FOREWORD: I wrote recently here about traveling to the awards ceremony for the International Association of Culinary Professionals,\ with one of the first-time nominees. Our conversation made me recall a post I’d written immediately after I had won an award for one of my books, Passionate Vegetarian, back in 2003. It was a book which had also been nominated for and lost… Read More
“Should I just throw these out?” I asked him. I was referring to 15 or 20 leftover muffins: carrot-pineapple-coconut muffins. We were doing that lovely post-party couple-dance of cleaning up, putting the house back to rights, discussing the event we had just co-created. He wrinkled his brow. The give-me-more-information look. He was drying the glasses, replacing them on the shelf. “”I mean,… Read More
Last week I was obsessing about birthday cake. One particular birthday cake … a cake worthy of two twins celebrating their shared 65th birthday, which I had tasked myself with making. After all, one twin was my beloved Alpha Male, and the other was his sister, who I’d never met, who was flying all the way in from Washington state to celebrate with… Read More
I’d had friends over last Friday, for dinner. A couple of the dishes I’d served them required a little fresh dill. Now, you can’t buy a little dill. You buy it by the bunch. That bunch is usually, especially this time of year, preposterously large. This is problematical. I live alone, except for when my boyfriend comes up from New York to spend a few… Read More
High noon, on the year’s clock. That’s what it is right now. I know technically, literally, that summer’s high noon would be the Solstice, towards June’s end. But subjectively, I place it about a month later. That’s when the overflowing, abundant generosity of my local farm-stand makes me swoon with possibilities, and it’s hard not to overbuy. All that produce!… Read More
Polenta: peasant food from the north of Italy. It’s texture-y cooked cornmeal, usually served as a bed for a savory stew of some kind or perhaps a fried egg, but also served on its own when doctored up with a little cheese (and/or mushrooms, or various aromatics). Polenta: occasionally served as a sweet breakfast cereal or even as dessert. When left… Read More
Contentment. Outside, the slope down from the house towards the pond, grass yellowing on it, like a Van Gogh painting. Inside, the flowers: wild black-eyed susans and yarrow, perennials and annuals from the garden, fireworks in a blue glass vase on the dining room table. #DinnerWithDragonwagon, just me and my boyfriend, with plenty of help from Walker Farm. The first… Read More
Here is what we had to eat tonight, a slightly chilly, rainy July night in Vermont, my Alpha Dude and I… it’s #DinnerWithDragon. Zucchini Fritters, with a Dab of Yogurt Pilaf of Quinoa & Millet, with a Mustard-Seed Scented Saute of Onions & Mushrooms Sliced Heirloom Tomatoes Sliced Romaine Lettuce with Scallions, Mustard-Garlic-Scape Vinaigrette Why, you ask, is wholewheat pasta… Read More
So simple. The kind of tomatoes we wait all year for: just cut up in big chunks in a bowl, with a pressed clove of garlic, a whole lot of torn basil, a pinch of sea salt. (Some people doll them up: a splash of balsamic vinegar, say, some good extra virgin olive oil, or a little minced green chile… Read More
