I have this self-imposed small window on my calendar when I make homemade strawberry jam. It’s a brief period in late March/early April when Florida strawberries are at their absolute ripest, sweetest and on sale. I realize that they can be found at any point during the year and few more dollars more won’t break […]
Tag: Better from scratch
Kitchen Love on Valentine’s Day
One of the best ways I know how to show love is with some extra effort in the kitchen. Whether it’s a batch of homemade cookies, cooking a favorite meal or even stopping by a restaurant to pickup a beloved dish, when Valentine’s Day falls on a Friday, you have all weekend to spread the […]
Things on our Thanksgiving Table–Sweet potatoes
Thanksgiving is hands down my favorite holiday. I love a day that focuses on what’s good in life and then serves it up with gravy and football. There are no gifts, no decorations, no shopping other than the grocery store and I’m there every day of my life anyway. My table–like yours–is a patchwork quilt […]
Raspberry Cream Pie
There’s a little farm stand on the North Fork of Long Island that is lined with the usual local produce; potatoes, peaches maybe some tomatoes and sweet corn. But if you look beyond the earthy wooden tables you’ll no doubt notice a line formed outside of an unassuming white door propped ajar by someone’s flip […]
It’ll Cure What Ails Ya Lentil, Sausage and Kale Soup
I am a firm believer in the power of food to heal. And when someone isn’t feeling well, the kitchen is the best pharmacy I know. This soup is something I’ve been making for a few months for friends as well as myself whenever I need a little a little super food love in a […]
It is easy to be cheesy it turns out
Let’s talk cheese, friends. Ricotta cheese. Homemade ricotta cheese. If I had discovered how easy homemade ricotta cheese was to make earlier in my life, it might have taken a different path. Ricotta from scratch is so easy and so good, I probably would have become a traveling cannoli salesman or something. I have tried […]
Banana Chocolate Chip Bread
There are numerous examples of my craziness and the impending severity of it, but number 876 is my inability to throw away over-ripe bananas without promising no one except myself, that I will not let that beautiful fruit go to waste and will immediately bake a lovely bread or muffin. The really crazy thing is […]
The best (and simplest) Dijon-Lemon Vinaigrette
I haven’t bought a bottle of salad dressing since the Clinton administration. Not when it is so much easier, tastier, healthier and less expensive to make them on your own. Here’s a simple one to start with that will transform your salads instantly. All you need is a jar with a lid or some sort […]
New Neighbor Bribe
Dear New Neighbor, Allow me to introduce myself, I’m your new neighbor. That neighbor. Oh, I don’t plan any trouble, slights, inadvertent impoliteness, or anything to make you call your insurance company, emergency services or realtor; but chances are pretty good that you will at some point. I apologize in advance and offer these anticipatory […]
Espresso Chocolate Chip Gelato
In my old liberal hippie escape fantasies, I used to want to run away to Vermont and start a lavender farm and make my own soap. I’ve evolved since then. Now, I want to run away to Tuscany to start a pine nut and basil farm and make my own gelato. I’ll start with this […]