Cooking
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Cooking, Ferncliff, Ferns, Full Moon, Garlic, Gourmet Garden, Indoor Gardening, Nature, ornamental grass, Perennials for Winter Interest, Plants for Light Effects, Plants for Texture, Potatoes, Recipes, Winter Garden
Greeting the Wolf Moon on a Chilly January Night with Warm, Creamy Garlic and Potato Soup…
Creamy Garlic and Potato Soup with Fresh Herbs Watching the full moon rise is something of a ritual for me. I note the waxing and waning lunar cycle on my calendar and I pay close attention to the forecast as the moon grows full. Lunar myths and legends have always fascinated me, and I usually […]
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companion planting, Cookbooks, Cooking, Gourmet Garden, organic gardening, Recipes, Root Cellar Storage, Vegetable Gardening
What’s Up Doc? Waskilly Seeds and a Recipe for Velvety Baked Carrots…
Baked Velvet Carrots Beautiful Bolero … Flat leaf Italian parsley from the windowsill herb garden… Sliced Bolero Carrots… We all know that old Elmer Fudd thinks Bugs Bunny is a terribly, waskilly wabbit. But frankly I think Elmer has it wrong. I think it’s Bugs Bunny’s carrot that’s a bit waskilly – at least as […]
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Cooking, Ferncliff, Herb Gardening, Indoor Gardening, Seeds
Indoor Gardening with Herbs: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme on the Kitchen Countertop…
Windowsill Herb Basket Hmm… how about a couple of basil leaves and some fresh oregano in the tomato sauce? Yes? And why not add some chopped rosemary to the bread dough? Of course you would like a little sprig of mint in your tea, wouldn’t you? I really enjoy cooking, and I love food – […]
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Cooking, Recipes, Root Cellar Storage, Storing Winter Vegetables, Vegetable Gardening
Potato Leek Soup: The Antidote to Brrr ! Plus Tips on Storing Leeks in the Root Cellar…
Potato Leek Soup Brrr is certainly the word. It’s really cold here in the northeast. I keep hearing rumors of rising temperatures, but so far they are just that – rumors. I take comfort in the fact that there’s a good snow-cover insulating the garden, and inside, my wood stove is cranking out some serious […]
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Cooking, Herb Gardening, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Recipes, The Seasons, Vegetable Gardening
Rosemary No-Knead Bread from the Windowsill Herb Garden …
Light snow is falling outside and the temperature here in Vermont is hovering around 30 degrees fahrenheit. A winter storm is expected tonight and it is predicted to continue throughout tomorrow. Meteorologists are promising us six to twelve inches of fluffy, new snow here in the Green Mountains. It sounds like I will be doing […]
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Cookbooks, Cooking, Pears, Recipes
A Golden Cake for the Holidays – Fragrant with Spice and Bartlett Pears…
Spiced Yogurt Cake with Bartlett Pears Bartlett Pears on a Turquoise Plate I love getting up early on a winter morning and baking in a sunlit kitchen. To me, the scent of fresh baked goods, coffee and fragrant, warm spices makes a house feel comforting and homey. So this morning, when my cat nudged me […]
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Apples, Cookbooks, Cooking, Plant Spotlight, Recipes, The Seasons, Vegetable Gardening
Baby it’s Cold Outside! Warm Up a Bit – Sweet Butternut Squash Soup, with a Kiss of Apple Confit and Creme Fraiche…
Butternut Squash Soup with Apple Confit and and a dollop of Crème Fraîche… So what am I doing outside these days? Oh all sorts of last minute, before-the-snow-flies chores and holiday decorating. Up until today, it has been unseasonably warm in New England, and I have been delighting in the temperatures while gathering greenery and […]
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Apples, Books, Cookbooks, Cooking, Orchards / Orchard Keeping, Recipes, Vegetable Gardening
Holiday Brunch from the Kitchen Garden and Local Orchard…
Heirloom Lady Apple and Yukon Gold Potato Fry… Anticipation is in the air. Twinkling lights. Aromatic, evergreen boughs. Crackling fires. Stories. There are so many simple things to love about the coming holiday season and winter months. For me, late morning breakfasts always top the December weekend-pleasures list. After a busy year, doesn’t it feel […]
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Apples, Cocktails, Cooking, Orchards / Orchard Keeping, Recipes
Grey and Chilly? Got the Autumn Blues? Spice Up Your Afternoon with Hot Mulled Apple Cider, Or Spike It Up Come Evening If You Choose …
A cup of hot, mulled apple cider, garnished with a stick of cinnamon and a slice of orange, studded with fragrant clove… It’s the middle of November now, and there’s a sharp nip in the air by late afternoon. The sky is often streaked with slate colored clouds, and the sun, when it makes an […]
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Apples, Cooking, Heirloom Apples, Orchards / Orchard Keeping, Recipes
Rustic, Heirloom Apple Squares: A Recipe and Sweet Autumn Memory…
Served warm with a cup of steaming tea, apple squares can bring back a rush of sweet memories for me. When I was a little girl, my third grade teacher always made homemade goodies for special events and bake sales. Margaret was a lovely woman; plump and grandmotherly and generous. She was my favorite teacher, […]
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Apples, Cooking, Heirloom Apples, Orchards / Orchard Keeping, Recipes
Original Sin? Getting My Fill of Old World Temptations and Pleasures in the Apple Orchard at Scott Farm…
Heirloom apples from Scott Farm, Vermont Apples. They certainly are beautiful and tempting. But sinful? Hardly. Although, to tell the truth, I’ve always had a secret, flirtatious ‘thing’ for orchards. Maybe it all started with those stories about wickedness and pleasure in the Garden of Eden. You know, forbidden fruit and all that? Who knows […]
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Bulbs, Cooking, Garlic, Great Blogs, Plant Spotlight, Recipes, Vegetable Gardening
A Thousand Mothers Set into the Earth: It’s Garlic Planting Season…
‘German Red ‘ garlic bulb from Wild Shepherd Farm, Athens, Vermont The ancient Greeks and Romans often called garlic the ‘stinking rose’, and in eastern Europe it is sometimes referred to as the ‘Russian penicillin’. Allium sativium has been praised for it’s worth by many as ‘better than a thousand mothers‘; blamed for bad breath, gas […]
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Cooking, organic gardening, Plant Spotlight, Recipes, Vegetable Gardening
Tears of Joy: In praise of the Onion…. and my favorite French Onion Soup!
Spanish Sweet and Stockton Red onions at Harvest If the end of summer is bittersweet, then I will credit the humble onion for some of the sugar. On a chilly autumn day, I am a complete pushover for a bowl of French Onion soup topped with a thick layer of gooey, delicious Gruyere cheese, (see […]
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Cocktails, Cooking, Herb Gardening, Plant Spotlight, Recipes, Summertime Cocktails, Vegetable Gardening
Liquid Pleasures of the Late Summer Garden: Part Two, How I Came to Know the Cuban Mint Julep…
Mel’s Cuban Mint Julep/ AKA The Mojito I simply can not believe this is the last weekend of August. Where has the summer gone? Here in New England the weather pattern has shifted right on cue and the nights are already getting cooler. Geese are gathering on the water. Labor Day weekend and the Harvest […]
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Cooking, Herb Gardening, Perennial Close-Ups, Plant Spotlight, Recipes, Vegetable Gardening
Liquid Pleasures from the Late Summer Garden. Part One: Keeping Cool with Lemon-Mint Sun Tea…
Lemon-Mint Sun Tea in the Garden The dog-days of summer have arrived, and it sure is hot outside today. Gardening is hard work, and it’s easy to over-do it on a sweltering day. Digging, weeding, dividing, lifting, mulching: all physically demanding tasks. In the summer, I always protect my head and skin with a straw […]
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Cooking, Organic Disease Control, organic gardening, Plant Spotlight, Vegetable Gardening
Simple Pleasures & Hard Won Treasures
Salad of sun-ripened ‘Orange Blossom’ tomatoes and basil. The beautiful gunmetal-glaze plate is by artist Aletha Soule. There is nothing in this world quite like the flavor of a sun-ripened ‘Orange Blossom’ tomato picked fresh from the garden. For my lunch today I enjoyed a salad of home grown tomatoes and basil, seasoned with extra […]
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Cooking, Great Blogs, organic gardening, Recipes, Uncategorized, Vegetable Gardening
Stop! Put Down That Hoe, and Let’s Eat! Great Food Blogs to Stir Your Imagination and Wet Your Appetite…
June harvest: red chard, arugula, oak leaf and red rumple lettuce.. As I walked back from my kitchen garden on this wet afternoon, colanders and baskets filled to the rim with chard for rissoto and mixed greens for salad, I felt a deep gratitude for all that I have in this life. I can not […]
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