Special occasions – The New Vintage Kitchen

Light and Lively Grilled Oysters

Once you get them shucked, this is as simple as it gets, and memorable for any gathering! May is the month of my mother’s birth, her death, Mother’s Day, and, of course, here we are in the middle of Memorial Day Weekend, my thoughts turning to all of those who are no longer here: my…

Cream of Party Platter Soup

First step in recipe: Throw a party There’s one at every party, a crudités platter, beautifully cut-up vegetables, arranged in vibrant color swaths, decorated with herbs and little treats. Sometimes, depending on what else is available, it even gets eaten! Always some left over However, usually there are lots left over, especially if a large…

Shrimp and Artichoke Paella: Sometimes it does matter what pan you use.

The hand-me-down pots from your mother are more than just kitchen utensils! My kitchen is lusciously littered with items from the women in my life. My grandmother’s cast-iron frying pan, my mother’s bread bowl, my sister’s coffee press. Various pastry making items from aunts. A special wooden spoon from a reporter from a rival newspaper….

Nantucket Bay Scallops with Shallots over Mashed Potatoes

A New England treasure, they are in season right now, at this shortest day of the year! There’s a beautiful island 30 miles off the Massachusetts coast, Nantucket, home of the world renowned wild seasonal delicacy, the bay scallop. Have you ever been there? The protected, clean waters off this island nurture the world’s oldest…

Mostly Mom’s Angel Food Cake

There are some recipes that are so ingrained in the family history we don’t mess with them at all, well, at least not much… My mom, my daughter, and my niece all list angel food cake as their favorite, a it is often a birthday cake request. My granddaughter’s birthday is two days before my…

Pineapple Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

My mother always made a ham at Easter. She cut crisscross marks all over, slathered it in mustard and brown sugar, sometimes varying the topping. One of my first jobs was putting the little whole cloves in each intersection of the cuts. Toward the end of baking, she adorned the entire ham with pineapple rings…

Colcannon Cabbage Wraps with French-Fried Potato Peels

Rustic, tasty, filling, inexpensive, but also worthy of company. Who could ask for anything more? The Irish in me looks forward to St. Patrick’s Day cooking because there is usually a potato involved! One of my favorite country dishes is colcannon, a humble bowl of mashed potatoes mixed with kale or cabbage a few scallions…

Cajun Seafood Pot Pie

Time to celebrate Spring, Mardi Gras, and perhaps a Birthday! I celebrate the seasons along with the meteorologists. Spring begins on March 1 in my book, and no one usually argues the point. Of course, in Vermont, March, and even April for that matter, often looks more like winter than spring, but some years we…

Let’s Have a Party! We’ll Have Crab and Mashed Potato Stuffed Artichoke Bottoms!

A special starter for a dinner party, fun hors d’oeuvre, or a comfort food supper. (And there is a delicious vegan option as well!) First of all, any dish that has mashed potatoes as a prime ingredient is going to be on my favorites list. This has both mashed potatoes and local crab meat, which…

Pat’s Holiday Gravlax

I first received gravlax as a gift from my Mother-in-Law and was amazed that this could be accomplished in a home kitchen I remember getting this gift of home-cured gravlax, a salt-preserved salmon, every year at Christmastime from my mother-in-law Pat, my husband’s father’s second wife. The first time she gave it to us, I…

Treats from a Busy Holiday Kitchen

These can be made in minutes! Relax. Time is tight just about now, but we still want to treat our family and friends with delights from our kitchen, especially morsels we create once a year. Cookies and breads top the list of holiday offerings. I know in our family, we have recipes everyone craves and…

Rose and Strawberry Summer Drinks – Sangria or Lemonade

When your roses smell good enough to eat, drink them! It’s been an amazing rose season this year. The air, especially at dawn and dusk, is filled with beautiful perfume, and how we wish it would last. My favorite roses are the old garden roses, once-blooming heirloom treasures that carry so many flowers they bend…

Lemon “Half a Pound” Cake with White Chocolate Frosting

Our family loves anything lemon! The more lemon the better. So, a birthday cake for my granddaughter this week featured lemon in several ways! I have often turned my mother’s pound cake recipe into a lemon pound cake, so delicious, but it does make a lot. For smaller gatherings, a half a recipe makes a…

Haddock Quenelles in Saffron Fish Broth

Light, fluffy dumplings swimming in a flavorful pool of delight, inspired by a character from the past. Dec. 31, 1985, was memorable on several counts. First of all, I made a lavish New Year’s Eve feast inspired by the vintage cookbook “Francatelli’s Modern Cook” 1887, a revision of earlier editions. I had picked this up for…

Broiled Pink Grapefruit with Brandied Cherries

This recipe is simple to put together, and was one of the most popular starters at the inn in citrus season. We don’t often think of eating grapefruit cooked, but the quick visit under the broiler both softens and sweetens the fruit. The cherry flavor is a great companion. For my birthday recently, my niece…

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,…

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 […]

Sour Cream Blueberry Pancakes

Shh, don’t tell the kids they are good for them… Of all the dishes I served up at the inn for 18 years, the most frequently requested meal from repeat guests was blueberry pancakes. People remember them, think about them, desire them, and will eat them with gusto when served. Not only a favorite of…

Filling the empty bowls…

With many people living with food insecurity, it is good to pause and think about the ways we can all contribute to the solutions to these difficult problems. Our community participates in the “Empty Bowl” project the first Sunday of November every year to support our local drop-in center and food pantry. It is not…

Vermont Cheddar, Beer, and Mushroom Soup

Follow the trails for Cheddar cheese and craft beer, and you’ll be treated to some of the best flavors of Vermont (yes, we have maps!). In this soup, we throw in a few wild mushrooms for good measure. Any where you land in Vermont, there are several things you will never be far from – maple…

Pears Roasted with Blue Cheese & Pecans

This roasted pear dish is sweet, salty, savory, and seasonal! A dessert that is equally at home as a starter to a special meal. This is a simple dish to make, using one of my favorite flavor combinations: pears, blue cheese, and nuts, especially butternuts or pecans. I think it is a combination made in…

Mariah’s Non-Dairy Wedding Cake?

It took a few attempts, but I finally landed on just the right texture and flavor for a beautiful “naked” wedding cake, one with no dairy. My wedding present to an incredible young woman I’ve known since she was an adolescent was to make her wedding cake. It is a great honor to be asked…