This is not your mother’s macaroni salad! Sugar snap peas are in! I was delighted to find them on the shelf of my local farm stand this week. These spring treasurers are as delicious as they are fleeting, so we eat them as frequently as I can at this time of year. They are at…
Category: To feed a crowd
A Celebration of Maple Sugar Season
It’s our state tree, our state flavor, and this time of year is it also our first crop. The sap is running! We love hearing those words. Our first crop of the year in Vermont is maple! It is also our first real evidence of spring in this cold climate. When I hear that the…
Share this:
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…
Share this:
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…
Share this:
Grilled Endive Salad with Carrot Dressing
Endive is usually chopped into a salad or filled with a dip of some sort creamy filling as an appetizer. But grilling brings out the best of this vegetable, and topped with a carrot dressing, it is a memorable meal.
Share this:
Lentil and Mushroom Balls
They are hearty and delicious, perfect for supper by the fire. And this recipe makes enough to tuck some in the freezer for another day. I’ve made a million meat-free meatballs, and usually I’m disappointed. Often they get mushy. Sometimes the flavor is way off, and other times they are just hard little balls sitting…
Share this:
Fall Farm Market Finds
So many wonderful vegetables! I tried three new (to me) winter squashes this season, two modern and one really ancient. You never know what you’ll find at the farmers market these days. Our farmers are stretching the limits of what one would expect to find in a cold northern climate. But we now have reliable…
Share this:
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,…
Share this:
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….
Share this:
Grilled Summer Vegetables with Charred Scallion Garlic Dressing
I love grilling when the weather finally turns and Autumn whispers “hurry up, I’m almost here, get your grilling in!” I’m not a fan of standing over a grill filled with red-hot coals while it is 95 degrees out and extremely humid. But as soon as September creeps in, I’m out there grilling whatever I…
Share this:
Grilled Red Pepper Soup – Three Ways
The farm stands right now are filled with bargains. You’ll find sweet red peppers, pricey most of the year, offered by the basketful! They are so pretty! Beautiful, deep red and delicious in so many dishes. Stuff them, chop them up for the freezer, sauté them with onions and serve atop a bed of rice….
Share this:
Seared Scallops, Artichokes, and Tomatoes over Polenta
When I was growing up, my mom would make corn meal mush. This was the New Englander’s version of “polenta,” but since we hold not a single Italian gene, it was just mush to us. We had it for breakfast as cereal, sweetened with maple syrup, as a starch at dinner, and the leftovers were…
Share this:
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…
Share this:
Three Mushroom Cassoulet
A traditional cassoulet is an experience in beans and meats, and more meats, and can be quite heavy. This lightened up version uses no meat at all, just meaty mushrooms and lots of other flavor. The traditional slow-cooked cassoulet was created in France, the original Languedoc region towns of Toulouse, Carcassonne, and Castelnaudary. It was…
Share this:
Spaghetti with Roasted Garlic Cloves and Mushrooms
Sweet and unique in flavor, roasted garlic enhances a simple dish of pasta. I don’t think there is anyone of any age in our family who doesn’t love roasted garlic. Often, we pop a whole head in the oven to roast and add the tender, sweet flesh to mashed potatoes, or smear it on a…
Share this:
Mushroom and Vegetable Jambalaya
It’s spicy, it’s hearty, and it makes you want to dance down the street flinging Mardi Gras beads! Laissez les bons temps rouler! Let the Good Times Roll! I’m always happy to see the good times of Mardi Gras roll around. Winter hangs on, and we’re hungry for spring and something different to eat, and…
Share this:
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…
Share this:
Salmon Saute over Pasta and Veggies
We stretched a pound of salmon to feed seven, deliciously! I love it when I throw something unplanned together and it is a hit. We recently had a surprise invasion by five hungry teenagers just as I was thinking about starting supper. I had a pound of salmon that was going to be dinner and…
Share this:
Homemade Lemon Pasta with Lemon Garlic Sauce
Homemade pasta is fun to make (or quick if you do it in a food processor) and with just the simple addition of lemon, you are already on your way to a flavorful dinner. I’ve made homemade pasta with my my kids and grandkids since they were able to form a ball of play dough….
Share this:
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…
Share this:
Heirloom Tomato and Mozzarella Pie with Herbed Crust
The crust makes memorable this simple pie of tomatoes and cheese. The surplus of cherry tomatoes has finally dwindled at our home to the last few treasures ripening inside. Thursday, we had a 65-degree day, and I let myself think perhaps my struggling cherry tomato plants might offer up something new. This morning? A frost,…
Share this:
My Sunday Pasta Sauce
My house all-purpose pasta sauce that’s great on everything from spaghetti to after-school English muffin pizzas. And nothing is wasted in this slow-simmered sauce. Mom would approve! It’s Sunday. We have plenty of time to cook and we want to make the home smell wonderful. We also want to have plenty of leftovers for other…
Share this:
Autumn Pot Pie with Roasted Vegetables
Comfort food, but in this version no one will miss the meat (especially if you don’t bother to tell them it’s not there…) There is one dish everyone in my family agrees on – a pot pie. Chicken pot pie, turkey pot pie, and seafood pot pie are the favorites, but I think they’d eat…
Share this:
Vermont Shepherdess Pie
A vegetarian version of the layered casserole we all grew up on! Hearty enough for everyone. We are no longer under the illusion that summer will last forever. The temperatures have dropped, and so have lots of leaves! But right now, there seems to be just about every vegetable out there one could want, along…
Share this:
Butternut Squash, Apple, & Ginger Soup
The apples are beautiful! The squash is beautiful. And we have locally grown exotic ginger just waiting to enhance just about everything, so it’s soup tonight! With a side of Apple Bread… I got lost in the apple orchard today, intentionally of course! The morning was crisp and bright the sky blue, and the car…
