April: it is the cruelest month. My feed is full of asparagus and cherry blossoms and daffodils and tulips and strawberries and and and…. we’ve got nothing. Nothing. Nary a bud on the forsythia nor a peeping green shoot in the soil. Spring is coming: the snow is gone, temps have been in the 50’s and 60’s, we’ve even taken the extra quilt off of the bed(!), but – it doesn’t seem to be coming as quickly here as it […]
Cock-a-leekie, cock-a-leekie, cock-a-leekie: it’s too much fun to say! Have you ever had cock-a-leekie soup? It’s a traditional Scottish soup, made of chicken stock, leeks and little else (except prunes. Ew.). Despite many business trips to Edinburgh in my past, and the fact that I am of Scottish descent (my maternal grandfather emigrated from Glasgow), I’ve never had it. If I had ever seen it on a restaurant menu, I probably would have ordered it (despite the prunes; ew), just […]
So, you know what happens now, right? Twenty-five pounds of rhubarb from Grandma’s garden that I need to work my way through means all rhubarb, all the time for the next 10 posts. I’m contemplating changing the blog name to Rhubarb Kitchen. I jest, I jest. Mostly. I know that some of you out there are not so fond of the pink stalks (perish the thought), so I will try not to deluge you with too many rhubarb recipes in a row. […]
You thought citrus was done, didn’t you? You thought maybe, just maybe, I was going to get back to, I don’t know, eating locally? Oh, granted, I snuck some peel into this dinner, and added the last wrinkly kumquats to these roasted veg, but for the most part, it’s been All Quiet On The Citrus Front ’round these parts, for a few days at least. But the Ides of March are just around the corner (What?? Wasn’t it just Christmas?) and, what with […]
Oh, does a locavore crave the coming of Spring! Crisp, pink radishes, sharp, oniony ramps, delectable asaparagus, ripe, red strawberries: after a long winter of squash & greens, Nature busts out her best for the Gentle Season. And while summer can see us drowning under the bounty of the CSA, the farmer’s market, and the fields, Spring is all about foraging for fresh wild things: dandelion and mustard greens, wild chives and purslane, edible flowers and weeds galore. Spring. Dig in. […]
Happy New Year! I hope 2012 is treating you right so far. I should be taking down the Christmas tree and packing away all the holiday decorations for another year, but instead I’ve been fighting off a cold and working, working, working: crunching data, analyzing stats, writing up conclusions. Busy, busy, busy! I got some fun, kitchen-related Christmas gifts that I can’t wait to share with you, including a potato leek gratin recipe from a new Christmas-gift cookbook, as well […]
I love apple butter. It’s tasty, of course, but it’s not so much that I love to eat it, as I love to cook with it: I toss it into various muffins & quickbreads, Tai’s granola, the occasional meat glaze or braising sauce. In addition to its usefulness in the kitchen, butter is the easiest way to preserve a whole bunch of apples without a lot of effort: no peeling, no coring, no prep of added ingredients. It’s perfect for […]
I’m going away for the weekend and have about 1,000,000,000 things to get done before I leave: so wouldn’t you know that we lost power for the entire afternoon? Ah, NYSEG. Frustrating New Yorkers since 1852. So, a quick one. It’s been hot: sticky hot, super humid, super hazy. Instant summer, coming on the heels of 50 degrees and raining. Down goes the space heater to the garage, up comes the fan. Exit braised meats and roasted root vegetables, enter crisp […]
Rain. Rain, rain, rain. There’s been a lot of it. We are lucky in the Northeast not to be dealing with the floods that have ravaged the middle of the country, but still: rain. It gets you down when days and days go by with no sight of the sun and the incessant drip, drip, drip of rain off the eaves threatens to drive you ’round the twist. I firmly believe, however, that every cloud has its silver lining: the […]
Earlier this year, when I was busily turning winter’s citrus into marmalades and jams, I lamented to Shae that I was a bit disappointed with my first foray into Meyer lemons. “I mean, they are nice enough,” I said, “but I don’t really see what all the fuss is about. I keep thinking I would like them better if they were more, well, lemony.” Shae responded that Meyers are quite soft-skinned and not as hardy as other citrus fruits, so they lose […]
Of necessity, a Northeast locavore will do some preserving: the winter is long and not all of us have the luxury of hothouse produce or a functioning root cellar. Canning is an obvious choice, but there are many ways to preserve: freezing vegetables, fruit, soups, stocks and stew bases, cold storage of root vegetables and fall fruits, dehydrating, curing, smoking, fermenting. Explore some of the many ways to preserve the harvest in the recipes below. Looking at diving into preserving this […]
The recipe index is live! Feel free to offer any feedback; categories you would like highlighted (vegetarian? quick & easy? holiday?), organization that would make the index more useful, shock & awe at my deep and abiding love of the scone. SEASONAL Spring Summer Fall Winter INGREDIENT Citrus Leafy Greens Tomatoes PRESERVES Individual preserve recipes are listed on the Preserves page and are not listed separately here. Preserves page Freezing Vegetables Preserving Apples Preserving Cherries Preserving Herbs Preserving Rhubarb Preserving […]
Pasta is one of those things: quick & easy “fast food” for a weeknight dinner, a great base for showcasing your summer preserving efforts, but, unless it’s homemade, I rarely consider it spectacular. Tasty, filling, comforting, yes; but impressive enough to convince dinner guests of my kitchen prowess (she says, oh-so modestly)? Not so much. Until now. Add to my list of picky-eaterisms cream sauces, or heavy cream in general, unless it is whipped, baked or frozen. I’m not a fan of cream-based […]
It’s just a week shy of April, yet temps hover near freezing and the snow still flutters down to add to the 3 – 4 inches that accumulated over night. So, as much as I want to be noshing on crisp pea shoots, chive blossoms, pungent ramps and mild green garlic, it seems that Mother Nature is conspiring against me. Have you had Christmas lima beans? They are big, meaty beans with a firm texture and a flavor of chestnuts. As wintry as […]
It’s been nearly two months since my last Use It or Lose It! post: where has the time gone? Certainly I’ve been opening jars and using ’em up; it’s just that, if it’s not a new recipe, I don’t think about keeping track, or mentioning it on the blog. So I thought I would do a round-up of what I did with my bounty over the food- and fun-filled holiday season. When people ask me how I can stand to eat locally […]
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