Hurricanes again
Some of you may have remembered the time we had with Hurricane Irene last year. And then there was last year’s Halloween blizzard. Well, now we’ve got Hurricane Sandy barreling down on us here in the Hudson Valley. Seems like hurricanes (or snor’eastercanes?) may be the norm in the future. AND, since I have free … Continue reading
Winter Squashes – dinner, snack, dessert
The really cool thing about winter squashes is if you keep them dry and not too cold and not too hot, they keep for pretty much ever. I had three squashes that had been sitting on the kitchen counter forever: a spaghetti squash, a sugar pie pumpkin, and a butternut squash. I decided I wanted … Continue reading
Zinnias, Right up to October Snowstorm
Zinnia elegans. What a lovely, simple Latin name. The zinnia cultivar ‘State Fair’, with its 3-foot-tall stems, has given me a lot of enjoyment this fall. (The long stems lend themselves to cut flower arrangements). I got my seed from the Hudson Valley Seed Library, in a gorgeous Art Pack. The woodchuck “pruned” one patch … Continue reading
Pumpkins by Edmond Gray
Several years ago I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with a wonderful artist Edmond Gray. We would often have long conversations about art, history, music, and politics, discussing different oil painting techniques and sharing our portfolios with each other. Around halloween one year, Ed gave me several photographs of pumpkins he painted, which he … Continue reading
Challah and Pear Bread Pudding
I love bread pudding. Chad loves bread pudding. Bread pudding is delicious and an excellent way to use up bread that’s too stale even for french toast. And you can’t have french toast for dessert. But I had always thought you had to put it in a water bath to bake it, and I’m lazy, so … Continue reading
What Does Thanksgiving Mean?
I know, I know! It’s super way too early to talk about Thanksgiving, especially since it’s not even Halloween yet! But I read this article on Epicurious today and it begged the question – what does Thanksgiving really mean? In the article Molly O’Neill, author of One Big Table: A Portrait of American Cooking, talks … Continue reading
Teas and Quiet
TheKitchn.com (and its sister site, Re-Nest.com) both post what they call “Weekend Meditations” every Sunday. There are no other posts on Sunday for either site. The meditations are often simply a poem or a call to reflect or be introspective on the little things in life. Today I thought I’d do a weekend meditation for … Continue reading
Between the seasons: Chicken and Corn Chowder
Now is that odd, in-between time of harvest, when tomatoes, peaches, and sweet corn are still around, but fall’s first apples and squashes and pears are coming into their own. It’s also the first time in a long time that the weather’s been cool enough to justify soup. I like soup. A lot. If it … Continue reading
$5 Meal Challenge
SlowFood USA is hosting a $5 Challenge on September 17th. The premise? That good, healthy, slow food can be had for just as little (if not less) money than the average fast food “value” meal. The challenge is to cook a homemade meal for less than $5 per person. If you know how to cook, … Continue reading
How to can peaches.
~Updated July 2018, after completion of Master Food Preservation training program. Peaches are one of my favorite canned foods, especially during those cold winter months when the snow is blowing against the window. Inside away from the cold you are just pulling warm shortcake out of the oven with an open can of summer’s peaches … Continue reading
FarmHouse 