It’s the Monday before Thanksgiving and I have a houseful coming. All’s calm…for now. But it means I have lots to do today, and those tasks are all about preparation. I’ve catered many events and gatherings, and learned along the way that anything that can be done beforehand needs to be done beforehand. I have…
Category: Vintage Update
A World of Bread in 20-Minutes
Freshly made bread for dinner in minutes? Of course! Nothing could be quicker than this recipe, and you can spin it into countless variations, including gluten free, so everyone in the family can be pleased. My daughter called me one night last week and needed an easy bread recipe that was gluten-free. I knew…
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Spicy Greens with Blue Cheese, Pears & Pecans
This Trio of Flavors Moves Easily from Summer Salad to Autumn Side Growing up, there was always Swiss chard in the garden, one of my mom’s favorite greens. From spring through nearly winter, this cut-and-come-again green is a backbone of the New England kitchen garden, a workhorse for its durability, and also for its beauty…
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Gilfeather Turnip Soufflé
The Humble “Vermont State Vegetable” Gets Dressed Up in a Soufflé, and Dressed Down in a Humble Soup or Sauté! Turnip soufflé? I know. Turnips are a common vegetable, peasant food, abundant in heartiness, and modest in appearance. Some would even say ugly. Soufflé brings to mind images of French restaurants and fancy brunch with…
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Nana’s Flakey Lemon Braid
Pre-made Puff Pastry Makes Easy Work of this Dessert If I am going to use a pre-made product, it better not just be easy, it needs to taste good too. Pre-made puff pastry saves tons of times, and has countless sweet and savory uses. Look for one made with real butter; it is harder…
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Beets are the Color of Fall
Roast them, sauté them, grill them, pickle them, steam them…from root to stem, it’s all good! Open just about any New England menu in the Autumn and you’ll find beets! These colorful vegetables are especially loved by chefs because they are one of the easiest to use “root to stem” every part of them edible, even…
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Put the Season in a Jar!
Savor the best all year long! Jams, Jellies, Preserves, Fruits, Pickles, Relishes, Vinegars, Chutneys, Salsas, Tomatoes I grew up with Ball canning jars. My mother would fill them with jams and jellies and applesauce, and pickles of just about anything in abundance. She made sweet pickles, relish, dill pickles, zucchini pickles, and pickled green…
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Vanilla and Balsamic Peach Butter
A Good Year for Peaches? With a few shortcuts, you can make use of that golden surplus! I got a little carried away at the orchard this past weekend and ended up with a large crate of peaches. They were labeled as “seconds” but I didn’t find a one that was not near perfect. It…
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Corn Stuffed Baked Tomatoes
Delicious Surplus! This is a great dish to make when there is surplus of everything, even the basil to garnish. You can add other other seasonal vegetables to this stuffing, just keep the dice small, and vegetables mild in flavor. I added a small zucchini when I last made this dish, and I’ve also…
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Savoring Corn Season
In New England, we measure the seasons by the crops, and this is one of the best! When Corn Season is upon us, I hunter-gather at all the farm stands near home and buy a couple of ears from each. Then I cook them and taste. Most years, there is a standout favorite! We might…
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Grilled Ratatouille and other tricks to Save the Summer!
We have it all right now, But how do we save it? It is the moment you’ve waited for all year. Your garden and local farm stands offer an overflow of tomatoes, squashes, peppers, corn, onions, carrots, and greens. For a short time, it seems every fruit and vegetable is there at your fingertips. You…
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Berries: The Jewels of Summer!
Enjoy the treasures while they last, then make them last all year – without standing over a hot wood stove for hours! There is a perfect moment in Vermont when the strawberries, blueberries, cherries, and raspberries are all singing together at the same time; only a moment it is, and only if we are lucky. These…
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Cherries. Yes.
Sweet or sour, fresh local cherries, these jewels of summer, are ready to enchant. Clafoutis? Scones? How about brandied cherries for gifts?
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Spring Marriage: Strawberry And Rhubarb
A little tart, a little sweet! My mother loved rhubarb, not as a foil to sweet, but straight up in its own right. Her favorite way to eat it was to pick it, add some salt, and eat it raw! I never thought this was right, but one day I actually tried it and it…
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It’s Fiddlehead Season!
This native delight takes a little time to prepare but is well worth the effort.
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The Delightful Season of Asparagus
Set the beets aside, please… Just about the time you can’t face cooking another root vegetable, the beautiful green spears of asparagus start peeking out of the newly warmed soil. On a warm day, you can almost watch them grow. It’s just about time! The intense flavor of this fresh vegetable is vastly superior to…
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Simple Makeovers of Spring Favorites
Just a few twists, and your grandmother’s recipes can get a new life in the 21st century.
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Spring Salad Revival!
It’s spring and we want color! This salad is a rainbow on a plate.
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Let’s Talk Bread
Baguettes, loaves, boules, long ferments or quick rise, baking bread is a link to both the past and future.
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Reimagine Family Favorites, quietly
Creamed Onions * Stuffing * Cranberry Sauce Let’s do this a little differently With the weather so warm this autumn, little have our thoughts drifted to the upcoming holidays. But alas, they are upon us! and we turn our attention to the busy times ahead, especially to the gatherings and meals to be planned, and I…
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New Twists on Old Recipes
We all have them, old recipe cards, notebooks, maybe even pages torn out of women’s magazines from the 1950s. Whatever the form, the stash of old recipes are family treasures. However, we are sometimes disappointed when we make them, especially if we do a lot of cooking and the food fashion of today does not mesh with that of the Depression era.
