Cooking
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Cold Frame Construction, Cold-Climate Vegetable Gardening, Cooking, Early Spring Garden Plants, Extending the Growing Season, Ferncliff, Garden Science, Garden Structures, Green House Gardens, Green Living, Late Autumn Garden, New England, Planting Techniques, Root Cellar Storage, Storing Winter Vegetables, The Seasons, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager, Vermont, Winter Garden, Winter Gardening
The Early Bird Catches the Arugula… And the Chard, Spinach & Lettuce too!
Arugula in the Hoophouse, January Let’s start out with a bit of honesty, shall we? The four season harvest isn’t for wimps. Winter gardening  —growing plants in temperatures below freezing to sub-zero, beneath plastic sheeting— isn’t a natural act. And although I enjoy a good game of woman vs. wild, sometimes winter gets to be […]
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Bee-Friendly Gardens, Beneficial Animals and Insects, Cold-Climate Vegetable Gardening, Color in the Garden, companion planting, Container Gardening, Cooking, Decorating Ideas, Decorating the Garden, Deer, Flower Seeds, Fragrance, Fresh Cut Flowers, Front Yard Gardens, Fruit for home gardens, Furniture, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Garden Dining Rooms, Garden Journals, Garden Maintenance, Garden Paths, Garden Rooms, Home, Organic Disease Control, organic gardening, Organic Insect Control, Planting Techniques, seed starting, Seeds, soil science, strawberries, Tomatoes, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Dreaming of Springtime’s Sweet Veggies: Planning a Lush, Welcoming Potager…
A tumbling jumble of nasturtiums creates a warm welcome for people and pollinators alike Sweet seats! In June, the potager becomes my outdoor living/dining room Wide pathways and mounded-earth beds give me plenty of room to work and maneuver about with carts and wheelbarrows Winter is a wonderful season —I’m still having fun snowshoeing and […]
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Books, Cookbooks, Cooking, Cooking with Kids, Recipes, The Seasons, Winter
Vanilla Sky & Blueberry Breakfast…
Hot Popover Pancake with Summertime Blueberries Pulled from the Freezer Blue sunrise. This morning I awoke to find every windowpane blasted with frozen droplets of water from last night’s winter storm. Thunder, lighting, snow and freezing rain; it seems all four seasons passed through New England yesterday in the blink of an eye. And today […]
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Children - gardening with, Children and Gardening, Cold-Climate Vegetable Gardening, Container Gardening, Cooking, Cooking with Kids, Early Spring Garden Plants, Extending the Growing Season, Garden projects for kids, Herb Gardening, Indoor Gardening, Kitchen, Onions, Plant Propagation, Plant Science, Plant Spotlight, Planting Techniques, Pots and Pottery, Seed Kits, Seeds, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Joyful New Beginnings: Bright-Green Herb Seedlings Emerging from the Soil…
Seedlings in the Morning Sun: Â Johnny’s Herb Disks in the Windowsill Garden (Coriandrum sativum) Lately, the weather in here in Vermont has been a bit challenging (to say the least). Even we native New Englanders start to groan when back-to-back blizzards deliver multiple feet of snow and there’s nowhere left to pile it! Three feet, […]
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Cooking, Herb Gardening, Home, Indoor Gardening, Nature, Recipes, Reflections, Root Cellar Storage, The Seasons, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager, Winter
A Twilight Walk Along the Wintry River And Hearty, Potato-Cheddar Soup…
Winter is Soup Season: A Bowl of Potato-Cheddar Really Warms the Spirits “The Dead of Winter”. I spent a good part of yesterday ruminating on this phrase. Is winter really dead? I suppose it might seem that way if you spend all of your time indoors. But if you are curious, and bundle yourself up […]
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Citrus, Conservatory, Container Garden Fruits, Container Gardening, Cooking, Exotic Plants, Extending the Growing Season, Fruit for home gardens, Fruit Trees, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Martha Stewart Living
I’ve Got Sunshine On A Cloudy Day… My First In-Print Gardening Article for Martha Stewart Living Magazine!
Enjoying the Fruits of my Labor in Martha Stewart Living Magazine Some moments are worth celebrating with friends! My first gardening article for Martha Stewart Living —“Sunshine in a Pot”— has just been published in both print and electronic format. Savor the sweet moment with me and pick up a copy of February’s Martha Stewart Living […]
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Cooking, Frost, Hoar Frost, Home, Recipes, Winter, Winter Garden
Ruby-Gold Cake & Silvery Snowflakes: Warm Cranberry-Apple Buckle, with Sweet Vanilla Crumb, Kisses the Dawn…
Cranberry-Apple Buckle with Vanilla Crumb – Lace Plate by Virginia Wyoming Why pine for springtime when winter mornings arrive with sparkling frost and sunlight pouring across the hillside like sweet honey? I savor the slow, quiet days of winter, and I’m in no rush for spring. For now I’ll linger in my cozy chair, indulging […]
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Cookbooks, Cooking, Gourmet Garden, Herb Gardening, Home, Indoor Gardening, organic gardening, Recipes, Woody Plants
The Delights of a Cozy Winter Kitchen: Warm Oven, Fragrant Herbs & Freshly Baked Focaccia with Onion & Rosemary
Freshly Baked Slices of Focaccia with Rosemary and Onion Rosemary Blossoming in my Kitchen There’s just something about cold, wintry weather that makes a girl want to bake… Know what I mean? Yes it’s nippy outside, but here in the house, things sure are warm and cozy. The wood stove is popping and cracking and […]
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Cooking, Gifts for Gardeners, Glamorous Gardens, Gourmet Garden, Green House Gardens, Home, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Indoor Table Arrangements, Kitchen, New England, Plant Spotlight, Plants for sun, Recipes, The Seasons, Trees for Fruit, Tropical Plants, Unusual Plants, Woody Plants
Love in the Afternoon: Delightfully Decadent, Lemony French Toast…
Love in the Afternoon: Delightfully Decadent, Lemony French Toast Oh yes. I know what you’re thinking. What is she doing, lounging about in the afternoon with a plate of French Toast? Oh the sloth, the sloth! It’s just nothing but wickedness {smirk}. OK. Yes, Santa Baby, I have been a little —how shall we say— […]
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Books, Cookbooks, Cooking, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Holiday Gifts for the Gardening Cook…
Gifts for the Gardening Cook I was out holiday shopping yesterday afternoon in downtown Northampton, Massachusetts, and I found myself drifting like a snowflake —in and out of book shops and kitchen stores—dreaming of springtime gardens and fresh, leisurely meals on the sun-drenched terrace. Of course —as usual— while checking off my gift-list, I had […]
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Red Riding Hood’s Delightfully Tart Cranberry Christmas Cake…
Red Riding Hood’s Cranberry Christmas Cake For an adult, I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about fairytales (as you may have noticed). And no, I don’t mean those saccharine, watered-down characters you find at Disney amusement parks. I’m talking about the dark, weird, fantastically-twisted and sometimes frightening characters from the Grimms Märchen (Grimms Fairytales, […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Cooking, Ferncliff, ornamental grass, Paths and Walkways, Recipes, Shrubs for Winter Interest, Shrubs with Colorful Twigs/Stems, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Spicy Cream of Carrot & Ginger Soup And the Last Rays of Golden Sunlight…
Spicy Cream of Carrot & Ginger Soup Alas, another late autumn weekend is drawing to a close; November sun flickering as it slips beyond bare tree-tops. The wood has been stacked, the bulbs all planted and sweet carrots harvested for soup. What a gift, these late-season days of warm weather. I love working in the […]
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Cookbooks, Cooking, Potatoes, Recipes, The Seasons, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
The Never-Ending Vegetable Harvest & Penne with Roasted Potatoes, Arugula and Rosemary…
Penne with Roasted Potatoes, Arugula and Rosemary from Alice Waters’ Classic Cookbook, Chez Panisse Vegetables Ah, New England and the sudden changing of seasons. It really feels like late fall now… There’s even snow and sleet in tomorrow’s weather forecast. S-n-o-w. I feel chilly just typing those letters. The word always has a certain weight […]
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Cookbooks, Cooking, Nature, Recipes, The Seasons, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Harvest Gold: Sweet, Sauteed Butternut Squash and Yam with Warm Spices…
Autumn nights are growing colder now; wood smoke curling from chimney-tops on still evenings. And although still vibrant, the forest is slowly shifting from red and orange to burnished bronze and rust. On walks along woodland paths, fallen leaves carpet the floor, and my feet kick up a familiar, October-crunch. Radiant as stained glass, the […]
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Aletha Soule, Cooking, Cooking with Kids, Drying, Gourmet Garden, Kitchen, Preserving, Preserving Herbs, Putting Food By, The Seasons, Tomatoes, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
The Sweetness of Summer, Saved in a Jar: Sun Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil…
Sun Dried Tomatoes on the Terrace Homemade Sun Dried Tomatoes and Herbs in Olive Oil in My Pantry Hillside in Autumn Rain… Beautiful, misty mountain tops and grey, moody skies greeted me when I awoke this morning. It seems that the wet, unsettled weather has returned to New England this week, and I —for one— […]
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Cooking, Potatoes, Recipes, The Seasons, Tomatoes, Uncategorized, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager, Vermont
Welcome October! Capture the Beautiful Flavors & Colors of Harvest Season with Autumn Vegetable Stew…
The Colors of the Season – Autumn Harvest Stew I am a true New Englander. And while I do treasure all of the year’s beautiful seasons, I have to admit that October is my favorite month. I love autumn’s unique combination of fleeting, sensory pleasures; the subtle, changing light, intensely colored foliage, rich textures, savory […]
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Apples, Autumnal Equinox, Celebrations, Cocktails, Cooking, Ferncliff, Foliage, Full Moon, Heirloom Apples, Native Plants, Nature, North American Trees, ornamental grass, The Last Day of Summer, The Seasons, Vermont, Woodland plants
A Toast to the Last Day of Summer: Greeting the Autumnal Equinox with Spiced, Heirloom Apple Cider Martinis…
Spiced Apple Cider Martini with Dolgo Crab Apple and Cinnamon Stick Garnish Farewell to summer! The autumnal equinox will occur at 3:09 am UTC (GMT) on September 23rd this year. So —depending upon where you live—autumn will officially begin sometime this evening, September 22nd, or in the wee hours of September 23rd. Here in New […]
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Cooking, Recipes, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Toward a Bigger Brussels Sprout: Special Guest Post by John Miller…
Hands up to all whose first reaction was: “Why brussels sprouts at all?”. And now a tip as to how to make them bigger? I can not think of another vegetable so reviled. They also seem to be the poster child for unimaginative marketing; having been promoted as an unappetizing vegetable, forced upon us by […]
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Autumn Color in the Garden, Cooking, Dining Outdoors, Fire Features, Home, Recipes
A Prelude to Autumn in Red & Gold: Roasted Beet and Fresh Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Glaze…
Roasted Red and Gold Beets with Fresh Arugula, Goat Cheese and Balsamic Vinegar Glaze… As I look out past the terrace this evening — down into the Green River Valley— bright orange, gold, rust and red flashes pepper the the nearby hillside and mountains beyond. There’s no denying it now… All of nature’s signs point toward […]
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Cooking, Cooking with Kids, Garden projects for kids, Gourmet Garden, Kitchen, Plant Spotlight, Recipes, Tomatoes, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
A Garden of Bold Tastes and Colors: Oven-Roasted Tomatoes Stuffed with Ruby Red Chard, Fresh Herbs and Vermont Cheddar…
Golden Tomatoes, Stuffed with Chard and Cheddar, Oven-Roasted to Perfection Every garden year is different, and in the northeast, 2010 couldn’t be more opposite from 2009. A summer ago, the weather was cold and wet, and I was rained out of more projects than I care to remember. By the end of last year’s growing […]
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Books, Cookbooks, Cooking, Dining Outdoors, Ferncliff, Garden Rooms, Gourmet Garden, Potatoes, Recipes, Seeds, Terraces, The Seasons, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Dinner in the Sun-Drenched Garden… New Potatoes in a Bistro-Style Salad: Pommes À L’Huile from Patricia Wells
Pommes À L’Huile – Warm Potato Salad with Fresh Herb Vinaigrette Late Summer Dinner on the Terrace There’s something absolutely delicious about the last weekend in August. What brings on this delightfully hypnotic, wonderfully relaxing mood? Perhaps it’s the warmth of the sun radiating from the stone-slab terrace, or maybe it’s the color of the […]
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