I’ve been growing alliums! The garlic is harvested and drying in the garage…cool and dark, and the shallots have been laying in the yard, drying in the sun. Both in the same family…but different curing methods. They are both a little early this year, as is expected, as everything is early. This morning I found some beautiful beans at the market.
I was looking forward to March to get everything caught up for a last clean sweep of winter. But no….it decided to be Spring a few weeks early. With temps in the 70s most days and a few climbing into the 80s we have a full blooming spring right now! Most of the trees are budding and many are blooming, like never before. That meant climbing around the hills to rake off all the winter muck and moldy leaves so the newbies didn’t get smothered on those hot days.
The winter doldrums have set in and I’ve been cleaning and sorting out my house, room by room, shelf by shelf. Today I ran across a recipe I had torn out of a magazine. I remember making these 10 years ago, or more. The photo said it all. I had to make them! Since then I have taken up food photography and just wondered if I could do them justice. A kind of personal test.
New Year’s Eve is fast approaching and it’s time to come up with a new and delicious snack to munch on as that crystal ball makes it’s descent on Time Square. Let me tell you, cheese and crackers never tasted this good before!!
I’ve always admired the beautiful jewel tones of these delicacies in the gourmet catalogs like Dean and Deluca and even purchased a few at a confectionary in Paris, but never really thought I could make them myself.
I have a thing for beans– especially dry beans. I just love all the colors, the shapes, and the names. The Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook lists hundreds of varieties with such wonderful names as Bountiful Ester, Black Turtle Soup, Little Brown Cat, Tiger Eye, or Purple Buddha. I have a bowl of mixed dry beans on my desk to play with and admire. This year one of my goals for the little Galena Community Garden plot
The days are lengthening. OK…not by much, but I’m not walking home from work in the dark these days. There’s plenty of snow blanketing the gardens and the seed catalogs are filling the mail box. The sure sign of spring to come. So many options, so many new varieties to choose, so many old heirlooms toexplore. A letter has
My friend loved chocolate. She would keep a stash of M&M’s in the cupboard, just in case there wasn’t any good chocolate in the house.
I met Alice many years ago at a party Joanne hosted at her home on Dewey Avenue. She was introduced as a possible candidate to work in our shop.
With the holiday season in full swing and elaborate menus planned, it’s a wonderful thing to have this up your sleeve for a quick, easy, and elegant dinner for a few friends that come by for some holiday cheer. French cuisine is sometimes
I’m longing for “soup weather” and falling leaves and apple pie. It’s just been too hot, humid, and rainy this summer, and now the bugs have taken over. Picking about a dozen tomatoes landed me 35 mosquito bites yesterday. You have to make a run for it! The lingering memory of the Tarte Tatin I ate in France a couple years ago has
Chocolate. I like to say my daughter was made of chocolate and spinach while in utero. That is about all I ate. If I’d known about this recipe then, it would have made my day.
Today, I made this salad using a strawberry jam imported from France and a dark Valrhona cocoa, one of my favorites. Really, who puts chocolate
Spring has brought us warmer weather, the grass is greening, and there are tiny buds on the trees. My favorite time of year! It’s been such a long winter…but then it always is. I’m just so tired of being cold.
A traditional sign of spring and renewal is the egg. There are eggs everywhere these days… for Easter, and I’m just thinking what a perfect
