Category: Seasonal food
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Why you and I should make jam
Because it’s wonderful. Because it’s not that difficult once you have the right gear and a work flow. Because I’m going to give you both of those. Because preserves make great gifts. Because when you’re done, you’ll have something to show for your work, something to put on the shelves and admire. Gear begins, obviously,…
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Best summer soup ever!
“If I got this in an expensive restaurant, I’d be really happy with it,” said Stoic the Vast on first tasting this elegant and easy zucchini soup, adapted from a skinnytaste.com recipe. That’s our highest praise. If we’d paid real money for it (instead of “just” raising or buying the groceries), we’d still like it…
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Shakshuka! What? It’s OK — you know the ingredients even if you don’t recognize the name
The name for this Israeli dish sounds like a ’50s doo-wop group but learn it anyway. The name has its origins in the Arabic word for mixture and came to Israel with Jewish immigrants from North Africa. It’s a tasty, healthy meal with a kick. Also easy, did I mention that? The most challenging part…
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Fresh, fabulous figs
We waited longer for figs than for a baby. The latter took just under 3 years; the former, more than 25. And this year, booyah!, we have figs. Figs to eat out of hand, figs to freeze for making preserves and figs to cook. Assuming figs grew in Eden (fig leaves, remember?), why would anyone leave,…
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I’m as corny as Kansas in August, slow-cooker corn chowder without cheese
We are covered up in summer squashes and sinking fast. Corn and tomatoes are advancing from the east (the garden). I spend more time in the kitchen these days than at any other time of the year because you can only give away so many zucchini and hot peppers. Stoic and I made two kinds…
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Holy cow! Easy zucchini-tomato Parmesan
Flipping between channels last night, I paused long enough on a PBS special about cancer research to hear an expert say something to the effect that obesity has finally passed smoking to be the #1 preventable cause of cancer!!! I think this was rattling around somewhere in my subconscious, but I’ve never heard overweight put…
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And I don’t like chard . . .
A young friend who’s working harder than any human bean should have to, says clients buying her family farm’s CSA subscriptions often ask what to do with chard. You can cook it like fresh spinach or you can take a couple of extra steps to fix this Lebanese Swiss chard from therecipehunters.com. It may…
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The new normal; chard-crab quiche
I was diagnosed with breast cancer just before Christmas (yeah, Happy Holidays!), and that’s been my excuse for everything I don’t feel like doing ever since. Like eating well or exercising or going to bed at a reasonable time. “I oughta be able to do this — I have cancer!” Obviously, that’s not going to…
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A fine day for running off the rails; roasted asparagus with a college education
This would be the day for going stark-raving, nutso, bat-crap, screaming like a banshee, inhaling everything in sight, edible and non-. The air is like damp, gray wool. I’m reading William Styron, the master of depressive darkness. It’s Daughter’s Day and one daughter won’t answer the phone, the other had her daughter answer rudely. I’m afraid…