want to waste those delicious and nutritious seeds! It’s so much fun to take those guts, separate the seeds, and make a little treat for after Halloween. But…
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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…
