It seems I spoke too soon: my tomato plants have been infected with late blight. The fungus, which has been all over the news, is decimating the tomato crop in the Northeast and is likely to move on to potatoes next. As heartbreaking as this loss is to my little back-deck garden (15 plants and counting), I cannot imagine how area farmers feel: my CSA (Ryder Farm) has been hard hit, with her 700 heirloom tomato plants producing less than […]
I went over my friend Nadine’s last week; in addition to her birthday celebration, it was her turn to volunteer at her weekly CSA pick-up, and I had a play-date with her daughter Kami. When she returned from finishing up the CSA, she was nice enough to bring me lots of leftovers; chard, basil, scallions, anise, plums and peaches. I made a version of this plum sauce two years ago, using Damson plums from Jenkins-Luekens Orchards in New Paltz, NY. It […]
Categories: 100% local, canning, condiments, fruit, peaches, plums, preserving, sauces, summer • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes
Nadine’s birthday was about a week ago and last week I went over to her place for a little birthday celebration: a few presents, a little play-time with her daughter Kami, and, of course, cake. I’m lousy at decorating cakes. Tai is the trained pastry chef at our house and he is great at it: he breaks out his cake turntable (yes, doesn’t everyone have one?) and makes a beautifully smooth frosting layer, pipes perfect litttle flowers and curlicues, and seems […]
Categories: baking, berries, cake, chocolate, dessert, eggs, summer, year round • Tags: baking, cake, cooking, food, local, recipes
Rain, rain and more rain. What is it about rainy Sundays that makes me just want to curl up with a good book? Luckily, yesterday was a gorgeous day here in Westchester County; bright sunshine, cool breeze, 75 degrees. Tai & I took advantage and went to a nearby neighborhood street where wild red raspberries grow all along the sides of the road – thousands of crystal-red, delicious berries, ripe for the picking. The particular berries that line this Westchester backroad are […]
Categories: berries, canning, foraging, jams, preserving, summer • Tags: berries, canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes
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