Let’s eat the flowers! Lilac season is glorious, though fleeting. I look forward to these voluptuous May blossoms with great anticipation each year. With lots of old-fashioned lilacs on my property, I know I will fill my vases every day, and the scent will fill my lungs with spring. After a long winter and cold,…
Sautéed Asparagus & New Radishes over Penne
It couldn’t be more perfect. Sunshine, blue skies, first of the season vegetables and flowers and temperatures hovering at 68. We’ve earned this! Last week, we had snow, but this week, we turned the corner into Spring proper. The rains coaxed the leaves on the trees, and finally warming temperatures encouraged the stubborn asparagus spouts,…
Forbidden Rice with Wild Spring Vegetables
Ramps and fiddleheads join with the first asparagus to create a delicious dish using black forbidden rice. Wild ramps and fiddleheads have made their spring debut in Southern Vermont and at least one of them finds its way to our dinner plates most nights. Whether a simple sauté or soup, or a component in a…
Mom’s Mayonnaise Cake, with a Twist
It’s a simple cake, no fuss and no frills. Quick to put together, and filled with memories. Once in a while, after school, if we were lucky, we found a chocolate mayonnaise cake waiting for us. We needed a treat this week, so I revisited this old recipe, which I’m sure was a standard in…
Marinated Grilled Spring Ramps
The Northeast woods offer many treasures in early spring, and ramps are always at the top of my list! These wild members of the onion family, Allium tricoccum, might find their way into a soup. Or, perhaps they’ll dress up a pot of risotto, or liven a stir-fry. Almost every use is enhanced with a quick…
Fiddleheads, Vidalia Onions, and Baby Potatoes
They are only here for a short while, so seek them out now! Our farm stand opened with lots of glorious spring flowers and a nice bounty of fiddlehead ferns! After prepping them, I decided to use the little fiddleheads with baby potatoes and Vidalia onions, which are also in season, although not grown here…
May Day and Fiddlehead Ferns
Welcome May! It poured most of the day, so no May Pole or Morris Dancers this year, although we often celebrate the day even in the rain if its a gentle one! Sometimes we get lucky and May Day is a beautiful sunny day –– not always! May still happens. The rain this week is…
Rhubarb and Berry Upside-Down Cake
I had a small bag of rhubarb in the freezer, as well as some cherries and raspberries, so this upside-down cake was made with frozen leftovers from last year. It did not taste left-over at all! My ornamental “Snow Fountain” cherry tree is in flower, and that means my fruit cherry tree is not too…
Sugar Snaps with Garlic and Coconut
Garlic and Coconut are a great flavor combination, and make a delicious and quick spring side dish. I’ve planted my sugar snap peas in the garden, but it will be a while before I see any rewards for my efforts. While peas love cool weather, this spring has been a little cooler than most, so…
Happy Earth Day 2020
When all this is over When all this is over, Maybe we’ll think of how beautifully the first returning birds sang, and how bright the pink moon shone. Perhaps we’ll remember the first warm breeze that nudged the mulch from the way of early daffodils, the squirrels who entertained us, or the elder who…
Create your own Sourdough Starter––You have time…
There are a lot of folks making bread right now. I know this because both flour and yeast have been in short supply at our markets! Making a loaf of bread from packaged yeast is a lovely way to spend the afternoon, and what tastes better than a slice of homemade bread? I grew up…
Grow Your Own Simple Salad; Create Your Own Signature Vinaigrette
It doesn’t take a lot of space, a widow box or even a pot on your stoop can hold a cherry tomato plant and some lettuce! One of the things I love the most about this time of year is putting out the first lettuce and kale starts. I’m impatient to begin again, so I…
