Slowing Down and Summer Goodies
Unlike many Americans, summertime is the busiest time of year for those of us who work in museums. So I often miss whole seasons of fruit and vegetables before I can fully appreciate them. Working extra hours each week and then spending the weekends DOING things because it’s beautiful weather out or it’s so hot … Continue reading
Beating the Heat, Vintage Style
I grew up without central air conditioning. In fact, mostly without air conditioning at all. Actually, come to think of it, I have never lived in a house with central air. And I grew up in a pretty hot and steamy region of the country, where the temperature in the summer routinely reached 90 degrees … 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
It’s time to start canning!
Canning season is here, which means it is time to get those supplies out of the closet. For you beginners, this post should help guide you to get the supplies needed. The first step is to determine what you want to can. Depending on what you want to preserve you will either need a boiling-water … Continue reading
Raspberry salsa
After spending the afternoon in the berry patch, I had to decide what to do with my red and golden raspberries. I decide that this was a great opportunity to try something different, so I decided to make raspberry salsa. This recipe will make you realize that you have many more taste-buds than you imagined! … Continue reading
Camping supplies
What is it about camping that makes it so wonderful? Is it the fresh air, cooking over the fire, the freedom? I actually can’t pin point exactly why I love camping so much, I just know that during the warmer months it is always in the back of my mind. Before you head out the … Continue reading
Beating the heat while saving money
I find it ironic that I finally post this kind of stuff just when it’s cooled off a bit here in the Hudson Valley (yay rain!), but I also saw my electric bill for May and June (Central Hudson is weird and does two months on one bill) and it was not, NOT pretty. So, … Continue reading
Summer Feast – Italian, Middle Eastern Style
Yeah, I said it. Italian AND Middle Eastern. Take a gander: Homemade Italian flatbread with ricotta dip, salt-cured tomatoes, and cucumbers with black plums for dessert. It was shockingly delicious, and it derived from two recipes I wanted to try: the flatbreads (crescente)from Loukie Werle’s Italian Country Cooking: The Secrets of Cucina Povera; and salt-cured … Continue reading
Summer Shells
I love the beach. I love the water. I really want to be a surfer and I really want to learn how to sail. I plan to do both things. But for now in addition to just frolicking in the surf I pick up little shells that I like. Not a ton of shells just … Continue reading
5-ways to use your $5 rotisserie chicken in 5 days
I am always trying to think of quick and expensive ways to keep my body fed. I dislike grocery shopping! No, I hate it! I like to go in there and spend at most five minutes shopping. Now farm stands I can spend hours, grocery stores, not so much. And right now well it is … Continue reading
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