Recipes
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Apples, Baking, Cookbooks, Cranberries, Recipes
Rosy Apple-Cranberry Galette. . . Blushing Beauty for the Holiday Table
Blushing Beauty: Rosy Apple-Cranberry Galette Confession: a slightly different version of this blog post should have published before Thanksgiving. However . . . LIFE. Yes, that. If you live in Vermont you know about the early snow followed by the crazy cold snap —and by cold snap I mean near-record setting, ridiculous, -1 degree weather, […]
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Baking, Calamondin Orange Tree, Canning, Citrus, Indoor Eden, Indoor Gardening, Recipes, Uncategorized
Calamondin Orange Marmalade: Homemade Beauty for Breakfast . . .
Beauty for Breakfast: Calamondin Orange Marmalade & Vintage Roses I really, really wanted a vacation this winter, but fate had other things in mind and personal responsibilities held me close to home. So, I’ve been giving myself mini-staycations to compensate a bit. These weekend retreats —usually nothing more extravagant than a new book, homemade pâtisserie or […]
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Nibbling Lemon Tart as the Snow Falls
Meyer Lemon Tart What is it about late-winter snow storms that inspires me to bake? Perhaps it’s the warm oven and comforting aromas, or maybe it’s post-snow-shovel sugar cravings? Either way, this has always been the case for me. Of course, baking during a blizzard —when the threat of a power outage looms large— is […]
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Cocktails, Cooking, Gourmet Garden, Herb Gardening, Recipes, Roses, Valentines Day Flowers
The Vintage Rose: A Valentine’s Cocktail
The Vintage Rose Cocktail: Perfect for Valentine’s Day (or any day!) Valentine’s Day is coming up, and with Rosalind Creasy’s The Edible Flower Garden still on my mind, how could I resist sharing a romantic rose-cocktail made with real rose petals and homemade rose syrup? Long time readers may recall this recipe from nearly a decade […]
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Annual Flowers, annuals, Baking, Color in the Garden, Cookbooks, Cooking, Cooking with Kids, Decorating the Garden, Garden Design, Gourmet Garden, Herb Gardening, Pollinating Insects, Recipes, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Designing Spring’s Prettiest Potager & Rosalind Creasy’s ‘Edible Flower Garden’
Rosalind Creasy’s The Edible Flower Garden When you begin plotting out your spring vegetable garden, do you include space for edible flowers in your planting plan? Wait, did I just say edible flowers? Indeed I did. Gourmet gardeners will already be familiar with the delicious flavor of stuffed squash blossoms and the zing of spicy […]
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Citrus, Cocktails, Herb Gardening, Recipes
Cranberry-Basil Margarita with Homegrown Citrus & Herbs
Cranberry-Basil Margarita Tis the season for entertaining, and for many of us, that means welcoming guests with refreshing, festive cocktails. At the moment, I’m planning a Winter Solstice get-together for family. This will be more of a roam-about the room and chat party than a sit-down dinner, so I’m dreaming up tasty libations to set […]
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Celebrations, Cooking, Cooking with Kids, Dining Outdoors, Fruit for home gardens, Fruit Trees, Great Growers and Nurseries, Peaches, Recipes, The Last Day of Summer, The Seasons
Celebrating the Swan Song of Summer: Grilled Peaches with Blue Cheese, Caramelized Onions & Pecans . . .
 Grilled Peaches with Blue Cheese, Caramelized Onions, Toasted Pecans & Balsamic Glaze Gloria Peaches at Scott Farm Orchard, Vermont. According to Scott Farm orchard manager, Zeke Goodband, these beautiful, sweet, firm-fleshed peaches are the perfect choice for grilling and roasting! Beautiful Scott Farm Peaches, Almost too Good to Eat Oh summer, summer, summer . . […]
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All Hail, Amazing Kale! Jennifer Audette On Summer’s Hippest Superfood & Sumptuous Peach, Corn & Kale Salad . . .
Peach, Corn & Kale Salad, Recipe Below Kale, glorious kale. A member of the extensive Brassica oleracea species (cultivars: cabbage, broccoli, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, savoy), kale is in the acephala group, which means “headlessâ€. Kale and its nearly identical partner, collards, are likely quite similar to the earliest forms of cultivated cabbage, which were […]
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Baking, Coffee, Cooking, Recipes, The Seasons, Winter, Winter Garden
Caramel-Drizzled, Spiced Coffee Cake, Daylight Savings & Winter’s Last Hurrah
 Caramel-Drizzled Coffee Cake Takes the Edge Off a Winter Storm Late winter snow storms are real heart-breakers. And it seems that, no matter how many times we’re hit by an early March ‘weather event’, I’m always caught by surprise. Songbirds are returning, buds are swelling on trees, and clocks are about to spring forward to […]
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Books, Canning, Cookbooks, Garlic, Herb Gardening, Preserving, Preserving Herbs, Putting Food By, Recipes, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Dilly Dallying in the Pickled Beans: An Intro to Canning with Jennifer Audette
Delicious Dilly Beans Dilly Beans: Easy Entrance to the World of Canning    Guest Author - Jennifer Audette Here in New England, a moment exists each growing season when the stars align and your local farmstand, farmer’s market or (if you’re really amazing), own garden suddenly has all the necessary ingredients for the first batch […]
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Apples, Books, Cookbooks, Cooking, Fruit for home gardens, Fruit Trees, New England, Orchards / Orchard Keeping, Recipes
Dorie Greenspan’s Simply Delicious French Cake with Heirloom Apples …
Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake from Dorie Greespan’s Wonderful Book of Recipes, Around My French Table I awoke this past Sunday morning with a kitchen full of heirloom apples from Scott Farm Orchard and nothing more important to do than brew a pot of coffee and bake a special birthday cake. No problem, right? Well, I suppose […]
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Cookbooks, Cooking, Cooking with Kids, Recipes
Gems in the Rough: Heirloom Potatoes & Delightfully Crispy Faux French Frites {Plus Tips for Root Cellaring Your Spuds}
Crispy Faux Frites I confess a weakness for frites. Real frites, mind you, not the soggy, pale-yellow excuse for French fries found in fast food restaurants. I’m talking about genuine, golden-brown, warm, crispy, sea-salty, flavorful French frites. The last time I had really great French fried potatoes I was in San Francisco of all places, […]
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Cookbooks, Cooking, Recipes, The Seasons, Tomatoes, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Cool Inspiration for Hot Summer Days: Beautiful Cookbooks & Delicious Dinners from the Garden …
Hot day, Cool Dinner: Pasta with Arugula, Cherry Tomatoes, Basil and Garlic Although I don’t consider myself anything more than an average home cook, experimenting in the kitchen certainly is one of my favorite pastimes. And in mid-summer —when my potager is filled with the best produce of the season— it’s a delight to stroll […]
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Berries, Cocktails, Recipes, Reflections, Summertime Cocktails, The Seasons
Fresh Picked Raspberry-Mint Daiquiris And Hazy Summer Reflections …
Fresh-Picked Raspberry-Mint Daiquiri An Afternoon Swim Favorite Old Summertime Slides Truth: I’m suffering from a bit of vacation envy this week. Months have passed since I’ve had a whole day to myself, and to be honest, I really need one. It’s been terribly hot, and I’ve been doing projects back-to-back. I try to “make hay while the […]
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Seeking Oasis from the Heat of Day …
While out watering the newest section of my garden this morning, I caught this toad —nestled amongst the cool, green & white, spotted leaves of Pulmonaria ‘Raspberry Splash’— waiting for his daily shower. With temperatures soaring this week, watering potted plants, vegetables and annuals around my home —as well as the newly installed garden designs […]
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Cookbooks, Cooking, Extending the Growing Season, Plant Spotlight, Planting Techniques, Potatoes, Recipes, seed starting, Seeds, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Summertime Brunch from the Potager: New Potato, Snow Pea & Mint Frittata With Delightfully Lemony Mayonnaise …
Summertime Brunch from the Potager: New Potato, Snow Pea & Mint Frittata with Lemony Mayonnaise July is a month of abundance in my kitchen garden. After months of hard work come the blissful rewards: a walk down the potager path at this time of year is like a trip to a private farmers market. New […]
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Bee-Friendly Gardens, Beneficial Animals and Insects, Berries, Butterflies and Moths, Cocktails, Cooking, Cooking with Kids, Fruit for home gardens, Plants for sun, Pots, Recipes, strawberries, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Strawberries & Homemade Granola: Fresh Fraises des Bois for Breakfast …
Fresh Picked Alpine Strawberries or Fraises des Bois (Fragaria vesca) & Homemade Granola One of the best things about June —besides peonies— is fresh picked strawberries from the garden. I have a small but productive patch of fraises des bois (Fragaria vesca) —better known as alpine strawberries— in my potager (click here for more information […]
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Color in the Garden, Dining Outdoors, Ferncliff, Home, Recipes, Summertime Cocktails, The Seasons
Honey Colored Evenings in the Garden And Iced Tea with Lime & Peppermint…
An Evening on the Terrace in Sultry, Honey Colored Mist Voluptuous French Lilacs Drape to the Ground Vanilla Sky: Garnet-Hued Japanese Maple Leaves, Luminous at Sunset June evening. It’s late in the day, and the glow of mist-diffused sunlight –warm and sweet as honey– filters through the perfumed garden. It’s time to relax after a […]
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Cooking, Recipes, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Rainy Day Musings & Beautiful Colors… Sauteed Beet Greens with Caramelized Onions, Balsamic Vinegar and Pine Nuts
Sauteed Beet Greens with Caramelized Onions and Balsamic Vinegar Rainy days, slow and soft. With deadlines looming and a long list of chores to complete; must confess I feel a twinge of guilt when allowing myself an afternoon of luxury in the middle of a busy season. But it sure feels good. The sound of […]
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Cocktails, Recipes, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
A Toast to Mothers Everywhere: Celebrate Mom’s Special Day with a Spiced Rhubarb Bellini …
Rhubarb Bellini with Warm Spices I remember the first time I tasted raw rhubarb. As many of you will likely remember from previous posts, my family raised strawberries, and in mid to late spring, strawberries and rhubarb go hand-in-hand. I never paid the perennial patch of rhubarb much attention, but one day —while out in […]
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Cooking, Cooking with Kids, Ferns, Fiddleheads, Gourmet Garden, Late Autumn Garden, Mushrooms, Native Plants, Nature, Plant hunting, Plant Propagation, Plant Spotlight, Planting Techniques, Plants for shade, Recipes, Shiitake Growing, The Seasons, Unusual Plants, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager, Woodland plants
Spring Brunch from the Kitchen Garden: Shirred Eggs with Shiitake & Arugula …
Shirred Eggs with Homegrown Shiitake Mushrooms & Garden-Fresh Arugula I’ve always been a breakfast person. French toast, waffles, eggs, potatoes, pancakes; I enjoy them all. Sometimes, in fact, I would like them all at once. Because of my love affair with breakfast foods, I have developed some pretty liberal ideas about when they should be […]
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