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Rosemary Roasted Cashews

23 November 2013 by local kitchen

Have you heard the news? Nuts will save your life. Literally. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has analyzed nut consumption in nearly 175,000 health professionals over a span of 30 years. They found a 20% reduction in death from any cause in people who ate nuts every day. Twenty. percent. Let that sink in for a moment. Twenty percent lower incidence of heart disease. Of diabetes. Of cancer. Respiratory disease. Neurodegenerative disease. Stroke. Even infection. (How […]

Categories: appetizer, gifts, holiday, nuts, quick & easy, rosemary, snack, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, nibbles, nuts, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

Filbertines

15 December 2011 by local kitchen

Do you remember the Buck Pets? You might if you, like me, spent most of the late ’80’s and early ’90’s in tiny, beer-soaked music halls, clad in combat boots and excessive amounts of safety pins (including 7 in your left ear: never doubt that I am an overachiever in all walks of life), reveling in what was arguably some of the best music of the last two decades. What does this have to do with cookies, you ask? Well, not […]

Categories: baking, dessert, gifts, holiday, snack, year round • Tags: baking, cookies, cooking, food, holiday, local, recipes

Homemade Body Scrub

17 December 2010 by local kitchen

Have you ever made body scrub? I hadn’t, until a few days ago, and now I’m embarrassed that I ever bought the stuff. Five minutes of mixing together ingredients already in my pantry and what do you know? A wonderful spa treatment, made completely of natural and organic ingredients, for literally pennies a jar. I confess that I’m already somewhat addicted to the lavender sea salt scrub: the salt makes your muscles really warm & tingly (great for those of us who have been spending long hours […]

Categories: gifts, holiday, year round • Tags: bath, beauty, body scrub, holiday, homemade gifts, quick & easy, recipes, spa

Gifts: Food Gifts, Local & Far-Flung

14 December 2010 by local kitchen

‘Tis the season for fabulous food gifts from near & far! Small or large, fresh or preserved, local or luxuriously exotic, these are some of my favorite food items to give and receive. Check ’em out – you may just find the perfect gift for someone on your holiday list. But act fast – Christmas is a week from Saturday (yikes!). Merry, merry! Tuthilltown Spirits Local wine is pretty easy to find in New York & Connecticut; local booze? Not so […]

Categories: gifts, holiday, winter • Tags: food, food gifts, holiday, local

Gifts: Pimp That Preserve

4 December 2010 by local kitchen

Are you giving away homemade preserves for the holidays? Joel and Dana over at Well Preserved blog have a great contest going called Pimp That Preserve. The rules are simple: submit pictures of your preserves, dressed up for the holidays, for gift-giving, for whimsy. They have some great inspiration posts with various jars wearing sweater remnants and reindeer, buttons & custom labels, cowhide and twine. In addition to some wonderful inspiration for jazzing up your holiday jars, the contest includes a fabulous […]

Categories: gifts, holiday, preserves • Tags: food gifts, gift wrapping, holiday, preserves

Gifts: New Baby

20 October 2010 by local kitchen

I give a lot of gifts. It’s hard to say that without sounding “Yay, me!” but, honestly, I enjoy it; I’m one of those people who never shows up at your house without something in hand, who (usually) remembers birthdays & anniversarys, and who lives for Christmas. Before my canning days (when I also had a steady income) my gifts were more traditional: wine, truffles or dessert as a hostess gift; adorable baby clothes for a new baby or a shower; […]

Categories: community, gifts, tools & gear • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local