My earliest memories of zucchini are not good. First, a bit of backstory: When I was growing up the house rules were that we ate whatever my mother cooked. If it was on the plate, we were expected to eat it. It was not negotiable. If we chose not to eat what was served, the…
One of the sadnesses of my summer is that our basil has not done well in the garden. It is my favorite summer herb, particularly when the tomatoes are ripe and (since I live in New England) I can find good, fresh mozzarella cheese. We are profligate in our planting of basil in the spring,…
Tomato season in New England runs a little later than other parts of the country. Ours are just beginning to come in–at least, the cherry tomatoes are starting to ripen–but most wait for August. The good news is we keep harvesting tomatoes well into the fall. I would love to tell you we are going…
It’s only Thursday night and it has already been a long week. I feel fairly safe saying I think I speak for a majority of people and not just for the way things feel at our house. As I said last night, life is hard right now. One of the advantages of living on the…
Strawberry shortcake has been a Fourth of July tradition at our house for a long time. The recipe comes from my great grandmother–my father’s grandmother–who died not long after I was born. When my mother asked my father what recipes he wanted to make sure she knew how to make, he said, “Ma’s strawberry shortcake.”…
Yesterday I got a text from a church friend asking if was home because she had something to drop off. When she came by, she handed me two packages of Disco Chips, self-described as “semi-sweet morsels and edible glitter morsels.” The folks at Nestle have had too much time on their hands during the pandemic….
As you probably know, we are in the middle of a Nor’easter here in New England, and one that has lived up to the hype. Weather forecasters are notorious for saying things like, “We should expect 3-18 inches of snow this weekend,” which isn’t as much a forecast as a statement that feels better than…
Stephen Sondheim died last week. He had Thanksgiving dinner with friends and died on Friday, unexpectedly it seems. Looking back through my texts, I heard about his death around six on Friday, because that is when I wrote a friend with whom I share a love of Sondheim and his songs. I was in the…
I have made this pie several times over the years, but when I made it most recently while we were in Durham, a friend asked for the recipe. I am slow in finally posting it, but here it is. The crust is versatile. You can use if for most any slab pie. And there are…
Ginger begins her sabbatical this week. She asked me to bake cookies for her staff meeting on Tuesday as a little going away present. This recipe had crossed my field of vision over the past couple of weeks, so her request gave me a chance to play with it a bit. Ginger loves a soft…